i know one should do headers before cam, but car is being worked on and has had a long down time. the opportunity presented itself to have the cam installed, however i won't have the cash for macs for a couple of months. will i see any gains with a pcmforless tune and an xe 224/230 before i can afford headers?
please don't say, "well you should have gotten headers first..."
oh yeah, and i do run w/ the cutout open, not sure if the more effecient exhaust flow that far from the exhaust manifolds helps w/ cam though?

 

Well you would see gains. But instead of around 20-35 it would probably be around 10-25. But that is just a guess. It won't hurt anything though. So if your putting the engine back together or something like that you might as well put them in. Just know though you will probably be disapointed with the cams untill you get your headers.

 

You will feel some gains, but not as much as you would with headers. I had my hotcam in before I did headers, and the car felt much quicker. Then I put the headers in, and as crappy as my SLPs are, the car became a totally different beast. I would put the cam in, it won't hurt you. You might lose just a little low-end. Good luck.

 

oh well, just have to wait i guess. still, i guess when i pick the car up i'll be pretty dissappointed. i want my beast now!

 

I haven't driven any z28s with an XE cam and no headers, but I felt a big SOTP from my hotcam, especially in the upper rpm range.

 

thanks for the input, you guys rock

 

Some consideration will have to do with what LSA your 224/230 is.

 

the LSA is 112, so what do ya think??

 

what are your thoughts shoebox?

 

Generally, the lower the LSA, the higher the power band is. The higher the power band, the more you want it to breathe up top. You probably won't realize the power potential until the headers are on, but that does not mean you can't put the cam in now. There are probably some people out there with similar or same cam without headers. Just be prepared to do more computer tweaking when you get the headers.

I'm running a 224/230 114LSA through the stock manifolds. Even it would probably respond to some headers. It's just not a priority for me right now.