im getting ready to put a LS1 into my 98 firebird and was wondering what cams i could put on a stock engine. Are there any out there that would be able to go on a stock engine without any harm or would it be better off to do some head work along with it? Im not trying to spend much more money right now b/c the engine swap and some other stuff im going to be doing to the car is going to cost me enough as it is.

 

a cam will be about 500 bucks. go as big as you want. the heads will flow well enough. dont forget to do your valve springs. if you really want to get all the benifits you would need to do porting and polishing of your heads, but you wouldnt have to. probably want a LS6 intake on it also.

keep in mind if you want to drive the car every day not to get a monster cam. id think a LS6 cam would probably be the best cam for a daily driver/performance car. makes you just abit faster than all the other LS1 cars but wouldnt kill you on gas/reliablity.

 

yeah this car would be my daily driver so i dont want something too big that would hurt my gas mileage or reliability or anything, but i do want something that will make a somewhat noticble difference in the power. Anyone know where to get a good cam from? How much does a port and polish run for these cars? Since im gonna have the engine out and everything im gonna be looking to do some head and cam work while i can to build the engine up, but i want to keep it reliable at the same time so i dont want anything too big.

 

Many of our site sponsors have cam packages or heads/cam packages.
Thunder, TSP, Speed inc. and others.

 

Yeah i would want it to make it a little more aggresive sounding. I have an A4 so i guess that second part wouldnt affect me. Ive seen some of the packages but i dont know exactly what to get.

 

You really need to watch how much cam you use with an automatic. A big cam and a stock stall equals a very unhappy car owner.

 

yeah i dont want anything thats going to ruin my engine or anything like that. Im not looking for anything big just something different fdrom stock that can get me a little performance out of it.

 

i think a hotcam or ls6 cam would be great then for you
the heads flow well enough for them correct?
also, what are you rear gears? i think the choices for the v6 were 3.08 and 3.23 right?
those might also play a part if you have 3.08s and you get a cam
your stock stall might not be too bad for one of those cams, not sure if you'd get any surge or not

 

Summit sells a new line of Comp XE cams for the LS1, and the smallest one which is around 211 intake, 218 exhaust with .540" of lift or so would be a good option. I don't think I would get an LS6 cam as they're not that much bigger than stock (204 intake duration, and 218 exhaust).

Jason

 

if you are planning to go with heads and a stall in the future the I would say get a cam something like a 224/228 .581/.585 114LSA. it will work ok with the stock stall and really shine with some heads and a 3500 stall later down the line.

we can hook you up with a cam/springs/pushrods kit for $669.99 plus shipping
includes a
Comp Cams custom cam
Patriot Dual spring kit(springs good to .650 lift)
hardened pushrods

 

yeah i was actually looking at getting a stall once i got the engine and doing some head work in the near future but not anytime soon. That package looks good, thats what im looking for...ill be getting my engine here in the next couple weeks and thats when ill be purchasing a cam too. So do i contact you or do i go through that website in your profile if i want to get that package?

 

It's not the RPM's that hurt, it's the shock load between shifts that kills it.

 

the ls6 cam in the summit mag was 550 lift and 218 intake,204 exhaust. you need better springs but the cam was only $219 i think.

 

go on ls1tech and do a search for tsp 220

that came will be perfect for you. thats the one that im getting. its a 220/.564/114

 

What number can I reach you? I'm interested in that deal for the cam strings and pushrods for 669.99