So im pretty new to LT tech, and was curious what you would suggest for a street/daily driver. im about to look into purchasing a cam, and i know that:

1)it isnt at all easy to get at and

2) a substantial amount of research should go into one before i make that investment...

I'm thinking a low-end cam, that"d peak from 3,000-5,000

i am going to look at the heads first however.. 1.6 roller rockers sound right?

also, ive read debates between stock LT4 springs, and beehives. some people seem to believe that for the price, the LT4 springs will suffice, others lean towards the beehives. so im at an impass there

and info would be greatly appreciated,

al

 

A custom ground cam is the way to go. It costs about the same as an off the shelf cam and you get exaclty what you want.

 

LT4 springs wont handle any modern aftermarket cam.

Your 3000-5000 rpm range is a joke, the stock cam pulls higher.

Heads at the same time as the cam is a good idea.


Please don't take offense but..........
What I see from your post is someone who is going to wildly overthink this till you try and reinvent the wheel and get it wrong.


IMO while everyone says the b-body cam is "detuned" in bolton form the b-body and f-body make similar peak numbers but by all accounts the b-body cam makes lowend torque sooner. Taking into account what I believe is the f-body cam being compromised to limit lowend torque to save your crappy glass axle many mild aftermarket cams can match or slightly improve stock lowend performance with huge gains up higher than what you are proping to spin. A 6500rpm smallblock should still make gobs of torque down low, it is not like we are talking a 8000rpm engine that doesn't come into the cam till 4500 or so.

 

How much would that be? What is the intake/exhaust times?

I believe stock lt cam is 218/228 or something like that.

 

I'm not gonna argue about the lt4 springs because I know little about them, as well as the stock cam but I will say that researching on someting as important as a cam seems justified. Call me dumb, but I'm not too into wasting money.

What's a b-body cam? The reason I state those rpm's is because I recently saw one for $125. He also posted a link, which I followed and lead me to a site that had specs. I believe it was called a X300 or something like that. It was a few days ago..

 

You need to find the search button and allow the information to flow. If you spent 2 hours on here you'd be light-years ahead of where you are now.

P.S. 218/228 is the @.050 duration for a GMPP Hotcam. Stock is like 205/207 on a 117LSA

-Dustin-

 

Llyod Elliot charges $300 shipped for a custom ground.

 

b-body refers to Caprice/Impala/Roadmaster, Fleetwood is much the same car but longer called a d-body, where f-body is Camaro/Firebird and variants. The cam in them was 191/195 .418/.434ish on 111.

The huge 117 lobe separation on the f-body cam is what messes up it's lowend torque production.

$125 for a used b-body cam is at least $100 too much. No way in hell would I open up an f-body engine to put a stock b-body cam in either.

I would strongly suggest a years worth of regular reading before you buy anything, you are so far off track right now that you need to step back and start the process over again.

I say this as someone who made a lot of mistakes a decade ago when I started modding the car. If someone had bluntly told me I was doing things wrong it would have saved me some hassle and money.

 

I agree with 96capricemgr. It was one of the hardest decisions I made when selecting a cam to match what I wanted and the mods done to my car. The new engine I'm building now I went custom and had a lot of influence from Llyod on what to get.

 

Here's a good comparison for you in the GM RAM JET 350 crate engine. This engine is very similar to our LT1 but with lower compression iron heads. It has a nice short roller cam (parts #14097395) that may make only 350hp @ 5200 but it pulls 400ft-lbs torque @ only 3500rpms using stock Vortec vlv springs. The trick here is the tight lobe separation angle (109) and short duration. It makes for a powerfull low end yet has resonable idle. Just installing that cam as is with the LT1 higher compression would make even more power and torque.
IMHO keep the vlv overlap less than 50 degrees and the LSA at least 108*.

Let us know if you need any specific help,
cardo0

 

The other thing to consider when comparing to crate engines is they are not tested burdened with intake tract, exhaust manifolds, cats and small quiet exhaust.
It also got 92 octane tuning when even the factory Vette got 91 octane tuning

Ramjet cam is 196/206 109 .460/.481
b-body cam is 191/195 111 .418/.430
I think if tested the same way a b-body LT1 would make VERY VERY close to those numbers, it does have 10:1 compression with iron heads though instead of the 9.4 of the Ramjet.

 

What about GM's HotCam? Would that be too much lift?

 

too much lift for what?

 

The "hot cam" has more duration than what i consider a "short cam". You stated a cam for 5000rpm or less. Are u changing your mind now??

Your thinking too hard 96LtZ. Not trying to hurt your hopes but cams are not easy to change in a fouth gen if a mistake/bad choice is made. Cam designers usually stuff in all the lift they can considering most all the variables/restraints required. Keep it simple and let the cam designers do all the figuring - they have the know how and experience.

BTW the vortec heads on that RAM JET 350 use LT4 vlv springs - just thought it would be good for u to know this if your looking at vlv springs also.

If you still want a short cam let me know and i will try to help,
cardo0

 

yeah ha, nevermind.. i figure those lifts are below stock LT cam?



"200/207 duration at 0.050-inch lift, 0.447/0.459 inches of lift and 117 degrees of lobe separation angle"


-Read more: 94 LT1 Cam Specifications | eHow.com 94 LT1 Cam Specifications | eHow.com


i also looked around and saw some pretty badass cams.
im sure you're familiar with these...

"Comp306
.510/.540 230/244 112LSA

GM847
.539/.558 234/242 112LSA"

-http://www.montecarloss.com/community/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=557863

is that over-shooting my preferred rpm range for peak?

you also said that its unreasonable for that rpm to be so low.. i went back, figured if i got LT4 springs and 1.6 rr, then i ought to be able to redline about 6200rpm. what're youre thoughts?



cardo0: im thinking a redline around mid 6's... say 6200 -6500 or somewhere in there.. yet on the other hand, i wont be racing for a few years, so im not sure if i should invest in a huge cam with a lot of lift or something that has more of what i need.. this is my daily driver after all.

oh i know its hard, ive heard that you have to uninstall and remove the radiator so you can pull the cam straight out of the front..

im on a low budget, and i imagine the cam designers charge for their time..?