Camaro1994Z

I just recently bought a 94 Z28, the motor is blown up, i found a motor out of 95 that i bought and i want to up the power a bit before i make the swap. I have been looking iinto just a cam, my question is, what cam's can i run with the stock heads/valve springs/rockers. I have been looking at gettin a cc503 cam or maybe an LT4 Hot Cam. Would it be worth it to go with the 503 and maybe an LT4 Intake, or would they not compliment each other without changing the heads as well? What kind of tunning is needed if any in just a cam/intake swap

94adamz28

There are going to be very few cams you can run without upgrading your supporting valvetrain components. If you use the 503, it's almost a MUST to replace your stock valve springs. The stock valve springs have a tendency to float and break even in stock engines turning to 5500 RPM. If your just looking for a little extra power, and even a little extra dependability and sound then the LT4 hotcam kit with the valve springs and supporting components would be a wise choice. The LT4 generally doesn't offer as much power as the 503, but it's also not that far off and a much better price for the entire package.
I would shy away from hunting down an LT4 intake, as GM doesn't offer the item any longer and anyone that does have one wants and arm and a leg. Look into getting your current intake ported to 58mm as well as port matched, and then look into getting a 58mm throttle body so your taking advantage of the set-up. You can also do a search on ebay and fine powdercoated intakes already done and ready to install for right around $180.
Tuning will be necessary, but make this the last mod after completing all the others to save money. Make sure you have everything for this period of time on the engine and then get the pcm tuned. A mail order should be sufficient for these mods, pcm4less, and madz28 are several options. Do a google search for those names and they are relatively cheap around $150 for a good tune.
Also i would look into getting a cold air intake and a set of headers with a catback exhaust. With these other mods this will really open up your engine possible putting you around 350rwhp. Just remember an engine is basically an air pump, and the more air you can get in and back out of the engine the fastest will create more horsepower. Good luck with your project!

Camaro1994Z

Thanks for your input, and the info on the intake. I have saw the Hot Cam kit for around 800 from thunder racing. The car currently does not have a cat and has a single out flowmaster i will be doing away with. The motor i picked up is out of a 95 and has around 82000 miles on it, the car itself has 100,000.

96capricemgr

The stock cam needs morethan stock springs. The HOT cam kit has springs that might be OK with lightweight LT4 valves but are NOT good enough for LT1 valves.

The LT4 intake is NOT I repeat NOT an upgrade and wont fit LT1 heads unless one or the other is machined. The Edelbrock intakes have been tested and proven bad. Wait on intake porting till you do heads at which point porting the stockers both intake and heads is a better idea than aftermarket, not just price wise but performance wise as well.

94adamz28

http://store.summitracing.com/partde...2&autoview=sku

This is an LT4 kit from Summit Racing. I know alot of people that have used this kit on their LT1 and had no issues, and it's under $600. I personally went with the 503 for my setup with the PAC 1218 beehives. Hope this info helps and let me know if you need anymore info.

Camaro1994Z

In yopur opinion would it be worth the money to buy this kit along with a ported intake and a 58mm throttle body?

94adamz28

I think the LT4 kit is a good deal for building a lightly modified car on a budget. However a ported intake and matching throttle body will only yield slight gains without a supporting set of heads. If i was building this car with my money, i would put the extra money into a set of headers where you may get a gain of 10hp to 20hp over the stock manifolds, and i would just forget about the intake and throttle body until a set of good heads can be acquired for the build.

96capricemgr

Again the supplied springs may be OK for lightweight LT4 valves but are insufficient for LT1 valves.

Camaro1994Z

so you saying go with a stronger spring, or keep that stock springs and just change the rockers?

Injuneer

You don't need to port your stock LT1 intake, and you don't need a 58mm throttle body, if all you are doing is installing a mild cam. There are much better ways to spend your money.

Camaro1994Z

I im not going to buy an intake until i do the heads, what other suggestions do you have?

96capricemgr

You can't run anything but a stock cam on stock springs. The LT4 springs are stronger than LT1 springs and are perfect for a stock cam with 1.6 rockers but are still too weak for even a mild performance cam like the HOT.

Come time to do heads don't "buy" an intake, have the stocker ported, the only readily available "performance" intake for the LT1 is the Edelbrock one which has been shown to make LESS power than stock.

93FIRETURD

[QUOTE=96capricemgr;5756498]You can't run anything but a stock cam on stock springs. The LT4 springs are stronger than LT1 springs and are perfect for a stock cam with 1.6 rockers but are still too weak for even a mild performance cam like the HOT.QUOTE]

The LT4 springs will suffice for a lower rpm application such as an LT4 Hot cam this cam doesn't make much power over the stock cam rpm range. The kit is sold as a kit primarily for this reason if the springs did not do the job lighter valves would be a part of the kit, I have the LT4 Hot cam with the springs and the car runs great and sounds great with no problems whatsoever.

Camaro1994Z

[QUOTE=93FIRETURD;5756699]I thought i have heard of several ppl running this kit on LT1 heads with no problems, what other mods do you have besides the hot cam? Is there a noticeable difference, and hows it sound?

96capricemgr

Just because someone bought the LT4 kit and claims the springs are sufficient does not make it true. Very often people make positive statements about mediocre things only because they do not know any better.