Hey all, I'm thinking of buying the hotcam kit for my '94 Z28. It's up there in mileage, but runs incredibly well. I'm completely new to cam installs, so is there any other mods I'd need to do as well? Help a noob out

 

That is alot of miles. It's a gamble but since the hotcam isn't radical I don't think you'll have problems (but don't quote me on that, in just speaking generally here). If you want to do a cam, I strongly recommend you have full bolt ons to get the most gain out of it (long tubes, cold air, etc etc etc).

 

check my sig, pretty much all of them first then the cam... btw most people will say no to the cam instal with high miles but i say do what u want and just bo open to the possibility of a rebuild at any time. i trap 114 on a cc306 with stock heads and lower end with 200k on the clock, you be the judge...

 

if it still runs fine go for it, you need a few bolt ons before you go for a cam IMO, but a hotcam would work with basically all stock stuff, the bolt ons just help it work a good bit better.

valvesprings and timing chain are a must IMO. also wouldn't be a bad time to go ahead and throw some rockers on there as well.

 

my car has 170k on the clock and it's still outrunning most of the lower mileage cars around here with less mods. i'm gonna put my 230/236 cam in here in the next few months.

 

That is alot of mileage. Have you done all of the bolt-ons first, headers, catback, cai, ect.?If not, I would focus on those, you will get a nice power upgrade just by doing that. Otherwise, if you are dead set of the cam, I would just make sure you do a clean install.

 

Thanks for all the input. I have a cold air and a cutout in place of the cat. I think I'm gonna go with it. I'll keep my progress updated. Thanks again.

 

i did mine @165k. Its now has over 169k on it and its stronger then ever. It runs better then most tuned hotcam cars with 1.6rr's, yet i'm untuned with the stock stamped rockers.

 

You need to do headers first. You'll gain quite a bit with headers and you won't have to worry about spinning a bearing because of them either.

 

Not to hijack or anything, but I too am thinking of a hotcam on my 111,000 mile LT1.

The guy I bought it from said it had a rebuilt motor 13K miles ago...but I dont know if its true or not.

What are the signs of a "bad" running LT1?

I think mine runs strong...I have a cutout on it so its loud and rattlying and makes a lot of funny noises, but I haven't had one single problem in the year that i've owned it...

I assume maybe a compression test, but whats the main cause of failure when putting in a cam at high mileage that you should check?

I thought it was spinning a bearing, but is there anyway to check that aside from just doing good oil changes

 

I would do a compression test and make sure you have good oil pressure.

 

I also think 200K is alot of miles for a cam swap. However, mine lasted to 224,000 before a bad waterpump cost me a head and head gasket. I put in the Hot cam at that time - along with all new bearings, rings, gaskets, ect.
The bearings were definately a little on the thin side but still had good oil pressure with 20W50.

As stated above, do the bolt-ons first.
Cat-back
Headers
Cold air intake
52mm throttle body
Stall converter
Gears
Custom programming (Mail order from MadZ28 or PCM for Less - will be required for the gears anyway)
Then do your cam swap, with a new set of heads.

 

So if I already have a CAI, and a cutout, and then I throw some headers on there before I swap the cam, do you think that will be enough bolt-ons to do justice?

 

Let the motor breathe before worring about being able to spin it faster with a cam.
I did the exact opposite of what would have really helped the car.
I put in the cam and 3.73's before I put on the headers and a decent cat-back. It was just chocking the cam and you could tell that it was just not able to make power with getting the air in and out.

Plus getting the bolt-ons under your belt will teach you how to work on the car and build your confidence to rebuild the motor and put in your new cam and heads.

 

why wont you have to worry about spinning a bearing if you put headers on???