I've been reading around about cams and they seem like a good way to add power. Well I looked online at places like thunderracing and there's so much that confuses me. Such as what do all the numbers mean and how would I chose one that works for me? Do they add a good amount of power? What's the deal with core charges? Rough idle? I'm really confused but willing to learn. I really appreciate all of your guys help and support. The only way to get answers is to ask questions.

Oh and with this set up what kind of cam should I get and how much would install cost? What kind of benefit would I see?

SLP long tubes w/cats
loudmouth
lid
FTRA
Ported MAF
Fernco
K&N

Once again thank you all and I really respect your opinions!

 

Have you ever seen a picture of a camshaft?
http://www.motorsporttech.com/2002_w...ts/ls1cam2.gif

The bumps are called "lobes". The shape and size of these lobes make a huge impact on the way your engine will perform. You can see each one sticks out a different side of the cam. Imagine the cam spinning around, driven by the crankshaft. As each lobe comes around, it will push the lifter up. The lifter then pushes on the pushrod which goes up through your cylinder head, which pushes on the rocker arm on top of your cylinder head, which pushes down on the valve, pushing it into the cylinder. It's one big chain reaction (which is really all an engine is). Each valve has a spring that pushes it back closed again.

Duration is how long the camshaft lobe holds a valve open, measured @ .050" lift.

The longer the duration, the faster you have to spin the engine to gain momentum to take advantage of it. This means camshafts with longer durations will make more power at higher RPMs and less power at lower RPMs than a cam with less duration.

Lift is how far the lobe pushes the valve open.

The more lift you have, the more air/fuel you can get into the cylinder, and back out.

The bigger these numbers are, the rougher your engine will idle. An engine with more cubic inches needs a camshaft with more lift and duration to achieve the same idle and powerband as a smaller engine with a smaller cam, because it simply needs more air.

Of course there is more to cams than lift and duration, like ramp rate, centerline, lobe seperation angle, etc, but those are things you don't really need to worry about at this time.

It's basically what you want your engine to do - where do you want your power, up high or down low? How about in the middle? Do you want a peaky cam that you have to rev super high to make power with, or do you want something for the street that produces good power throughout the RPM range? Do you care about idle quality? "Bigger" cams will produce a rougher idle. For example, I had a fairly "large" cam in my Monte...at a stop it would shake you around in your seat unless you sped up the idle to smooth it out .

 

I'd like an all around power band. And I think I'd have an orgasm from a rough idle. I love the way that sounds and feels. Lol. Anyways how much power would I get out of it? Is it safe to do and worth doing with out heads?

 

Have you ever heard a pro street dragster or some sort of performance car that "lopes", sounds like it's about to die, thats what he is talking about when he says it shakes bad at idle, kinda like a harley. It's ruff at stock idle and is hard to use in city driving with a stick (sometimes). The more drastic cams are set up for a higher rpm band or more high-end hp. This is why most "big" cam users change out their gears to get them in the high end of the rpms quicker. For a good cam i would say look into a thunder racing 224/224. It is made for mid power, you don't realy need a big cam unless you are constantly on the high end or at a road course, where you would keep it above 4500 rpm's, that is a great cam and can = 400 rwhp with boltons and LT headers.

 

Thansk for your help. I really appreciate it!

Just a few more questions!

Ok on the thunderracing site there's two cams. Both are

99-224/224-112 or 114. What's the difference in the end there?

Also, would I want to get titanium retainers? ($100) or just use the stock ones?

Last ?, how hard is it to install? How much would it be for a shop to install?

Once again thank you all very much! (much bowing and groveling)

 

Never mind on the 112-114 question. I figured that one out.

BUT! One more question. When it comes to tuning should I worry about that yet with this set up?

99-224/224-114 TR Cam (my choice of cam for now)
FTRA kit
SLP LT headers
lid
ported MAF
loudmouth
k&n

 

Did you try calling Thunder Racing up and asking them? They shoudl know the answers..

 

The 114 will idle smoother and have a broader powerband. The 112 will idle rougher and will make more in the midrange and may peak 100-200 RPM sooner. However from 112 to 114 you won't notice much of a difference, but I would still get the 114.

 

I really need to boost in power now. I went racing the other night and it's freakin import town. There's several eclipes' over 400 HP w/out the juice not to mention the 950 HP Supra and 500 HP 300ZX. I need to get power!

 

For more information check out:

http://www.elgincams.com/campaper.html

 

Here is some setup that people have installed
you can learn some ideas from looking at what
they put in.. and results..
http://ls1info.com/portal/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2