well the 306 sounds a lot better than the 503 for the most part. I will probably keep my heads stock but I don't plan on revving it past 6000. it probably won't even see that very often.

 

Not everyone who replies thinks about things like maybe they bumped compression with an engine build or even just a head gasket swap. Which will improve drivability with a cam like that.
Many people give advise without a frame of reference, met a local who put in a 306ish cam with stock gears, he was tickled with it till we went to the strip and my ZZ4 cam only Caprice ran fender to fender with him.

Take recommendations without MEASURED results with a grain of salt.

With a cam that big a head swap is all it will take to exceeed the rpm limitations of the stock shortblock. Stock heads are the only thing going to choke it down to being happy with under 6500rpms so if you go back and do heads which let's be honest you probably will then you are looking at another cam. The 503 with good heads will pull great to 6500.

Think for a second, how stock is a 357? Just flat tops with the same valve relief and a .029 gasket will have you up to 11.2:1, that is assuming stock deck height and combustion chamber, just a down and dirty rebuild.

What seperates the sucessful from the rest is being able to see, evaluate and have some understanding of all the variables involved.

There is also the fact a LOT of guys try and get others to do what they have done because if a lot of folks do it it must be right. This leads to things like the single biggest LT1 builder offering such stunning packages as a 440fwhp stroker that puts a blistering 32X to the wheels and folks being happy with that. That sound "good" to you?

 

I might just go back with the stock cam for now.
on a side note is anoyone running a voodoo cam in their lt1 and what are your results? I might just find a short block and go with one of those.

 

why not the lt4 hotcam? nice loppy cam and is still very streetable with stock heads.

 

You could also get a cc224/230 (pretty much same as the 503) and just have it ground on a 110 lsa and get a little more lope out of it that way too. Then you would have the 503's driveability. Or you could just get a regular 503 and turn the idle down to 500 so it idles like crap.

 

I kind of hate to spend the 350 to 500 for a dyno tune for a cam that will not sound that much different than stock. Would the car run ok without a tune with the hotcam?

 

Fixed

Mail order tune it until you have funds for a dyno tune or send a dyno sheet to your mail tuner and have him tweak it a bit more for you.

-Dustin-

 

Is the drivability usually pretty good for a mail order tune? That is what I am most concerned with.

 

Yes, I and many others have put lots of miles on mail order tunes, they arent perfect, but they will work pretty good for the money. I had ZERO problems or cam surge with a mail order tune and a CC306. I'll probably use a mail order tune when I sell the CC306 and go to a better and probably bigger cam.

-Dustin-

 

ok i think i will go with the 503. can i drive it at all before I get the tune or is that a bad idea?

Also what will do they ask on the form for the pcm tuning?