football4life

Hey guys, I'm looking to give my camaro a little upgrade over the winter months. I plan to start Autox locally next summer, not really to compete but just for fun.

Here are my current mods:
Engine:
cc500 (206/212).512/.52 w/1.6 rr 112 lsa
1.6 rr self aligning
new valve springs
midly ported heads/intake-local guy from Quincy IL
Pacesetter LT offroad Y and flowmaster catback
KN cold air intake plus aluminum intake elbow
lt4 KM
Suspension:
strano hollow sway bars
adj panhard bar
strano lowering springs
slp bilstein shocks
subframe connectors
Nt05 (275/40-17)

Here are some options for my upgrade:
1. New cam from Lloyd Elliot (218/224).570/.565 111lsa
2. 3.73 gears
3. A small torque converter less than 3K because of autox/road race purposes
4. Other things could be 52mm TB, better catback to replace flowmaster, bigger injectors. aluminum driveshaft.

I don't have a large budget around 1K is my goal. I will be doing all work so I don't have to worry about labor costs.
Any suggestions?

I like my car now it just seems to be a little lacking in power. Would I see any good gains from upgrading the cam? I am really looking for the bottom/mid range power gains.

Would anyone suggest a torque converter for autox?

What about a switch to 3.73 gears. I currently have the 3.23. Also how hard is it to swap gears. I have a full shop at my disposal, but I have never worked with gears.

Thanks for any help!

EDIT: Also I could do a brake upgrade instead of power adders.

slick1hunting

I would look at brakes and then probably gears(not sure on the auto tranny in autocross but guessing the lower gear would help both with brakeing and accelerating. Getting your shift points at a good point with the a4 seems important. I think a six speed is better suited but if you had an idea of exit speeds on the corners might help with gear selection. I just know it would suck if you were at low rpm exiting the corner. Im guessing the 373 might be decent but dont know in the automatic. Cant go wrong with better brakes though. Tires and brakes take a good beating.

Locruid

With an auto (Im assuming you have an auto with the 3.23 or I'm blind and didnt see it lol) 2 of the BIGGEST bang for the bucks are the 3.73 upgrade and the stall converter.

Gear change could be expensive from what I've read (I stick with 3.23 myself cause I do highway travel a bit). If you've never done a gear change, you might wanna fork out the cash to have it done OR just find a complete rear axle somewhere and swap it out yourself.

The converter can also yield great results and can pretty much be done yourself easily.

I've seen dyno results for just the Driveshaft and if memory serves it was somewhere like 1 hp gain.

GREAT read on upgrading to 58mm with dyno results so you can make your own decision on whether it's worth it
58mm vs 52mm TB test. Dyno & Test Results.

A "seat of the pants" experiance
Stock throttle body vs larger one on a "bolt-on" LT1 - Forums - Official C4 Vette Registry - Corvette C4 Registry

bw_hunter

A cam ke that is going to increase power at higher rpm and will sacrifice some at the bottom.....that might be detrimental for you.

I like nitto's and found their nt555r2 excellent for handling courses. I find the nt05's weaker...maybe a switch to Toyo or Yokohama might yield better times...

football4life

Ya I was kinda of worried about this, but after talking with Lloyd Elliot, I think one of his smaller cam's sill provides good torque down low. BUT would I see much benifit over the cam I already have?

I think I have found a c5 brake conversion setup that is in my price range. I might go this route because I have never liked the feel of the lt1 brakes.

I would really like to go with a T/C and gear combo. but thats a bit involved maybe I will wait until next year after I have ran a couple courses at an autox event.

I am really impressed with the performance of the nt05 on the street. But I could always get a track tire just for racing, but thats abit above my budget now.

thanks for the comments!