I'm with Dave!
Stock springs are garbage. When I got my heads into the shop, I originally intended on getting new springs to support the new cam. When I picked everything up, turns out I had 2 bowed springs. To make it a bigger kick to the sack, upon pulling my engine, I found a reman. eng. tag from ford. This had clarified my earlier thoughts and findings. Engine had less than 30K miles on it and prior to removal, only had a 180 stat and a k&n. Go figure, I know I drive agressively, but c'mon now. It also explains the tick I had at higher revs. Almost sounded like an exhaust leak. Anyways, figured I share my findings.