Topdog922

a couple questions in one i guess...

has anyone ever used the "sniper" tuning software. and if so has it helped? it goes on your computer its not hand held. it seems very in depth which is nice.

i want to put in some cams and upgrade my valvetrain... are there any specialty tools needed? i am a mechanic so i have a very good selection of tools, but not any ford specialty tools. so i was woundering if i needed any. (i know ill need the valve spring compressor tool)

im thinking of comp cams i forgot the exact part number, but the ones were the idle is nodicable and you have to upgrade the valvetrain, and also have a minimum of 3.73's in the rear, right now i only have my stock 3.27's, but thats not problem.

thanks for the input everyone.

tbirdscwd

I have the sniper software and it is very useful. There is way more adjustability than with any handheld on the market. If you go with the Comando, it will take a while before you really get a hang of what all the scalars and tables mean/do. And it does go on your laptop or PC so there is no handheld tuner. There is however an interface box, which holds up to 6 tunes including your stock file that is used to re-flash the ECM. The datalogging software that comes with the sniper kit is top-notch too.

As far as cams, other than the valve spring compressor tool you mentioned, I don't think there are any other specialty tools required. I do recommend picking up a degree wheel if you don't already have one, and degree the cams upon install so you get the most out of the mod. The stock cam gears have been known to be off as much as 8 degrees either way which can spell danger for these motors when installing aggressive cams. Since they are interference motors, if the timing is far enough off and the cams your installing have a long enough duration, you can end up having piston to valve contact.

Topdog922

ya i did alot of research on the sniper tune and have my mind set on it. especially like you said you can get to alot more areas then a hand held, and i do have a laptop so i can put it in the car i dont care about that.

now a degree wheel, where can i get one of those? snap-on? matco? sears? do you think the new cam will have a recommended degree setting? especially cause they are an interface motor.



thanks for the input.

jlw2387

With the Sniper Software it an extremely good idea to purchase a wideband O2. If you buy cams from Cushman Motorsport (Formelly VT) you wont have to worry about degreeing you cams. Your also gonna need a harmonib balancer puller for when you pull the timing chain cover off, dear god dont try and use regular pully pullers.

Topdog922

i do have access to a puller. what do you mean wideband o2? do you mean wideband air/fuel ratio gauge? i also have access to the snap-on solus so thatwill show me the air/fuel ratio and alot of other useful information. i think with the comp cams' cam that i am looking at, im just going to keep it at 0 degrees so no miss haps happen.

Topdog922

now another question come up over the last couple days...since the 2v is an interferance motor, and i want to put in a stage three cam i read that i would have to change the pistons to "notched". can i just carefully advance the timing? or will the valves dip down to much and smack the piston unless i get these "notched" ones?

the cams are comp cams stage 3: 242/246 @ .050 .550 lift

4.698GT

Thats a big set of cams with no work done to the heads. I think you would be better off going with a stage 1 or 2. You should definitely degree the comp cams because they grind some advance into the cams. Like stated about Cushman Motorsports (formally VT) are good cams that don't have any advance ground into them. I have the stage 1s and they added a nice rumble and a decent power gain. Its is alot of work though for a near stock motor.

Topdog922

i just want the most for my money, and i figuured since they are all the same price, might as well go big. but the same thing is said for the stage 2 cams also...the stage one cams will just bolt on, and i can tune the ecu myself with the sniper software.