94F1Z28

Has anyone here run the hotcam in a automatic car with the stock converter?I know it will work much better with a stall converter but unfortunately my plans for converter and cam are not possible now because i had to spend the money else where ,but i do have the money to do the cam because i already have all the parts but if it is going to lose all the low end with the cam then i am not going to do it.I thought about getting a cheap converter but i decided i would rather wait until next year and get the good one(vig) instead.So basicly what i want to know, is the car going to be any faster with the cam, and will it be as strong in the low end as it is now or will i lose alot of torque with the tight converter.

WheelmanZ28

Of course u'll see a huge difference out of the Hot Cam (after programming) with a stock converter. It's just that the car will perform a lot better with a higher stall, being that it is mroe aggressive at a higher RPM. Just make sure u set ur idle right after the cam install, then the stock converter will be fine. When I get the money, I am going with the Vigilante 2800.

94F1Z28

Did you notice a drop in low end torque when you installed your cam?I have read alot of before and after dyno sheets on the hot cam and those engines all gained torque even as low as 1700 rpm but they were all carb engines and the short runner intake on the LT1 seems to respond much differately than the dual plane intakes on the carb engines.I did find one test on a LT4 that had before and after and it gained torque but the dyno started at 3000 rpm so i don't know if it gained of lost at 2000 rpm which is what i am curious about.The thing is i like to do alot of research before i do a mod,and so far every thing i have done has helped the car and i just don't want to do something that i am not going to be happy with and losing the excellent low end torque i have now would suck.

WheelmanZ28

From driving the car, i have not felt the loss of low end torque. However, my car is a turd from a roll right now. It's got a mean rich bog to it right now and i'm getting stomped by stock stangs from a roll right now

Once u get ur programming done, have them crank ur idle up a little higher if ur a little worried about losing ur low end torque. I'm idling at about 600 right now, after programming i'd like to bump it up to around 1000. We'll see how it feels after i get the fuel mixture set right

Janny

I took mine out fore the first time after HC install. I hadn't driven it since last November, so I've kind of "lost touch" especially so since I drive a little Toyota Tercel for a beater (damn winter weather)

In any case, I have stock stall, and frankly I was scared to get on it. Drove for a bout an hour, and not once did I put it to the floor. DAUMNNNN, the thing is just awful frightening powerful it seemed. Of course the roads were cold, and there were weeee bits of salt dust around, but still . .

Scared the beejeepers out of myself with one rather firm take-off. Hit second gear in traffic, and it was almost instantly sideways. In the one hard blast I took up to 160, I was afraid it would get sideways on the 2-3 shift, so I stayed out of it.

I am sure when the weather warms and traction is better, I'll get over my fears; I just know I'm going to have fun working at it

So, I say go for.

Hoostie

I had the hot cam kit, and I also has the stock a4, and stall with 3.23's. I notoced a difference all toghter. There was not loss in power from stock what so ever. From a punch, it was pretty quick, but after a while the tranny started to slip. All in all, I was happy with the cam for a while. Now I just want bigger.

94F1Z28

Thanks guys for your replies,i feel alot better about putting the cam in now and i plan to get programming at the same time from pcmforless,i have read that he is very good at programming for the hot cam.

Dale 94 TA GT

Ok guys I too did the HC swap and at first was running the stock stall converter. I had taken my car to the strip before the cam swap and was running 1.82 60's , after the cam swap the very best i could do was 1.92 with alot of 1.97's and that is with ed wright programming. I also was on a tight budget and opted for the SLP converter instead of one of the higher priced units, I now run consistent 1.72-1.74 60's. So although the seat of pants feeling is close I actually did lose some bottom end grunt with the cam swap until i put the converter in. But If I had to do it again i would just leave the stock converter in because you lose that set u back in the seat feeling with just a touch of the pedal when u do the converter swap, the only time i like it better is from a dead stop and go wide open throttle and then it will incinerate the tires. It just feels really lazy in normal driving situations because you have to give it more gas to get going and i hate that i lost the tire chirp on the 1-2 shift, not good for everyday driving in my opinion. Just my opinion though guys, everyone is different. Hope this helps