i got an 87 iroc 350 and i want to throw a stock LT1 cam in it but not sure if it'll go. i want to keep the stock heads but willing to biuld them up but not go over the top and burn a hole in my pocket. plaese let me know if this will work and what exactly i should get. i want to get around 350 hp and looking into getting a high flow intake manifold, runners, bigger tb, and maybe a ram jet. thanks

 

i wouldn't run the stock cam waste of time

I know where you can get a good crane compu-cam...it is a little smaller than the hot cam pm if interested or search for papasmurfz28

 

its a cost efficient way of picking up hp. because of its size you don't have to go crazy upgrading the valvetrain and if you go much bigger of a cam you wouldn't pick up much power because of the restriction in your stock heads. so cheap cam and you pick up hp in the process, in my set up i have 600 bucks in my heads just for springs lifters rr pushrods and guideplates. Going with a stock lt1 cam in your case would prevent this.

it seems like a good idea to me?

 

I have a stock LT1 cam for sale. Anyone can PM me if they are interested...

It came out of an LT1 with around 24,000 miles on it, so its in perfect shape

 

well the cam companies always grind a range of cams and usually with more performance and a wider band than a stock cam, since they dont mass produce them so that no matter what the motor will run in -20*F weather all the way to 110*F weather, on 87 octane and blow clean emissions

I'd say go with a cam that's similar to the stock LT1 cam but in a crane, lunati, or comp cam grind, it'll probably have a wider band and a few more hp. cams are cheap, and GM cams are a rip off.

and call the cam company, if you're keeping stock heads it's real easy to overcam them, and the cam mnfr will know which cam is best for a stock setup, for building the heads up.... maybe some porting, valve job, polish the combustion chambers, new valvesprings to fit the cam ofcourse, and a set of 1.6 rockers, and then save up for an aftermarket set of heads, stock wont flow much unless they're vortech and a pro just ported them.

also the best way to increase power is with exhaust, better gas mileage better power, i'd find a cheap set of longtube headers and install a set of cutouts. your engine will love it. And you'll see more output than with the intake side

 

if your getting a cam that is pretty much an lt1 cam why buy it from crane when you can get a stock lt1 cam for 40 bucks?

 

Exactly, people practically give these things away in the classifieds section on this site.

 

well that's the choice to go with then, if the motor is a roller already, and lifters can be found cheap enough that'll work

the point of going aftermarkte is to have the wider band and power increase, you also have the cam company to tell you if it's the best cam for your motor or not,

since cams are cheap, if one will give a few more ponies in the stock setup then it's worth it, i mean to change the cam you have so much other work and seals already being done, like new timing chain, new lifters, intake gaskets, valve covers, oil pan has to drop, timing cover comes off, if you're good heads can stay on to change the springs if you arent, heads come off and that's another $80 er so for head gaskets bt then that isnt bad you can put smaller head gaskets in and bump compression, hell for the extra couple bucks in the cam you dont wanna have to do it all again, and the cam is what $100, the seals are about $40, springs about $100, the lifters ~$60-$80, double roller timing chain is about $60-the sky, if i remember right last time i did this stuff was a year ago so i cant remember prices, might as well do it right once instead of making a huge mistake, if the cam company says go with something that's exactly like the LT1 cam in a gen I camshaft, then go for it, otherwise i'd spend the extra cash since it's worth it

and trust me I put in a cheap cam i got on ebay my first time and was unhappy with it, and then i needed new springs, timing chain, lifters.... for the second cam, and i wasted a lot of money and now i have a cam sitting in my garage with no home.

my advice, bite the bullet and be happy with the output, dont spend twice as much trying to be cheap

 

Specs on a stock LT-1 cam are very very similar to your L-98 cam. The LT-1 cam has a bit more lift but that's about it. Probably not worth much power over what you've got now. Throw some 1.6 rockers on your stock cam and you'll be doing about as much good as shoving a stock LT-1 cam in it.

 

interesting...

whoever is doing this swap i'd strongly recommend researching the swap, if damon is right and the cams are already so similar, you owe him big time, that's a lot of money you'd waste for no output

 

thanks guys... so spend some money now and go with a aftermarket cam to save troubles later? in which case, should i go with a L98 or LT1 cam and which one? like i said, i want to keep the stock heads, not port or polish them, but build them up. my exaust and suspension doesnt need anything. but will a high flow intake manifold and runners, 52mm/54mm tb, this new cam, and these built up heads get me to around 350whp?

 

your motor a 1987 350 tpi is an L98 motor
Option on 87-92 Chevrolet Camaro & Pontiac Firebird models
(rated at 225-245hp and 330-345ft lb torque)
9.5:1 compression

note the 9.5:1 compression to tell the cam mnfr

what he's saying is you have an L98 cam already, and you arent going to pick up a whole lot with an LT1 cam

a simple cheap mod would be 1.6 roller tip rockers to get about the same power as the LT1 cam will give you, since the major difference is the lift of the LT1 cam. This only requires popping the valve covers and switching the rocker arms, so for about $80 for a set of summit 1.6 roller tip rockers and $10-20 for a set of vavle cover gaskets, you'll have a couple hours work and much less cost into it for the same output. maybe an extra 10 or so hp?!?

now if you want everything you can get out of it, the cam companies specialize in matching a cam to a combo, so you'll have to call a few up and see what they have to fit your combo. Some even offer power curves in simple combos.

as far as reaching 350 hp you need to build for it, you wont get there without doing something like new cam, probably intake too, your heads might have to leave

with just the cam, depending on how detuned the motor is and whatnot, you might get about 275-300 hp out of it but dont quote me. with your headers maybe 290-310

remember you're talking about over 100 hp here, there's a big difference between your 350tpi and a 350 hp motor, however the headers will help you up top where you need it, but horsepower is dependent on a lot of stuff.... i dk 300 hp seems like a reasonable goal to hit, 350 hp in a stock motor does not

 

ok, i understand i have a long way to go. but im asking if i get a high flow intake manifold and runners, 52/54mm tb, cam, and build up my stock heads (1.6 rocker, lifters, guide plates), if that willl get me to about 350whp.im a full time student so i dont have a lot of money. im looking into putting about $2000 more into this car and hoping to get around my 350 hp goal. im willing to buy some better heads, but if i do i probably wont buy anything else, maybe build those up a little or get the intake manifold. what combo should i go with to get the most out of my money? i want to spend about a grand now and a grand i a fewe months. i have no idea about cams so if you recommend them, could you tell me the EXACT one to get. i appreciate the help guys... peace

 

yea i understand the student thing, i'm in the same boat, never enough money, work too much and still dont have enough money , but the car is my only hobby so it worx out.

heads and cam are where the power is made, the intake will only help so long as the heads can flow it if they cant flow the extra air then it doesnt matter how much intake you have, and it will only lower your torque.

with a cam and intake, and the rockers, you'll probably be getting pretty close. for those newer motors stuff is more expensive and i'm having a hard time finding exact parts but i found an old skool setup to show you to start you off

to the old skool, for $2000 you can get 350 hp pretty easily (note this wouldnt work with your intake but i'm sure you could find some heads that would), i just pulled out my summit catalogue and found a trickflow kit for $1600 that has a set of fully assembled 64 cc aluminum heads, cam, rockers, timing chain, all the bolts and hardware, and they say couple it with a edelbrock performer rpm intake and a 600 cfm carb and you've got 350 hp @~5500-6000 rpm this also is a towing kit and maintains good torque, website for the part is... http://store.summitracing.com/partde...5&autoview=sku issue is it isnt for a centerbolt style intake sry bout that, but that's about the size cam, and heads you're looking at. Being a roller already ( i think, cant remember if the L98 was or not) you'd have more than that for power.

trickflow makes other kits as well, ranging from towing through pro racing, you may want to look at them

however there are a ton of ways to get power this is just one, the easiest and cheapest is spray some nitrous in

 

Haha...

Wow. You make it seem like an insane expense coupled with an insane amount of work. The lt1 cam swap was my first cam swap, and actually first delve into the motor internals and was done in a little over a day and half. Picked up the cam for $10 and an entire engine gasket set for $50 that I can save other gaskets for other stuff later on.

$60, two days and coupled with an HSR (stock tune and log manifolds) it dynoed 225 to the wheels. And that's on a 305. Obivously there are better cam choices available that would be better matched and could make more power but for an insanely cheap mod it works well.