The cam gears are then unbolted...
The cam gears are then unbolted and swapped onto the new cams.
Back at the shop, Frith made quick work of draining all of the fluids in preparation for our cam swap. With the JLT cold-air intake, radiator cover, and electric fan removed, the front of the engine was easily accessible. Following the removal of the valve covers and the rest of the accessories, the front cover came off, exposing the timing chains. After removing the chains, the stock camshafts were ready to be removed. Once unbolted, the cams were removed, followed by the followers and lifters.
Although this 2010 has about 12,000 miles on the clock, this was the perfect opportunity to check the majority of the valvetrain before installing the new camshafts.
As easily as the old cams...
As easily as the old cams were removed, the new cams drop right into place.....
With the lifter and flowers lubed up and reinstalled, it was time for the new bump sticks to take up residence atop the cylinder heads. Frith made quick work of reinstalling the shafts and setting up the timing chains before bolting the front cover back on. Before we knew it, Jones was loading the custom SCT tune and getting ready for our second dyno session.
With the new tune loaded and the Mustang back at the same operating temperature as our first test, Jones spun the rollers to a healthy 340 rwhp with 327 lb-ft of torque. We were impressed to see a gain of 34 rwhp from a mild cam swap. Happy with our dyno results, it was time to head back to the track.
.....Frith then reinstalls...
.....Frith then reinstalls the cam caps and torques them to 89 in-lb.
PBIR was again the backdrop for what should have been a nice evening of test and tune runs. Unfortunately, the weather was not on our side, and rain sidelined our test. We returned Saturday morning, and the National Sport Compact Racing Association was nice enough to let us make a few runs during the test-and-tune portion of its event. With the tire pressure set on our Mickey Thompson ET Street Radials, Jones rowed through the gears, this time laying down a much more respectable 13.00 at almost 107 mph.
BBR's 2010 Mustang GT responded very well to a simple cam swap. Its billet Stage 1 cams added 34 rwhp and helped drop quarter-mile times by over 0.5.
With the help of Jaime Priester,...
With the help of Jaime Priester, the timing chains are reinstalled. The duo then made quick work of reinstalling the timing cover and accessories.
"With the cams it feels like a whole new car," explains Frith. "Throttle response and acceleration are night and day compared to before, and the car just feels more powerful. With the stock cams you use to feel the VCT advancing and retarding the cam timing, but that is almost completely gone now. Plus the choppy idle just sounds cool."
The addition of 34 rwhp and a more aggressive idle adds a touch of old-school muscle to the new-school hot rod.
With BBR's 2010 Mustang GT...
With BBR's 2010 Mustang GT back together, it was time to strap this Pony back on the dyno.
The addition of 34 rwhp and a more aggressive idle adds a touch of old-school muscle to the new-school hot rod.
Jones made adjustments to...
Jones made adjustments to the tune to compensate for....
.....the new bumpsticks using...
.....the new bumpsticks using SCT custom tuning software.
When the day started, this...
When the day started, this 2010 GT laid down 306 rwhp with 323 lb-ft of torque. After only a few hours, the Pony picked up 34 rwhp, bringing the new total to 340 rwhp with 327 lb-ft of torque. Although the torque didn't increase dramatically, the curve was extended noticeably and the horsepower gains were noticeable above 5,000 rpm.
Googli Bear was in shock when...
Googli Bear was in shock when he saw the gain of 34 rwhp from a simple cam swap!
Our first trip to the track...
Our first trip to the track yielded a respectable 13.55 at 104 mph. After picking up 34 rwhp on the dyno, it was time to head back to the track. Though the weather didn't cooperate for our Friday test sessions, the National Sport Compact Racing Association was nice enough to let us make a few runs during the test-and-tune session at its PBIR event. Jones launched hard and ran the 2010 to a new best e.t. of 13.00 at just under 107 mph, for an improvement of over 0.5 second and almost 3 mph.