1994 LT1 heads/cam question
02-14-2012, 12:58 PM
#1
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1994 LT1 heads/cam question i have a full bolt on, lt1 105k miles. looking into the elliotsportworks LE1 heads/cam kit. my question is how well do you think the internals would hold up? its my daily driver, but i dont beat on the car at all i put about 150 miles on it a week and stuff. its just a big step and i needed some advice. thanks and love the forums so far!
02-14-2012, 01:04 PM
#3
i have a full bolt on, lt1 105k miles. looking into the elliotsportworks LE1 heads/cam kit. my question is how well do you think the internals would hold up? its my daily driver, but i dont beat on the car at all i put about 150 miles on it a week and stuff. its just a big step and i needed some advice. thanks and love the forums so far!
02-14-2012, 01:13 PM
#4
Not to be a Debbie downer but in my case dad bought the car new ever beat on it. Had 110k when I took it to the track for the first and only time, reved it to 6100rpms and spun 2 mains and 4 rods. Many people on here have good luck with caming high mileage cars, just be prepared for anything to happen.
02-14-2012, 01:22 PM
#5
Not to be a Debbie downer but in my case dad bought the car new ever beat on it. Had 110k when I took it to the track for the first and only time, reved it to 6100rpms and spun 2 mains and 4 rods. Many people on here have good luck with caming high mileage cars, just be prepared for anything to happen.
02-14-2012, 01:30 PM
#6
Not to be a Debbie downer but in my case dad bought the car new ever beat on it. Had 110k when I took it to the track for the first and only time, reved it to 6100rpms and spun 2 mains and 4 rods. Many people on here have good luck with caming high mileage cars, just be prepared for anything to happen.
**** can and does happen! At least stock LT1's are cheap and plentiful on craigslist...I would pick a baby cam if I had to do it over again with a stock shortblock.
02-14-2012, 02:00 PM
#7
I would(and did) do cam only first. Lets you learn a little, lets you get a feel for some power increase and better determine how much more you want.
Sending heads off for "budget" work now just to want more later is a big waste of money. Most of us have wasted a lot by buying bare minimum over and over instead of coming up with a better long term plan and taking a more calculated approach to getting there.
Now it is possible and common for guys to get carried away on cams, do NOT go big right out of the gate. A lot of guys have overcammed cars and endup hating it and losing interest, if you put a cam that is milder than what you endup wanting though it is still better than stock so you still enjoy it while making plans to go bigger.
Sending heads off for "budget" work now just to want more later is a big waste of money. Most of us have wasted a lot by buying bare minimum over and over instead of coming up with a better long term plan and taking a more calculated approach to getting there.
Now it is possible and common for guys to get carried away on cams, do NOT go big right out of the gate. A lot of guys have overcammed cars and endup hating it and losing interest, if you put a cam that is milder than what you endup wanting though it is still better than stock so you still enjoy it while making plans to go bigger.
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02-14-2012, 10:57 PM
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hey thanks everyone for the replys =] like i said i dont beat on it, its an auto so i feel with the right tune it should hang in there. my cars never been over 5700 rpms anyway. oh brand new trans put in back in 09 seems like the previous owner got bored. the LE1 set-up is the most mild he offers. the cam im looking at is 226/232 .578/.574. do you think thats too much lift?
02-14-2012, 11:00 PM
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I would(and did) do cam only first. Lets you learn a little, lets you get a feel for some power increase and better determine how much more you want.
Sending heads off for "budget" work now just to want more later is a big waste of money. Most of us have wasted a lot by buying bare minimum over and over instead of coming up with a better long term plan and taking a more calculated approach to getting there.
Now it is possible and common for guys to get carried away on cams, do NOT go big right out of the gate. A lot of guys have overcammed cars and endup hating it and losing interest, if you put a cam that is milder than what you endup wanting though it is still better than stock so you still enjoy it while making plans to go bigger.
Sending heads off for "budget" work now just to want more later is a big waste of money. Most of us have wasted a lot by buying bare minimum over and over instead of coming up with a better long term plan and taking a more calculated approach to getting there.
Now it is possible and common for guys to get carried away on cams, do NOT go big right out of the gate. A lot of guys have overcammed cars and endup hating it and losing interest, if you put a cam that is milder than what you endup wanting though it is still better than stock so you still enjoy it while making plans to go bigger.
02-14-2012, 11:16 PM
#11
There was a time when my Caprice was my only car, was cammed, stalled, geared, headers etc. and I was putting 20K+ miles a year on it. I understand and have "been there done that".
It did take a turn for the more powerful when I smacked a nice 8pointer dead center in the grill at 45mph at 5:30am one morning and I had to get another car to drive while I fixed it(totaled). Then the AI 190cc package with the 226/234 cam 3.73s and 3400stall I put in I racked up nearly 15K in the first year. These days it doesn't see so many miles partially because I like my neighbors and the 3" dual exhaust is not appropriate at 5:30am but even with the larger heads and cam 4.10s 3800 stall I still drive it 150miles to the track and it has always gotten me the other 150miles back home and even does so on one tank of fuel. drops the kids off at daycare in february, has still ben driven in the snow. The point at which a car becomes less reliable is beyond where you think it is. I spent a lot of extra money doing things in baby steps and rebuying things like rockers 3 times because I didn't do it right the first two times and bought cheap stuff.
I really think you should consider buying the cam you want and good valvetrain to support it, nice 7/16" 1.6 rockers, studs, guideplates, springs etc.. See where that gets you compared to where you want to be.
If you buy a better head you can get power with less cam. The rpms a cam needs to turn is the biggest threat to reliability so if you make power with the heads rather than more cam it should hold together better.
It did take a turn for the more powerful when I smacked a nice 8pointer dead center in the grill at 45mph at 5:30am one morning and I had to get another car to drive while I fixed it(totaled). Then the AI 190cc package with the 226/234 cam 3.73s and 3400stall I put in I racked up nearly 15K in the first year. These days it doesn't see so many miles partially because I like my neighbors and the 3" dual exhaust is not appropriate at 5:30am but even with the larger heads and cam 4.10s 3800 stall I still drive it 150miles to the track and it has always gotten me the other 150miles back home and even does so on one tank of fuel. drops the kids off at daycare in february, has still ben driven in the snow. The point at which a car becomes less reliable is beyond where you think it is. I spent a lot of extra money doing things in baby steps and rebuying things like rockers 3 times because I didn't do it right the first two times and bought cheap stuff.
I really think you should consider buying the cam you want and good valvetrain to support it, nice 7/16" 1.6 rockers, studs, guideplates, springs etc.. See where that gets you compared to where you want to be.
If you buy a better head you can get power with less cam. The rpms a cam needs to turn is the biggest threat to reliability so if you make power with the heads rather than more cam it should hold together better.
02-14-2012, 11:20 PM
#12
People blaming a cam swap for engine failures need to assess their mechanical abilities and or cleanliness. There's zero reason a mild cam would spin bearings...
Get a bunch of **** in the engine or gouge the cam bearings to death and kill oil pressure, then yes its possible...
Get a bunch of **** in the engine or gouge the cam bearings to death and kill oil pressure, then yes its possible...
02-14-2012, 11:27 PM
#13
I would agree bearing issues shortly after a cam swap are dirt issues.
What I was getting at though is he wants power without a lot of rpm and spending more on heads would help that.
IMO anyone taking a stock shortblock over say 6500rpms should be prepared to deal with a failure eventually. Great when they hold up indefinitely to such use but if they fail you have to consider how much more than stock we put them through.
Really I suppose anyone doing heads and cam even staying below 6500rpm should have some sort of backup plan should something happen after going inside the engine, but if turning it high you have to understand you are taking a greater risk.
What I was getting at though is he wants power without a lot of rpm and spending more on heads would help that.
IMO anyone taking a stock shortblock over say 6500rpms should be prepared to deal with a failure eventually. Great when they hold up indefinitely to such use but if they fail you have to consider how much more than stock we put them through.
Really I suppose anyone doing heads and cam even staying below 6500rpm should have some sort of backup plan should something happen after going inside the engine, but if turning it high you have to understand you are taking a greater risk.
02-15-2012, 02:46 AM
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@gregrob thats exactly where i`d want to be. around 370-390. and most deffinatly tuned by the best. i live about an hour from slp in toms river. i trust they know what theyre doing right?
@96capricemgr luckily you had such a big ride,my cars made from tissue paper sadly lol worse comes to worse something goes internally after installation i plan on building up a nice forged internal 383 with a thumper in it. maybe some forced induction
@96capricemgr luckily you had such a big ride,my cars made from tissue paper sadly lol worse comes to worse something goes internally after installation i plan on building up a nice forged internal 383 with a thumper in it. maybe some forced induction
02-15-2012, 06:34 AM
#16
There's a huge difference between 350-370whp and 370-390whp. The latter of the two is certainly going to require GOOD head porting (and about $2000 more in budget) while the first one, while tough, won't.
Budget is the key here. How fast can you afford to go?
Budget is the key here. How fast can you afford to go?
02-15-2012, 07:48 AM
#17
I would(and did) do cam only first. Lets you learn a little, lets you get a feel for some power increase and better determine how much more you want.
Sending heads off for "budget" work now just to want more later is a big waste of money. Most of us have wasted a lot by buying bare minimum over and over instead of coming up with a better long term plan and taking a more calculated approach to getting there.
Now it is possible and common for guys to get carried away on cams, do NOT go big right out of the gate. A lot of guys have overcammed cars and endup hating it and losing interest, if you put a cam that is milder than what you endup wanting though it is still better than stock so you still enjoy it while making plans to go bigger.
Sending heads off for "budget" work now just to want more later is a big waste of money. Most of us have wasted a lot by buying bare minimum over and over instead of coming up with a better long term plan and taking a more calculated approach to getting there.
Now it is possible and common for guys to get carried away on cams, do NOT go big right out of the gate. A lot of guys have overcammed cars and endup hating it and losing interest, if you put a cam that is milder than what you endup wanting though it is still better than stock so you still enjoy it while making plans to go bigger.
No thats not too much lift with a properly set up valvetrain but be prepared to spin the motor to around 6.2K RPM or so with stock heads. I have that cam and with LE2 heads mine spins to 6.5K RPM for best power. This cam is nice and has excellent street manners and will work well for a DD IMO.
