Camaro99SS
03-31-2012, 03:19 PM
First off, thanks to Phil @ Advanced Induction for answering all my hair splitting questions and emails; I learned alot!. Also, thanks to Tony Mamo for the deal you gave me on the ported FAST 102. And or course Phil/Bluecat really came through on the tune! For him to spent the hrs he did on the tune to make sure the car drove as well as possible speaks volumes. I can't recommend him enough for anyone near eastern KY.
I’ve been hinting at this on here for several months now, and I finally got everything together and tuned. Like many, the quest was to get to 500rwhp on a stock 5.7 or as close as possible on pump gas. I looked into just about h/c every combo out there from ported OEM castings from different vendors to almost ending up with some Mamofied AFR 205’s. I’m one of those people who will spend the extra dough for good supporting mods to get the most out of a given set of heads and a cam yet retain good driveability. I hate compromising on this stuff when the need isn’t really there, and in the LSX world, we all know you really can have your cake and eat it too at a much higher level for the dollar than any other engine family. :cool:
After numerous exchanges with a variety of vendors, I finally decided it wasn’t worth spending nearly $3k for Mamofied AFR 205’s I found used and adding in all new parts. I’m a staunch advocate of AFR’s stuff, and Tony is great to deal with, but I’ll shelve an AFR build for the next time. :devil: I also had a bad experience with Yella Terra rocker’s that came on the car when 2 of the rocker studs broke and nearly dropped 2 valves. Between this and not wanting bronze valve guides that can wear out as soon as 10k miles without roller rockers, it was back to OEM heads. It seems many have overlooked this detail including myself at the time, and for a 95% street car I don’t’ think this is ideal. I decided to go with Advanced Induction given some of the results others have had. Since my 317’s had already been milled down to 64cc and weren’t the best candidate for their 226cc port program, Phil suggested I start fresh and go with their new “High Compression” 241’s. He had several sets of low mileage heads off GTO’s as spares and offered to give me a set. In the end I couldn’t be happier with the results. Below is the combo I had before vs now along with a before and after dyno graph.
01 Camaro M6
http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c149/Camaro99SS/01CamaroPictures074.jpg?t=1318905549
317’s milled to 64cc w/ 2.05/1.60 valves
Comp HR288R (reground cam on XE lobes) 236/242, 0.580/0.590, 112 +4
BBK SI intake w/ 85mm TB
Edelbrock 1 ¾ -> 1 7/8” LT’s
ORY, 4” cutout, Hooker catback
stock 10 bolt w/ 4.10’s
Additions:
AI ‘HCR” 219cc ported 241’s milled to 58.5cc
Felpro 0.040 gaskets ~11.5:1
AI cam 230/234, 0.600/0.601” 112 +3
FAST 102 ported by Tony Mamo (one of his early ports)
Nick Williams 102 TB
http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c149/Camaro99SS/001.jpg?t=1333223255
http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c149/Camaro99SS/007.jpg
http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c149/Camaro99SS/003.jpg?t=1333223254
I took the car back to Phil Smith, aka “Bluecat Tuning” near Ashland, KY as he had tuned the car before with the previous cam only setup on the car when I bought it, and I simply wanted a back to back comparison. The results below speak for themselves. I was hoping for 450rwhp, but with the 4.10's, Phil's dyno notorious for reading low, and even a steel driveshaft from an A4 car, I bet it'd hit 450+. The torque is what really tells the story though; these are really efficient heads! The car feels MUCH more responsive everywhere in the rpm range, and throttle response is fantastic! Nothing like +37rwhp and 61rwtq and going to a smaller cam! :lol: Keep in mind the old setup had the higher flowing 317 heads too so gains from stock would have likely been more. This is a real daily driveable setup; I can coast in 5th down to ~1000rpm before getting any cam surge, and the car can chug 6th gear below 1000 without any hicups. I also managed to get 23mpg averaging 75-85mph on the interstate. With 3.42's I'd expect high 20's. Traction even with 295 KDW’s is a lost cause now, lol.
http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c149/Camaro99SS/CamaroCamOnlyandHeadsCamDynoGraph.jpg
Also, I when I bought the car, it already had the old cam in it, and I was told it was on LSK lobes. It turned out to be a junk re-grind with XE lobes. One thing to consider is that this AI cam is on VERY mild lobes, and the valvetrain is about as quiet as stock. With the PSI “long life” beehives, it should easily last 40-50k miles. As a result, the valvetrain is stable to 7000 with no signs of float. I’ve never really been a fan of alot of the spring killer lobes such as the XER, LSL, LSK’s, etc on a street car.
For those on the fence about which ported OEM head to go with, these AI’s are the real deal. They’re identical to the ported 5.3 offerings and have alot of PTV clearance. This setup will also clear without notching the pistons.
Now all that's left is the track. Can't wait to see how it runs!
Jason
I’ve been hinting at this on here for several months now, and I finally got everything together and tuned. Like many, the quest was to get to 500rwhp on a stock 5.7 or as close as possible on pump gas. I looked into just about h/c every combo out there from ported OEM castings from different vendors to almost ending up with some Mamofied AFR 205’s. I’m one of those people who will spend the extra dough for good supporting mods to get the most out of a given set of heads and a cam yet retain good driveability. I hate compromising on this stuff when the need isn’t really there, and in the LSX world, we all know you really can have your cake and eat it too at a much higher level for the dollar than any other engine family. :cool:
After numerous exchanges with a variety of vendors, I finally decided it wasn’t worth spending nearly $3k for Mamofied AFR 205’s I found used and adding in all new parts. I’m a staunch advocate of AFR’s stuff, and Tony is great to deal with, but I’ll shelve an AFR build for the next time. :devil: I also had a bad experience with Yella Terra rocker’s that came on the car when 2 of the rocker studs broke and nearly dropped 2 valves. Between this and not wanting bronze valve guides that can wear out as soon as 10k miles without roller rockers, it was back to OEM heads. It seems many have overlooked this detail including myself at the time, and for a 95% street car I don’t’ think this is ideal. I decided to go with Advanced Induction given some of the results others have had. Since my 317’s had already been milled down to 64cc and weren’t the best candidate for their 226cc port program, Phil suggested I start fresh and go with their new “High Compression” 241’s. He had several sets of low mileage heads off GTO’s as spares and offered to give me a set. In the end I couldn’t be happier with the results. Below is the combo I had before vs now along with a before and after dyno graph.
01 Camaro M6
http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c149/Camaro99SS/01CamaroPictures074.jpg?t=1318905549
317’s milled to 64cc w/ 2.05/1.60 valves
Comp HR288R (reground cam on XE lobes) 236/242, 0.580/0.590, 112 +4
BBK SI intake w/ 85mm TB
Edelbrock 1 ¾ -> 1 7/8” LT’s
ORY, 4” cutout, Hooker catback
stock 10 bolt w/ 4.10’s
Additions:
AI ‘HCR” 219cc ported 241’s milled to 58.5cc
Felpro 0.040 gaskets ~11.5:1
AI cam 230/234, 0.600/0.601” 112 +3
FAST 102 ported by Tony Mamo (one of his early ports)
Nick Williams 102 TB
http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c149/Camaro99SS/001.jpg?t=1333223255
http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c149/Camaro99SS/007.jpg
http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c149/Camaro99SS/003.jpg?t=1333223254
I took the car back to Phil Smith, aka “Bluecat Tuning” near Ashland, KY as he had tuned the car before with the previous cam only setup on the car when I bought it, and I simply wanted a back to back comparison. The results below speak for themselves. I was hoping for 450rwhp, but with the 4.10's, Phil's dyno notorious for reading low, and even a steel driveshaft from an A4 car, I bet it'd hit 450+. The torque is what really tells the story though; these are really efficient heads! The car feels MUCH more responsive everywhere in the rpm range, and throttle response is fantastic! Nothing like +37rwhp and 61rwtq and going to a smaller cam! :lol: Keep in mind the old setup had the higher flowing 317 heads too so gains from stock would have likely been more. This is a real daily driveable setup; I can coast in 5th down to ~1000rpm before getting any cam surge, and the car can chug 6th gear below 1000 without any hicups. I also managed to get 23mpg averaging 75-85mph on the interstate. With 3.42's I'd expect high 20's. Traction even with 295 KDW’s is a lost cause now, lol.
http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c149/Camaro99SS/CamaroCamOnlyandHeadsCamDynoGraph.jpg
Also, I when I bought the car, it already had the old cam in it, and I was told it was on LSK lobes. It turned out to be a junk re-grind with XE lobes. One thing to consider is that this AI cam is on VERY mild lobes, and the valvetrain is about as quiet as stock. With the PSI “long life” beehives, it should easily last 40-50k miles. As a result, the valvetrain is stable to 7000 with no signs of float. I’ve never really been a fan of alot of the spring killer lobes such as the XER, LSL, LSK’s, etc on a street car.
For those on the fence about which ported OEM head to go with, these AI’s are the real deal. They’re identical to the ported 5.3 offerings and have alot of PTV clearance. This setup will also clear without notching the pistons.
Now all that's left is the track. Can't wait to see how it runs!
Jason