i have a stock 86 gt and the cam bearings are bad so i need to replace the cam and was wondering what cam i could put in without having to change everything and still get more horsepower. any help would be appreciated

 

If you still have a stock short block, my advise would be to whatch out for anything with over .500 lift. Don't take my word for it, but what i do know with 1.94 intake vlaves and .500 plus cam the valves can hit the pistons causing a world of hurt. I'm not sure how much more lift you can get away with stock heads with stock valves but is couldn't be much.

 

There was something different about the '86 heads or pistons??? that made them tough to do much to.. if I were you, I'd pick up a later 87-93 head cheap or spend a little extra and get some GT40s or have a port and polish done. I'm not sure how aggressive you can get with the cam but i'm sure that crane or even summitt racing tech would be able to tell you

 

The "problem" with the '86 is that the pistons are true flat tops, no valve relieves. This causes a clearance problem with valves during the overlap period of the cam (piston TDC during the exh-to-int cycle), not because of lift.

You could install any cam you select but a PtV clearance check would be needed and notching of pistons, most likely, would be required with the OEM pistons.

The other alternative would be to upgrade to TW heads, they are specifically designed to support the Stg 1 cam w/out notching pistons on the '86. My 2¢.

 

That's what it was.. the pistons. Good call

 

if you are getting new heads you could run the trick flow twisted wedge heads with the 2.02 valves & the stage one trick flow cam [ 4.99-5.12] lift . good luck.