Ford Mustang AFM Camshaft Swap - Wham-Bam Two-Cam Slam

These days, one of the first major modifications done to Two-Valve modular engines is the addition of a supercharger. While quick and easy mods, like a chip, exhaust, and pulleys all add power, once those changes are made, you're faced with two choices-either tear into the engine to build a good-running, naturally aspirated mill or (what seems most popular) just add a centrifugal supercharger to the mix.

The latter of these two options is the route many people have taken, and rightfully so. Installation is easy, tuning is no mystery, and the results are outstanding. Mild boost (10-14 psi) works on pump gas and won't cause catastrophic engine failure. Another bonus with a centrifugal blower is there isn't an overabundance of low-end torque that ends up annihilating even the stickiest street tires. Centrifugal blowers give a nice midrange feel and pull hard all the way to redline. It's as if Ford engineers designed the Two-Valve fliers with superchargers in mind.

OK, you've got the blower-what's next? For Two-Valve engine owners there are a few options. While there are a few new Two-Valve intakes slated to hit the market sometime in the second half of 2006, there isn't one you can buy today that is cost effective and suited for a stock engine with a blower. An often-overlooked next step is swapping the OEM camshafts for something more aggressive.

For the diehard 5-liter guys, swapping a cam goes hand-in-hand with installing a new set of cylinder heads. This is because the stock E7 heads aren't the greatest things out there. With the Two-Valve modular engine, the heads are actually pretty decent for street/strip Stangs. Several companies have awesome CNC-ported stock heads, but swapping heads on the Two-Valve is not an easy task. Also, changing camshafts and adding cylinder heads can be done separately. For most, it is financially easier to take things one step at a time. Case in point: The car we used for this story. The owner had Dez Racing install heads but with stock cams. When he was ready for more, a set of Anderson Ford Motorsport cams was chosen. Just changing the camshafts means reasonable cost and relatively easy installation, but the results are outstanding.

The camshafts needn't be radical either; the AFM F-42 cams used in this story clear the factory pistons with ease, idle smoothly, and work well on the street and strip. "We added 30-thousandths more lift, tightened the lobe separation, and split the duration," says Rick Anderson of Anderson Ford Motorsport. Another bonus is that these cams work with the stock valvesprings.

The install was accomplished in mere hours using AFM's nifty cam changing tool. Let's not b.s. here-Mike Dezotel and Brian Mochie of Dez Racing handled the installation. They perform Two-Valve cam changes all the time and are seasoned veterans at it. But the cam change is something a mechanically capable individual can accomplish in his own garage. It's not out of the question that one could start in the morning and be out cruising that night. The AFM cam changing tool works wonders, but it can be used only with cams that have bolt-on sprockets. See the sidebar.

Our test subject was a warmed-over '01 Mustang GT that featured Ford Racing shorty headers, a Bassani x pipe system, and a MagnaFlow after-cat exhaust system. The engine breathes easier with a set of Total Engine Airflow ported Two-Valve heads and a ProCharger P1SC supercharger (set at 12 psi of boost as logged by the AFM PMS system). In this trim, the Stang belted out 377 rwhp. Dez used one of AFM's PMS systems to tune the computer system. Timing was set at 12 degrees, and the car ran on 93-octane fuel.

The cams went in with ease, and the dyno results were interesting, to say the least. We saw an increase of 34 rwhp at the peak horsepower numbers and a loss of a few lb-ft of torque with just the camshaft swap. The air/fuel meter showed the engine going lean-a situation we expected. But we wanted to see the results nonetheless.