supersport603

Hi Guys, I have a 98' Trans Am M6 and I am planning on installing a T-Rex in 3 weeks. I have heard so much about it, and I want to bite the bullet and give it a shot. At first I was thinking of going the 224 route, but quite frankley, I would like to smoke Z06's and 03' Cobras. I think the T-rex will be my best chance since I can not afford a good set of heads at the moment. It will be my daily driver, however I have been driving these types of cars since I had my liscense, so I am hoping I am in the rare category who will actually be able to put up with this cam as a daily driver if I get a nice tune. Here are the mods I will be installing over the next 2 weeks:

-4.10's (in a 10 bolt for now)
-Long Tubes with a cut-out before stock muffler (got the Cannon, and am on a budget)
-Nitto 555's (I know, I cant heat them up as much as I would like because I would like the 10 bolt to last a few months)

I already have a lid and ported MAF, but I do not plan on adding a new pully/ LS6 intake/ or ported throttle body until atleast the end of the summer. So, aside from changing the springs and retainers, is there anything else that is absolutely essential for this type of Cam???

Will the stock seats be ok or should I replace them?

Should I get titanium retainers or the regular ones?

How much do you think I will have to spend on a tune to make this cam more friendly without losing any power?

Whatever help you can give would be greatly appreciated

supersport603

anyone?

chrdij

iTrader: (1)

I have the T-Rex cam sitting on the floor here waiting for my heads to get back from MTI (valve Job). Mine 2 is a 98 but an a4, so will be getting the ls6 intake later on. As for tunning goes, I am going to take a few days off from work and let thunder do the tune (mail order) and make this cam a daily driver A few guys that already have the cam are doing well with a daily driver in a4s'! With a good tune u shoulf have no problem in that m6.

BTW I am going with the maloy retainers (cheaper), I dont think the titaniums are worth the money at all! Just my 2 cents

supersport603

Thanks for the info, how much will it cost you for the tune?

ataylors

iTrader: (2)

I am thinking of doing a TREX in the very near future so I used the Patriot Performace gold spring package from Speed Inc. $295 dual springs, tit. retainers and seats, super 7 locks, and the stem seals.

WS666

iTrader: (14)

You will need a good set of dual springs, seats and retainers, seals and hardened pushrods. You should also change the timing chain assy while you are in there.

The tune is going to run you about $500.

I drive mine daily, its not that bad.

supersport603

Wow, thats a good deal. Are you going to change the pushrods as well?

What is the timing chain assy? Do you mean the gear or just the chain itself?
My car has about 35,000 miles on it, would it be bad if I did not change it?

Thanks

Slowhawk

iTrader: (12)

Forget installing the 4.10's in the stock rear.Just a waste of $$ since they will break shortly.
Crane or Comp dual springs are needed.
You will be down 20 -25 HP without a LS6 intake(forget the gears and get the intake)
Tunes go from $400 to $600 by where you live.Plan for a tune ASAP to atleast get the car to idle at all.Without a tune your car will only run 60-80% of what it should run like and without a tune you can risk gas washing the motor.

chrdij

iTrader: (1)

$500 for a tune!?! WTF is this a mail order tune or talking about purchasing ls1 edit? Just wondering myself

supersport603

I was quoted $500 for a tune after swapping both heads and the cam. I guess it does not matter if you are only changing the cam. It probably requires the same amount of work, well with dyno at least. Mail order is about $550 I believe, at Thunder Racing. From the way it sounds though, it will be worth it.

supersport603

Unfortunately I bent an axleshaft on my stock rear, so I was able to pick up a 10 Bolt with 4.10's for really cheap. I swapped the rears last weekend, and boy are those 4.10's noisy, it sounds like a fire engine. Im not planning on keeping it forever by any means (we all know how much fun swapping the rear end is, especially when having to remove the axleshafts to get the e-brake drum off ) But it will give me a chance to get my old one up and running while saving for a 12 Bolt. In the mean time I do not plan on heating up the drag radials all the way and dumping the clutch at a high rpm, just more for street at the moment.

WS666

iTrader: (14)

The "assy" is the timing chain, cam gear, and crank gear. Most places when you buy a new chain, sell the complete assy. I had 24K on mine when I did it, if you are already in there, might as well do it.


$500 is for a dyno tune with LS1 Edit. That is pretty much the going rate now a days. Its well worth it IMO.

turbo'd stang

I would get the Ti retainers. I dyno tuned a car a few weeks ago with this cam. Awesome cam! This thing pulled to 6700 easily. We only got 3 pulls NA and it made 43x rwhp. There is still more in it. This was in a cam only car. The car drives very nice considering the size of this cam. I haven't tested alot of cams out there, but this one seems to let you have your cake and eat it too...lol. I would get all the assoc. hardware...timing chain, R lifters, 921 CC kit. Better to spend a few extra dollars now while you have it apart...even if you have to delay putting it in.

I didn't get to drive the car untuned, but I can imagine....it would suck. A good tune is a must. There is alot of power in the upper RPMS.