You can get the Ford Racing 5.0L cams most anywhere these days, and smart shoppers can find them for about $169. The roller rockers are a bit more at $269, but they are optional. Some may say that's a good bit of money to spend just for the sound and a few horsepower, but you'll pay far more for that particular exhaust system that floats your boat. At that point, the camshaft is a bargain. Thumpity thump, thump. Thumpity thump, thump, look at your Mustang go.
You don't have to remove the...
You don't have to remove the water pump, but you do have to remove the timing cover to which it is attached. For now, remove the thermostat housing coolant hoses up front, as well as the heater hoses at the back of the lower intake manifold. Then unbolt the lower intake and remove that too.
Time to clean up the mating...
Time to clean up the mating surfaces. We filled the head ports with rags and paper towels, and the lifter valley with an old shirt. Once you're finished cleaning, remove the rags from the ports and then carefully remove the shirt from the lifter valley.
Though ours didn't come from...
Though ours didn't come from there, you can rent a balancer puller from your local AutoZone for just a few dollars.
After jacking up the car,...
After jacking up the car, we drained the oil and then removed all of the oil pan bolts except for the rear four. This will allow the pan to tilt downward so you can remove the timing cover.
The timing cover hangs on...
The timing cover hangs on the front of the block thanks to a pair of dowel pins. You'll need to make sure the oil pan is low enough to clear the timing cover, and then wiggle the cover off. Be gentle as it is made out of aluminum and you have to buy them through mail order if you break it.
The stock timing chain and...
The stock timing chain and gears are next to come off the engine.
Use a long 3/8-inch thread...
Use a long 3/8-inch thread bolt to remove the camshaft and install the new one. Take care in removing and installing the cams, as you don't want to nick the cam bearings.
The timing cover ridge is...
The timing cover ridge is cleaned and a new gasket is applied using gasket sealer on the block. Most 5.0L come from the factory with a cork oil pan gasket, and in some cases, you can just add some gasket sealer to it and put the timing cover back on. In other cases, you end up ripping the cork, in which case you need to cut it cleanly at the block, and use gasket sealer along the front end of the pan. Our car had been previously fitted with a rubber, one-piece oil pan gasket, so we just dabbed a little sealer at the block/pan/cover joint and buttoned it back up.
On the HP Performance dynamometer,...
On the HP Performance dynamometer, we saw power improve here and there along the power band, and it really took off from 4,300 rpm upwards. Peak horsepower was up from 265 to 273, though torque remained largely unchanged.
Ford Racing's new timing chain...
Ford Racing's new timing chain and sprocket set (PN M-6268-F302) features a multi-index setup to change the cam timing. We installed the E303 stick straight up, which means the cam pin on the cam sprocket is pointing dead south. The crank sprocket in the new FRPP chain set features a large flat section on its inside. This should be pointing at six o'clock as well. You need to use FRPP's hardened cam thrust plate (PN M-6269-A351) with this timing chain as well.
Once the car was put back...
Once the car was put back together, we topped off the fluids with some Peak Antifreeze and Roush Racing's new synthetic motor oil. A Ford Racing filter makes sure the oil stays clean.