wicked_95z

236/242 here! Still breaking in the motor so I havent gotten into yet. But damn it sounds good! Of course that is one of the last things you want to make your decision if you want a powerhouse. Like the others said get you flow numbers for your heads and then call Comp

dmoss69

Definitely flow the heads!

I know this, and I'll post them on the board when I do.

I'm not using this thread for my choice of cams, I'm finding out what is out there, and what can be done.

I've seen and heard 230/230 and cc306 hundreds of times, but the real big cam holders are silent because every time they speak of a big cam, someone slams them because of the lack of vacume, or streetability.

I want to see this:

Now that is a wicked cam. I've never heard anyone running a cam this big in an LT1. Thanks Tim.

Now I'm not in persue of the biggest cam, and give them a crown, but seeing what is out there. This is a performer. He's in the 10's N/A! Thats awesome! I had a 224/230 .503/.510 making good power, but he would have killed me due to me trying to build a fast every day street car. I'm not building an everyday street car this time, just a weekend warrior that sounds wicked and performs.

Now if he's running this with a PCM, fuel injected, street car (not everyday driver), then this is what I'm looking for. If solid roller is where the power is and I have to kill the knock sensor, then that is what I'll do.

I want to hear from others, I'm loving this thread. Where is all the big boys, I know most of them seems to hang out in the advanced section.

Give me some cam specs and let me know what you have. If the brakes suck, that fine. tell me. PCM?...slug out of the hole and a jet at the top, thats fine. I'm not bashing anyone here, lets hear the setup and the story behind it. All I've found is a few threads on here where someone gets a big cam and praises it, and then someone bashes him for going too big, then an arguement about thier setups. And then, the timeslips mostly show that the big boys prevail. I'm on your side! If you want, PM it to me.

Thanks

D Moss

rskrause

You can't talk cams wothout talking about the heads. An LS1 on the dyno the other day made 435rwhp (M6) with a fairly small cam. All 'cause of the great heads. It almost sounds as if you want a big cam just for the sake of a big cam? In any case, what gears and tranny do you run? If you run an auto, what stall do you plan to use? That makes a big difference in how big a cam you can use. Are you willing to run a vacuum can? How high are you willing to let it idle?

Rich Krause

dmoss69

I'm not trying to FIND A CAM FOR MY CAR! Thats comming later. I'm learing info on cams that you don't hear much about.

I want to know what are you using? What is working for people with big cams? Not 230/236 or cc306 cams, everyone can find info on these, I want to know what is going on with the big cams.

It's like pulling teeth here.

If everthing is customized, then what did your customized heads flow, what CUSTOM CAM did you get, and did it work for you, or do you feel like something different would have been better. What power level did you reach? Was it worth it? Do you wish you would have known something more about big cams before the guy on the telephone sold you a smaller bumpstick that what you could have lived with or vise versa.

Let's hear some customized cars speak here, because you can't find anything about them anywhere else. (or I didn't)


D Moss

SS MPSTR

I'll chime in when my AI custom cam and full-port LT4 heads are completed and running on the 383. The cam is monsterous, and a little unconventional, compared to the CC305 I used to have.

95Bird

yea..the cam numbers usually scare people when I post em....But as I have said many times..its not as radical as it seems. Its actually a pretty tame street driver. Now don't think I'm trying to fool ya..my car is a "race car" that I drive on the street. I could be more of a "street car" if I wouldn't have given up some stuff to put it in the 10s(it was a personal goal..10s on a 355 lt1 headed 6 speed). The cam isn't what makes it more of a non street car ..its the other things I did to get it where I wanted it. The suspension is more what I'm talking about..its kinda rough with the pete-Z bars. If I would unhook them I would cruise in this thing no problem. With the new suspension peices out today I could prolly 60' the same and not have to give up so mouch on the ride part. It is a weekend warrier and a track car.....thats what I wanted likeyou..so thats what I have. Oh..its a stock pcm tuned by me with lt1 edit, stock lt1 intake, ported stock heads, bored .30 over, stock crank, eagle rods and ross pistons 12:1 little 355 motor. I feel my engine setup is very streetable since I race it on pump gas and when I first built the motor and was in the 11.4-11.3 range it was cruised on weekends alot more than it is now. I feel the car is capable of low 10.8s high 10.7s at 126-127 like it sits. But I made my goad and now I'm going lt4 heads/ported welded lt4 intake. Hope to go in the 10.5 range NA when the good weather returns to Louisiana. There are alot of hyd. rollers out there making good power. But I feel that if you will be giving up some power to a solid setup. Just my opinion. Good luck with your buildup.

Tim

dmoss69

Thanks for the reply Tim!

Anyone else?

D Moss

LameRandomName

Having experienced the same frustration as the original poster, please allow me to clarify for him...

He doesn't want advice on what cam to get, he wants advice on how to look at the specs and make reasonable assumption about how that cam will work with his combo.

He also wants to know what the LIMITS are... what is too big, and he wants to know it from people who have perhaps made the mistake of going too big.

He's looking for personal experience, not part # suggestions.

kmook

I for example had a cam designed for my needs. I don't mean like you call up a place and tell them your setup and they call you back in 10 minutes saying lets go with a xxx/xxx cam. I mean lots of time is spent, simulations run, etc to make sure you get what you need. And when you go this route you are usually asked not to reveil the cam specs to others... that is if you are even given them yourself. I know people like Phil and Bret are like this since they dont want to do a bunch of work and then others copy it for free. So since I went through Bret, i couldn't even tell you my cam specs if i wanted to... i'm sure others are in the same position as i am in too. So that is another reason you may not get as many responses as you want...

dmoss69

Thanks lame random name.

D Moss

Mindgame

What to look for?

Well, you need to know where you'd like to put the peak hp and torque. You will need to gear the car to optimize that envelope if you hope to have everything work together. If an auto, you have to choose a stall converter that will work with that rev range as well. Keep in mind that you will need a thicker power curve for a 4-speed auto than a 6-speed manual... even broader for a 3-speed auto.

The tranny plays a big part in the cam selection as you see... it also plays a big part in the way the cylinder head should be prepared... not to mention the intake and all airflow prior to it. Alot of people miss this part.... the really fast guys don't.

A shorter r/s ratio is beneficial to a large port head, especially with less torque multiplication through more gearing (6-speed vs 3-speed for instance). A long rod would likely work better in a smaller port head. In a street build these things are not as important. Their importance is proportional to the engines output. Most hot street engines never live long enough to see the benefit of a "better" rod/stroke ratio and less cylinder bore wear.

Just some scattered thoughts, but we're talking about more than just a cam here. Everything has to work together otherwise you won't be happy with the cam you choose.

To me it's never been about big or small.... that's all a matter of perspective. It's about what you plan to do with the car? If you're an auto x guy, then you probably won't want the same cam a drag race guy uses and vice versa. If you're a street only guy, then you may be happier with something that peaks a little earlier and has a larger torque sweet spot. Drag guys might want to kill some of that torque to help them off the line... especially if you like to run a drag radial. So it just depends.

The 6-speed cars can be peaky and still be alot of fun on the street. You just rev it a grand and drop a couple of gears. The shifts are going to keep you in a small rpm range.

The 245-255º@.050 cams are best left to solid grinds. These will put you right at the limits of the stock ecm with a 350-ish build. With tuning, the newer street solidsy can be very streetable, although you will need to bump your idle rpm to ~1000-1100 rpm to get the vacuum up. There have been a lot of solid roller threads here lately so search them down.

You also need to look at overlap. Duration and lsa will set the overlap and the dynamic compression. Too much and you'll have problems.... too little and the engine won't be as responsive in the lower revs.

Solids aren't for everyone but in my opinion they can be streetable with tuning and they can be low maintenance with the correct parts. Just costs a bit more to set them up correctly.

-Mindgame

dmoss69

Thanks mindgame.

btw....did yall see those times at the bottom of his post!

95Bird

oh yea...he has a very very impresive setup no doubt. He also know his stuff...listen to him.

some points I really would like to restate..airflow to the intake and all points before it. This is very important and something I played very close attention too. The long rod on a small port head...meaning our lt1 casting, they are a very small port head. Very very good point.

Listen to his criteria about what your looking for and how the different tranny styles should be considered in choosing a cam.

dmoss69

rods......I was planing on buying 5.7 length h-beam rods for my setup, but I'll check my deck height when I pull my heads off to see if I can get by with a 6" rod.

I've milled my heads .020 before, so I may not be able to go with the longer rod.

I'll cc my head also.

I've called the machine shop, and they said that they will flow my head, $100. I'm taking it down there in 3 weeks.

I've got a feeling I may end up porting some more out of mine, since the last set I ported looked really well.

Anyways,

I'm really enjoying this thread, I'm getting to the area where all the big boys are comming out to talk....yall are the ones that I'm learning from, and I plan on doing these kinds of things for another 25 or 30 years.

Keep up the comments, and let the big cams talk! What do you have, and how do you like it?

IrocSS85

just an FYI, I only payed $30 to have one cyl. (intake and exh. port )flowed in the heads. unless they are goin to act. flow all port's, then$100 is wayyy tooo expensive. Id look for another machine shop.