This might be a dumb question, but do I need to pull the motor to install the LT4 Hot Cam kit? If not what all has to come off in the front to swap the cams? Thanks

 

http://shbox.com/ci/cam_removal.html

http://shbox.com/ci/cam_install.html

 

Thanks, that doesn't seem that bad. About how long do you think the process takes with a couple skilled techs?

 

A day or so.

 

Give yourself a least a couple of days so you can take your time and do it right.

 

If new at it, plan for a couple of "mistakes" and give an additional day

 

should have got a different cam. Lt4 cam is a baby cam and old technology. Hate seeing people go through all the work just to come out unhappy in the end and do it all again.

 

I haven't purchased the cam yet, doing my research first. Which one should I go with if not the LT4 hot cam kit?

 

yeah, you should get the biggest cam on the market so that it is barely drivable and you can tell everyone that you cam is bigger than theirs......


or you can go check out someone like Loyd Elliott, and get a cam with a strong broad powerband.

http://www.elliottsportworks.com/lt1.html

 

The hotcam is perfectly fine for alot of people and can put out 350rwhp which is a respectable number for a street car. It is a "baby cam" compared some other cams (see sig lol) but it all depends on what he wants to do with his car. If the car is a daily driver and emissions are important but you want to put down a little more power, go for the hotcam. Whats right for one person isnt gonna fit the bill for someone else.

fwiw i had a hotcam in my previous build and i was very satisfied with it. Plans changed though (after i spun a bearing ) and now my car isnt a dd but more of a 50%weekend warrior/ 50% strip. Never once did i regret the hotcam though.

/and "old technology" The lt1 is "old technology"; why even bother modding it? Just drop in a ls7

 

Yep, LS7 if I was a friggin' millionaire

 

agreed. i cant stand when everyone tells people that they should get a bigger badder cam. especially coming from a guy who still has the stock cam in his car....

if you want your car to be an *** kicking street machine, youre going to need to go big with the cam, heads and the whole shot...even then your going to have a good fight on your hands just going up against a bolt on ls1. trust me, look in my sig. im faster that the common modded LS1 cars, but i dont kill them like i should with a blower.

i like the Hotcam when that was my only major mod. but if you want a similar cam with a little more lift, then go with a LE cam with similar specs.

i linked it above. his 218/224 .544/.544 111 LSA or 223/230 .565/.565 112 LSA cams would be right up your alley. good HP and not sacrificing anything on the bottom end.

i think quite a few guys look at how much peak HP a cam will give and dont consider how important the over HP and TQ curve is. i want to keep power in the lower RPMs too since the LT1s are not high revving motors to begin with. so unless youve built your motor and valvetrain to handle high rpms, your not going to benefit from a cam that has an operating range of 2400-6600 RPM like the 236/240 .592/.592 112 LSA

right off the LE page...
"We suggest a "built" bottom end to handle this RPM."

 

These are excellent responses. I think drive-ability should be a major consideration with a cam swap.

 

Thanks guys for all the input. Basically what I'm looking for is more HP without having to put NOS or a blower on just yet. I still want to be able to drive the car on the street and still have fun. It's not a dailly driver, but I still wanna be able to take a country cruise with the wife and kids. I'm just kinda bored with stock. Sounds like the Hot cam is gonna be my route, but not gonna tear into it until winter.

 

For what it's worth I went with a pretty decent sized cam. 236/243 and 555/576 lift.. It's a daily in the summer months... With a good tune the driveability is still fine. I can cruise at 65 in 6th with no cam surge. Unless a steep incline come up. But that's fine with me to be honest.. But then again I don't need to worry Bout emisions.