After many hours of relentless searching, I decided its time to ask;

As a result of a bad thrust bearing, my LT1 is toast. I just purchased a rebuilt LT1 from a rather reputable company called Vege. My goal is to put a cam in it as well as Scorpian 1.7 RR's. I dont plan on doing heads for at least 3 years as a result of school and going abroad after I graduate. I plan on putting all the necessary valve components in, I wont be cutting any corners at all in that area.

So the main question is, which cam is better for me, the CC305 or the CC503? The car will be my daily driver, but Im not too concerned with gas mileage. I do not want to rev any higher than 6,200 RPM as a result of hurting the bottom end, so thats why I didnt pick a GM 847, 230/236, or a CC306. I could care less about the idle or how it sounds, I just want to know which one will give me the most power overall, under and at the top curve, with a sh*t ton of torque I have done the search function on 3 F-Body sites, but no one has come up with a clear answer, so I mine as well just ask right? Some say 305, some say 503, who knows?

CC305 with 1.7's
220/230 (.578/.578)
112 LSA

CC503 with 1.7's
224/230 (.57346/.578)
112LSA

I know the CC305 has been around for 10 years and its old technology, but its old and *proven* technology and a PCM tune will be easy to come by. However, the XE grinds are relatively new and Im not sure how easy it will be to tune it over a proven cam. Higher risk higher reward right?

I am also concerned about the "ramp rates" with the XE grinds, and how the stress will be multiplied by the 1.7 RR's.

Cliffs Notes; Which cam will make me the most power under and at the top of the curve without sacrificing torque.

 

My setup in sig. My neighbor had the 305 with 1.6rr, heads, etc. Seemed out the same. I had alittle more topend though. I would go with the hotcam 218/230 on stock heads and for sure if on stock manifolds. You want the exhaust duration split. I wouldn't go over 1.65rr's either since you are not going to have the heads or rpm to flow there and you plan on driving around for 3 years. The difference will be small with any of these cams. Go with the one that will make the car run the best. Even if that means losing 5hp.

 

Have you checking into the gm 846. I was going to go that way till I decided to go with a custom cam.

 

Both of those cams will make decent power without sacrificing torque. You won't see much difference between the two cams as far as area under the curve or where they peak. The 224/230 will probably peak a little earlier than the CC305, but overall, you're looking at 335-345 rwhp with a full bolt-on setup with either cam. I've never cared for the XE grinds, they've never seemed to drive as well as the magnum lobes. I'd personally go with the CC305 on a 112 LSA. I had this same cam in my '97 and ran 12.5 @ 111 in mediocore conditions.

 

its interesting to see a few people recommend the 305 over 503. I figured both of these cams were very similar and I am almost leaning towards the 305 just because its been used time and time again. I guess we'll see? I still would like to see some more opinions!

 

have you thought abuot a custom ground cam? talk to Lloyd Elliot, he can help you figure out what would be good for you, though his cams are more designed for his head/cam combos. Brett can help too, he knows quite a bit about cams.

 

PCMforless was dead on with my cc503 tune 2 years ago, there's no problems at all tuning that cam.

On bone stock heads with the cc503 I ran a best of 12.0 @ 112.8 on drag radials and a 2800 stall.

 

Don't run the 503 with 1.7's... it's not going to be stable at high rpm.

Bret

 

Bret at what RPM would you think the 224/230 (503) would become unstable with the 1.7's??? I have always thought Lift per degree of duartion was always better for the most part. I now that cam would like to see 6200 or so with 1.6's.
Couldn't the individual use really good Valvetrain with a 224/230 combo with 1.7's like say 918 beehives, Ti retainers, stock replacement Lifters (morel's prolly wouldn't be needed) and good pushrods, and the RPM would be stable wouldn't they????

 

yeah like I said I wont be cutting any corners with valve train parts, I will be getting nothing but the best to make sure my investment stays together and I wont lose any power up top. I have read a few posts where people have put 1.7's on the 230/236. who knows, im asking you guys though.

 

the pic of you almost lifting the wheels is badass. i saved that pic and used it as a background years go.

im very impressed with your times and the fact that your mail order tune was dead on. did you ever get a dyno? how do you think this cam would work with an M6 with stock 3.42's?

 

Hey thanks That pic was from back when I had only bolt-ons too. It does actually pop the wheel up a bit these days

The stock 3.42's would be ok, but the 3.73's on my A4 really woke the car up. I never dyno'd, for some reason I never got the chance to.

I'll be dynoing my new setup for sure though.

Launches look more like this these days (off a video, crappy quality sorry):

 

The 503 lobes are more aggressive than LS1 lobes.... It would probably start going bad around 5800-6000rpm.

Bret

 

would the 305 be ok with 1,7's????? beacuse the lobes less aggresive so it would be ok?

how do you measure aggresivness?????

 

The aggressiveness of the lobe has to do with how steep the ramps are on the lobes. The steeper the ramp rates, the faster the valves open, which in theory, is supposed to give you more low end becuase the valve is opening quicker. However, these steep ramp rates are harder for the valvetrain to control and tend to make the cams a little less 'driveable', although I don't think driveability would be too much of an issue with that small cam. All of the XE grinds have steeper ramp rates than a magnum or high energy lobe profile.