Though the AFM N-51HR cam is designed for stock pistons and 1.6:1 rockers, it's no slouch. Rick bills the cam as the "wildest and best" for stock-displacement 5.0s. It's a little soft below 2,300 rpm, so he recommends 4.30 gears to make the most of the 2,500- to 6,500-rpm powerband. Don't expect to use this cam with your stock heads and worn-out valvesprings. The AFM High-Rev springs are required, and high-flow aftermarket heads with at least 1.90 intake valves are recommended.
Speaking of high-flow heads, some of the best out-of-the-box heads around are Trick Flow's Twisted Wedges. Untouched, except for the addition of AFM's High-Rev valvesprings, the heads are dropped onto the freshly cleaned and FRPP-gasketed stock short-block. Standard practice is to apply more force to the upper bolts, as the intake tends to act as a wedge when it's bolted in place. Although, Rick says if you don't detonate it, you won't blow head gaskets. As such, he simply torques all the bolts to spec, which is 70 lb-ft.
Professional Products' Typhoon EFI intake manifold offers familiar architecture at a bargain price. Chad uses fresh FRPP gaskets on the heads, but-like most techs-forgoes the cork gaskets at the front and rear for familiar beads of high-temp silicone. Just as it's important to properly torque the cylinder heads, don't overtorque the lower intake manifold-that can work against the cylinder head fasteners.
Rick chose PRW's affordable aluminum roller rocker arms to hold down the top end of the valvetrain. These rockers are easily $100 cheaper than any extruded aluminum rockers we could find, and they are just the ticket for our attainable 6,500-rpm package. There is a trick to setting up the rockers for high rpm. "Take the top of the rocker arm," Rick says. "Move it back and forth with your hand against the pushrod. There's clearance between the pushrod and the rocker arm. Tighten it down until there's no clearance, which is zero lash. With the High-Rev cam, you go a full turn past zero lash. Then I usually back it off to 71/48 and tighten the nut and jam nut together, which will give you your full turn."
Here, Chad reinstalls the Bassani BX headers we originally installed in our Stage 1 buildup. BX products offer all the design and engineering of the company's more expensive Bassani cousins-but at a reduced price, thanks to more affordable materials. They still fit easily, sound good, and make great power. The AFM crew reused the exhaust gaskets to save a little cash, as they just put fresh gaskets on when the headers were originally installed.
The Typhoon EFI intake is designed around a 70mm throttle body, but when more power and rpm are the plan, bigger is better. We're fairly sure Rick had to sweep the porch after he used a grinder to open the throttle-body opening to accept the Professional Products 75mm throttle body that we covered in Stage 1 of our buildup.