Ok I suppose I could experiment, but I am figuring someone out there has one or done it before. Looking for the best street tune cam for a 292 with the ecz-g heads on it. I would like to keep it pretty street able and just looking for a little more low grunt without killing all the vacuum. I also have an AT behind it.

Mike Rizzo

1963 F100 "Rudy"

Daniel Island, SC

It depends a lot on what you're calling best and to a degree what you yourself can tolerate. I assume it's going in the F100. Do you intend to use it as a truck where you need good low end torque or to you want streetable performance where some low end is sacrificed for better overall performance?


Lawrenceville, GA

Yeah it will still be a hauler for light duty to the home improvement store for lumber and recycling dump. On a side note I do enjoy the looks of everybody in their hybrids while spewing old fashoned non catalyzed exhaust. I am also looking at moving to 3:25 from the current 3:89 so I will lose some torque there too. I am running a 3x2 carb on it, really looking for a hot rod that is good for every day and gets up and goes when spurred.

Mike Rizzo

1963 F100 "Rudy"

Daniel Island, SC

How about a regrind of the factory blower cam? Had one in a '57 Ranch Wagon and ran the same engine in my T-Bird for several years. Good street cam with 3.55 gear. Good low end. Max is 5500 to 6000. Actualy going past 5500 is a waste. Sounds just radical enough to know it is not the stock cam.

I never thought of the factory blower that would be interesting. I would like to avoid machining bills if possible. I was hoping there was an out of the box solution and a degree recommendation. I know I wanted to keep the lift below.500 as I guess you have to have reliefs cut etc. It is not being averse to the work, but that is not really where the truck is headed. I was not sure which cam would perform best with the bigger valves. From what I understand the stock truck heads and cams were detuned for torque vs. hp.

Mike Rizzo

1963 F100 "Rudy"

Daniel Island, SC

Isky RPM 300, mummert 265S for light duty truck work.

Isky E4 for a little more serious truck work.

Custom grinds don't usually cost much more which is what the blower cam will have to be and it should work well or light duty use. I'm using a copy of some Ford cam which is believed to be one of the blower offerings.

Leave the 3.89 in there until you have had a chance to drive around with the new cam. You're going to loose a significant amount of low end and you really will need the gear. I'm running a 3.70 in mine and with a load of about 1000lbs, I notice that it is really lacking when it comes to getting it all moving but I don't plan to haul loads like that much so it works well enough for me.


Lawrenceville, GA

Great stuff thanks for the heads up. I was only looking to drop the rear gear to lose some RPMs at highway speed with the 3 sp trans. Your post makes me want to change up the sequence of the next few projects and look into the cam and timing first see where I land in the RPM range and then play with the gear.



Many thanks you guys may have just saved me from a few rework projects.

Mike Rizzo

1963 F100 "Rudy"

Daniel Island, SC

Yeah. A rear gear change is the cheapest way to get the highway economy but it's really not the best way in my opinion. If this is a truck you will use regularly, as in a primary source of transportation, also install an overdrive transmission. This gets you the highway economy and 1st gear usually makes it like going up one or two ratios in the rear and you have an extra gear for around town - far better than any rear gear change will get you alone but it is more expensive.

If it won't be regular transportation, don't even worry about economy. The occasional blast up the freeway won't hurt a thing.


Lawrenceville, GA

It is a weekend errand runner and occasional daily driver. I will take your advice and keep the 3:89. I like the oomph off the line. Just do not like kicking it at 3000 rpm for a highway jaunt at 75 mph. But I figure I can live with it. I tend to want to baby the engine rather than thinking of it as developed from a tractor motor.



Thanks again. Probably postpone the rear and cam and really just play with the timing and carburation and see where it needs to be. No sense rushing into rework.

Mike Rizzo

1963 F100 "Rudy"

Daniel Island, SC

hi rudy, a stock 57 cam would work fine for your application.

 lincoln/merc. y-blocks &mel's                                                               bucyrus, ohio.