Hey guys. I am considering doing a LE head cam on a motor with a relatively ez 65K on the clock. I know many have done this swap and I just wanted to get an idea how your cars are holding up after the install. Can I expect my motor to last awhile? I have heard of people spinning bearings after cam swaps- how common is this? What other risks should I consider? Im not a track person just a street cruiser in want of some more power. And I do intend to beef of the suspension and go with a 12bolt first so I'm just really looking at the engine side of things. Thanks in advance for your input.

 

well i am one of the unfortunate few who didnt have good luck with the le head/cam package. i dropped a valve after a few hundred miles. my heads are in the shop getting repaired by a reputable shop and they think it was due to the springs not being well suited to the cam. lloyd offers better springs for more cash and i wouild recommend it. im going with a smaller cam now, but tons of people have had great results with lloys portwork and bret or joes cams. if its not your daily driver i woudl recommend it.

 

It's always a crap shoot but most people make out OK. Just remember if you can't afford to have some sort of major expense pop up you shouldn't be modding in the first place.

 

Why would he sell a spring setup thats not safe to work with his cam?

 

http://web.camaross.com/forums/showt...t=spun+bearing

Yeah, I was reading up on this too. I went the nitro route. Working on making it fully automated as of right now (window switch, TPS switch, etc, etc)

Good luck buddy!!

 

I have 100% trust in Mr. LE's ability to spec the proper parts
for a particular build. His recomendations are based on science+realworld
experience, and his results show that.


Whether or not YOUR shortblock is going to be up to the task of spinning
higher, and accomidating increased cyl pressure is ANYBODYS guess.
It truly is a crapshot in the dark.... If it lets go, thats hotrodding for ya.

If you are a "street guy", I would suggest
starting with the bolt-on's first, then progress to the
bigger things. You may want to put together a mods list in your sig
to let others make better suggestions.

I am assuming you are bone stock.

If you are not and are ready for a H/C package

LE1 would be right up your alley mr. street man!

 

Got my sig up. I guess that could be helpful. I do see a full engine build in my future prolly a 355 maybe a 383. But with the relatively low mileage (65K) on my car I would like to get all I can get out of my motor for relatively cheap before spending a ton on a new engine.

 

I've had LE heads on my car for about 12k. Keep in mind that my motor is a stock short block with 20k on it total. I bought the heads before he was doing head and cam packages. I was origionally running the heads with a hot cam. I switched to a Bauer Le2 cam last summer. So in total I've had the heads off the motor 2 times and this is the third cam. No problems. Just be sure to keep everything ultra clean and take your time if you have never swapped heads/cam before. Lloyd has been very honest and trust worthy with me, I would highly reccomend dealing with him. If he says something you can take it to the bank.
Just my .02
Kory

 

you tell me and we will both know. it doesnt change the fact that i had part failure. someone (ill not name names) also told me a generalization that the springs could be better on the le1 package. therefore if better springs are an option, go for it. im not flaming lloyds work. im saying my **** broke and the springs along with the retainers are a possible culprit of failure, so this time around im going with better parts in those areas. i didnt have good luck with the setup, unlike MOST others on the board.

 

Checklist should be:
Install super clean?
Motor not revving past 6500?
Valvetrain setup properly?
Not stock timing chain?
Good gas and good tune?
Etc...

If you can't answer yes to all those your shortblock will have a much reduced life span. You're dealing with a cast crank, cast piston, decent rod, 2 bolt main shortblock. Not your ideal platform for making 375+ rwhp and spinning high. I'm cammed and I'm saving for a forged 355 because I know my motor won't last forever, especially after heads and nitrous go on.

 

Proper installation and break-in are the most important parts of something like this. That said, any time you add hp you are more likely to break something. If it's your daily driver and you don't have spare cash in case something happens, don't do it.

 

my oil pressure has dropped a little bit ... but my previous SA rockers rubbed on my retainers, so there went my originally super clean install. we'll see how the bearings last. tip, never do sa rockers, just do nsa.