Ok for some reason the "search" function isn't working for me so i figured I'd make a new thread.

I'm planning on stabbing a cam in my 95 LT1. I'd like to make the car a "race car that drives to the track"(no radio, a/c, skinnies, etc.) so i want a cam that makes as much power as possible that doesn't require cylinder head modifications and will also be streetable enough to make the 20-30 minute trek to the track. Also, emissions are no concern. With that being said, what cam would you recommend and what valve springs should go with it?

I'm using shoebox's write-up and i have a few questions about re-using stock parts. Will the following parts need to be replaced?
-lifters
-pushrods
-rocker arms and nuts

thanks in advance and im sorry if this has been answered before but like i said, the search function isnt working for me at all

 

What is your car? The cam has to fit the tranny, stall, gears, weight, RPM of the motor etc...

You definately have to replace the valvesprings, rockers, studs, and pushrods and with some setups you can reuse the stock lifters.

Bret

 

Sweet i got the one person on here i recognize to reply! how's ol bob's motor coming along?

anywho it's a 95 T/A vert with a t56...last raceweight was 3700 lbs but im expecting that to drop at least another 100 lbs after !front sway, !a/c, and !air

currently i've got 3.42 gears but that will change when i buy a 12-bolt or a 9"

the motor is stock with 12x,000 miles

my reason for a cam is becuase my timing chain jumped so i figured while im in there i might as well go ahead and stab a cam in it...i just want some more power to hold me over until i can put together a new shortblock

 

Ok so what do you want to do? Just race it. You have a ton of weight there so that needs to be taken into the equation, plus the stock short block is not going to like RPM. You don't want to go too big basically.

Bret

 

yea i know...the car's a total pig but i'm working on it...i think i can drop a good 300 lbs out of it with just ripping stuff out

any reccomendations for a cam/springs?

why cant i re-use the stock rockerS?

 

You are definitely going to leave some power on the table by using stock heads with no port work...Like Bret said, I wouldn't go too big, but then again I'm biased and love small cams...

--Alan

 

NO you can't reuse the stock rockers.

How much power do you want to make?

 

i dont really have any power goals...its more of a "i'm pulling the timing cover off so why the hell dont i take an extra couple steps and stab a cam in there"

im sure ill be happy with whatever goes in but i guess ~325-335 whp is a good start? i dont know what cam-only lt1s typically put down

 

i have no idea who he is...and i forgot about it...its changed tho

 

I would think about the 07-466-8 from comp. with the 918 springs...

 

IMO, its a lot more work to "stab" a cam than it would be to just put in the timing set. im not sure if youve gotta pull the radiator and AC condensor out for the timing set. but to do the cam, your gonna have to pull those out plus everything off the top, intake, rockers, springs, pull the pushrods, lifters.....

then youve gotta put the top back together. new springs, rockers, adjust the lash on the rockers....

i dont like telling people what the should do, but if i was going back to my cam kit install i would have had the heads worked or just put the trickflows on then. now im eventually going to have to do it again when i get the cash flow up to do the heads. or i may just wait till i rebuild the motor.

anyway, if i was in your shoes i would either do only the timing set, or i would do the timing set, cam, springs, rockers, heads or head work all at once. if you take your car to the the track a lot your going to do it eventually anyway. HP is addictive.

 

my a/c is completely gone, as is the AIR system. also, pulling the radiator is a 3 minute job. ive set lash on sbc's a ton of times, only thing that'll be new to me is pulling the fuel rail and intake manifold

thanks for the input though, but i plan on starting to put together a new motor once i've got a 12 bolt or a 9" underneath the car

 

I didn't think it was necessary to replace the rockers with a new cam. ? It's an expensive part.

 

The stock rockers are fine for a stock motor. They are stamped steel and pivot on a ball ended nut.

There is a lot of friction at the nut and at the tip, where the arm slides across the valve tip. While perfectly adquate for a stock motor, they have a number of limitations when compared to a set of roller rockers like these.

The friction produces heat and robs hp. This effect goes up as the square of the speed. The speed is proportional to the rpm (wwhich is almost always higher on a new cam)and also to the acceleration of the valve motion as a function of the steepness of the lobes on the cam. High performance cams have steeper lobes. With a high performance cam there are measureable increases in hp just from a change to a roller rocker. What's more. The stockers may not be strong enough to stand up to the higher spring pressures needed to control the valvetrain with a bigger cam. That's why for classes that must use "stock" parts, rockers are made that resemble the stockers but have better materials and some design tweaks.

Aftermarket roller rockers are also usually installed with a higher ratio to maximize the gains from the more agressive cam (or from a stock cam, for that matter). Stock SBC rockers are 1.52:1, meaning the valve lift is 1.52x the cam lobe lift. On a SBC, nearly all performance cams are designed to work with 1.6:1 rockers. These can be easily installed. Other motors use higher ratios, and some people use 1.7:1 rockers on their SBC's. This has some potential for problems that aren't directly relevant here.

Aftermarket roller rockers are also lighter than stockers. The gains from a lighter valvetrain if you are trying to spin higher rpm's should be obvious.

Overall, while one could certainly do a cam swap and use stock rockers, it would be foolish. Even the LT4, which had far from an agressive cam or a high rev limit compared to an aftermarket performance cam used aluminum rockers similar to these.


The two most popular choices for roller rockers are the aluminum Crane "Gold" rockers and the Comp Cams Pro Magnum. Both have their adherents. I like the aluminum rockers for most hydraulic street setups. For very agressive cams with high spring pressures, the Pro Mags would be my choice.

Rich

 

hows the following sound for a start to a parts list:
-ARP-134-7103
-CRN-11755-1
-any brand hardened 5/16" pushrods
-lt4 composite valve covers(are these the only covers that will fit with a stock-location alternator and allow clearance for the crane rockers?)

I'll pick up the gaskets ill need from the local napa

where should i buy the cam/springs/locks from? which should i go with?
also what kind of timing chain/sprocket set would be fine for my application? just a stock replacement?