ucrazymonkey

Quick sig: Bolt-on car, 1.6RR's, 3000 Stall, 3.73 Gears, 3 angle valve job, OBD1 LT1 Edit, Hooker Headers. Now the heads are not ported and I am about 90 % sure they will never be. Now time for my questions...

When deciding on a cam you have your Lobe seperation,duration and lift numbers. First LSA... What I am looking for is a cam that will have a nice "choppy" idle to it. For that reason I think I am going with a 112 LSA. Now is there any reason I should consider a 110 or 114 LSA?

Now I have some choices here in front of me on cams. A hot Cam goes at 218/228 .525 .525 on a 112 LSA. The XE Cams start as following: 218/224 .528 .535, 224/230 .535 .544, and 230/236 .544 .554. Now I assuming a 230/236 cam will be too much for non ported heads, but what I have in the rest of my set-up, it will be fine. But the lift numbers on that cam and even the 224/230 worry me with stock heads. Would the smart choice be the XE 218/224 .528 .535 112+0? Do I want to run the cam straight or advanced?

There are alot of us out there that would like to run an aftermarket cam without porting heads. Im looking for the best performing cam for what I do. I bracket race 3-4 a month. I do not want to have to run at 6400 RPM to make power.

What are you guys thinking?

onebadponcho

Sorry, I'm not a "cam guru", but I'll toss my humble opinion into the pot...
Picking a cam comes down to what the main use of your car is going to be. Although you say you bracket race your car frequently, is it safe to say it still spends more time on the street? Probably. Therefore, you can't just get the biggest cam.
Let's see...stock heads too? You're making this tough. The ports on stock LT1 heads "stall out" (cease to increase flow) at around .450 valve lift. Therefore, lifting the valves much past that really isn't worth anything; instead you need more duration. Again, you can't go too far with duration or you won't be able to drive your car on the street.
You mentioned LSAs. Basically, more LSA means less overlap, less emissions, broader powerband w/better low and top end but less midrange. Less LSA means more overlap, more emissions, a narrower powerband with better midrange. If you have to pass emissions, I wouldn't go any lower than a 112LSA. The biggest cam I've seen here that can reliably pass emissions is the CC305. Oh yeah, and all the Comp cams are ground with 4 degrees advance in them, and they only go in one way (Unless you go with a different timing chain setup like a Cloyes).
Judging what you wrote overall, I would say go with the Hotcam or the CC305 (276/290 adv. duration; 220/230 dur. @.050; .544/.544 lift w/1.6 rockers). They're proven performers with stock heads and should meet all your criteria. BTW, I have the XE 218/224 and I absolutely love it (I have ported heads though). It has a really nice chop at idle, and it's like I'm driving a totally different car now.

ucrazymonkey

True, most of my time will be spent driving to work everyday. I live in Texas, and they dont have emissions here in San Antonio yet, and Im not too worried if they do. So passing emissions or not is not a factor.
The 2 cams I have decided to choose between are the XE 218/224 .528 .535 and the 224/230 .535 .544 both on a 112 LSA. I think going to a 110 LSA may be pushing it though.
Yes, I will be running a Cloyes Double Roller and Comp R Lifters along with the items I have already listed and the ones that can be found in my sig under TA.
Picking a cam--- Well, its been 5 months now and I still cant choose the one I know will work the best yet

grygst76

110 LSA and you will DEFINITELY need a tune. Have you thought of solid roller? They do have some grinds that are streetable and still produce enough torque to pull on the straightaways when your tracking. Since you are also not drag racing, you need good midrange torque and a solid roller will give you that. Eventually you will need ported heads but you should "go undercover" at the track and see what some are running and look into the 3000-6000 range.

ucrazymonkey

Im really not looking into porting the heads on here. Thats not to say they will never be, but once this car gets into the 11's it will become my wifes and I will be looking to get a Buick GN or GNX. Plus there is about $4000 of other items I will be getting in front of the heads, so the stock heads it will be.

Now most of the guys that I know out at the track run the CC306 and have ported heads.

Lets say we look at the XE 224/230 .535 .544 on a 112 LSA. Now If I do it on a 114 LSA, what is the difference besides the 2 degrees of lobe seperation? What I am looking to get is a cam that will work best with what I have. There is no reason to get a cam that the lift numbers are so big that my stock heads wont flow atthe peak.

Where does stock heads stop flowing? .45?

onebadponcho

First of all, once you dip into the 11s, you'll need a roll cage or they'll kick you off the track. Second, since that's when your wife will get the car, you might ask what she wants in a cam.
For effects of different LSAs, please see my previous post. I think you'll find out you'll be best at a 112LSA because you run an automatic and you'll want good midrange power.
As far as lifting the valves past .450, there's another side to that I forgot to mention. The cams with more lift generally will have more duration at that .450 lift, so there will be some benefit. I think you're looking at the right cams, and IMO wouldn't go any bigger than the CC503.

Chris 96 WS6

Nobody's talking about intake centerline. ICL is going to make a big difference on where your peak HP occurs.

Lift, duration and LSA are all important but ICL is just as important.

ucrazymonkey

IHRA - 11.50
NHRA - 11.99

Luckly my local track is IHRA sanctioned.

Ok, I think then Im down to two cams like I mentioned. The XE 218/224 .528 .535 112 LSA and the 224/230 .535 .544 on a 112 LSa also. I do beleive I am leaning more towards the 224/230 though.

Please indulge me on the ICL. What role does it take on when determining the right cam to choose from?

Im not worried about a tune. I have real easy access to a dyno and I already run LT1 Edit. It was going on the syno for a tune no matter what after any cam was in.

Is the XE 224/230 112 LSA the right cam for me?

onebadponcho

Good call. I'd recommend going on the Comp Cams website for a better grasp of all the specifications related to cams.
www.compcams.com