My friend has a cam in his car, he said it was a hot cam, but the car sounds really mean, its sounds like a misfire and it gives it that really nice rumble in the exhuast... anyways, I want to get a cam just for that reason. Im pretty sure a cam does more then just that, but what? How would I decide on which one to use, becuase there are many different kinds.
I just want to know what a cam does

 

http://auto.howstuffworks.com/camshaft.htm

And that's all I'll say...

 

i have no idea where to start.. cam is a major part of the valvetrain.. cam lifts the lifters that push the pushrods up into the rockers that compress the valve spring allowing the valve to open, which lets intake air in, or exhaust out, depending. different duration and more lift than stock cam gives more hp and that lope sound to it. thats a reallly really summarized description of what ive learned about what it is, etc.

 

Hehe I remember the good ol' days

 

Thanks guys! Actually dont waste your time explaining it, I just want to know what the best cam out there is, i might plan on having nitrous, and maybe stroke it and port my heads, but whats a good all around cam that gives me the lopey sound....
And by the way, I dont really care how a cam works, but rather what it does, (what kind of performance should i feel, and how will this affect the power band)

 

best cam is different for everyone. depends on your goals, you need to know what you want from the car to pick a cam. I went with a cc306 for now, but im going bigger with my other motor im building later this year. a CC306 will lope like hell, but its a pretty big cam, some people say its too big, but to each their own, it fits my goals for now. bigger cam will give you more high rpm power, but you lose low rpm power. the gains you will see depends on the cam you choose.

 

Is a regular basic hot cam setup a nice standard cam that will get me what I want?

 

hot cam is good daily driver cam yes. its got more power than stock, and its got good street manners from what ive heard. it has a little bit of lope to it also. if you want a car that runs harder than a stock cam car, but still want some nice street manners, hot cam is probably a good choice, compared to something bigger that would make more power at the sake of being a little less streetable. all depends on what you want out of your car.

 

Ok I get it... so in a sense, the bigger the cam, the more power it gives at higher rpms but you will lose at lower rpms, and the reason you say its streetable or not is based on the fact that you will only get that power at high rpms and most of the time on the street you will not be that high.... anyways, I just want a cam that is good for street use, and give me the power i want at arouns 2-3 k rpm.....

 

I have heard that the bigest that you can go and still pass emissions it's the Lt-4 hotcam. If you live in CA, you should ask your friend how he's doing with emissions lol. There's a kit "hotcam kit" that sell for around $500 that give you everything that you need to run that cam.

I have heard people getting close to 30rwhp with this setup on their bolt-ons lt-1s.

I have it.... as soon as I get some heads I'll be looking for something bigger

leo

 

Another good idea is building a 1200hp supercharged monster, and swap in and out the stock LT1 come smog time:P

 

you don't want a cam that makes power that low

the hotcam make its power from 3,000rpms to 6,200rpm (With it's nice for street car )

bigger cams can go pass the 7K rpms (with it's not good in a otherwise stock internal lt-1)

leo

 

actually the cc305 is the cam that will give you the most power that will pass emissions. If you are going on sound alone, the hot cam sound better and is about $100.00 cheeper.

 

oh c'mon man whats the fun in modifying your car if you dont understand how it and the mods work. just hang around this board for about 6 months and then decide on what mods to get or you, like me and most ppl on here, will be sorry you spent money on worthless stuff or the wrong stuff.

 

Amen to that, I have bought some dumb stuff.