Hey, well this is my first post on this site....but i was told by a friend that there are some great people on here that can offer some really good help with car questions, so please give me any and all info u can! I appreciate it!

i currently own a 1995 trans am 6 spd, and it has exhaust intake and thats about it....but i really wanna boost the power up some and ive decided to go with a cam...i am going to leave the stock heads for now, but might port and polish them, can anyone give any insight on the biggest meanest cam (and price range of it) i can get without changing out the heads...i have always been around cars and love everything about them, but dont know a whole lot when it comes to engine work...so please fill me in, constructive criticism wont be taken badly either, i appreciate it.

 

Constructive critiscism, use the search feature in the menu at the top of the page, there has been lots of discussion on cams previously. Now for a quick run down. The most common cams available for your application are the GM LT4 Hotcam, the Comp CC305, and the Comp CC306, I believe the 306 is the biggest you would probably want to go judging from your post and it may even be a little too big, do a search on these cams and you will come up with lots of comparisons, opinions and reviews and probably even a few sound clips

 

The Hotcam is a good cam for stock heads and is available as a complete "kit" for a reasonable price (<$500).

Includes:
1 Camshaft (24502586)
16 Roller rocker arms (12370839)
16 Valve springs (12551483)
16 Valve caps (10212808)
16 Valve keys (24503856)
16 Valve spring shims (10212809)

The rockers are nice aluminum 1.6:1 ratio pieces.

Rich

 

I have the CC306 and I LOVE it. It really depends on your goals though; Do you want power on the low end, mid range, high end? There is ALOT more than getting a cam and "throwing it in". You will need PCM tuning, gears, better injectors, better tires and suspension to hook all that extra power. These thing are things to think about. You CAN run without these but it will hold you back.

If you're like me you have to start somewhere and work your way up so don't take this post as a "if you can't afford all this at once don't do it" thread. That is not what I mean at all. Just realize once you start there is no stopping!!

 

Don't forget the GM 847 cam! Lots of people with great numbers with that cam. (Beat you to it ATLJAR!!!)

Jonota

 

i appreciate the help, and will search the different posts on cams..for the time being i would like to leave the injectors til i can afford new ones...but will be getting gears and the PCM tuned, thanks for the help and everyone let me know if u run across anything else

 

You definetly don't need injectors if you're going with a simple cam change. The stock injectors can support upwards of 400 rwhp.

The PCM retuned is a must.

You may not need gears if you already have 3.42s. Also, I don't know if you realize this or not since you're new to these cars, but if you leave the line hard with a 6-speed, you run the risk of breaking the rear-end in these cars.

My vote is for the CC306

Mike

 

With the cc306, like I said you don't HAVE to have bigger injectors (I have not put my 37# injectors yet) but you WILL be maxing out the stock 24#'ers.As for the PCM, some guys run without getting it tuned if you REALLY wanna be technical on what you can and can't do. But you will see an increase in driveablity and horsepower with a tune.

 

thanks man....i have learned about the rear end problem...for i have already shelled one, but it was on its way out when i bought the car....but i will probably try to get some 3.73's...

 

One more question...mainly directed towards 30696bird....what kind of horsepower/torque gains could be expected out of the cc306 cam? i havent had a lot of time to find much about them yet?

 

Definetly not since you're not approaching nearly 400 rwhp with stock unported heads. More like 350-360 rwhp.

If he decides to port/polish the heads, then of course the need for aftermarket injectors will arise.

Mike

 

I DO have P&P heads, I realize he does not (yet). Anyways, everyone seems to be running 350-360 RWHP like Kraest says. As far as ported it's usually 20-30 more RWHP from what people on the board say. I can tell you it pulls good from a dead stop all the way to 6300 where I have my shift points set. Alot say it's only a top end cam but I can spin the tires to 100 MPH (not me moving of course) without power braking it. I am running on Kumho's so it's not like there DR's or anything. However, they are the same tires I was running when I was bone stock and could not spin very good without powerbraking.


Kraest had some good points but some things are not "required" before you can drive your vehicle. They will improve performance ALOT though. JMHO.