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did i buy a TA already cammed???? HELP!!

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Old 11-10-2005, 04:20 PM
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Default did i buy a TA already cammed???? HELP!!

hey, jus got a beautiful black ws6 m6 in june, . . popped the hood, . . didn't see ****, . . all stock cept a k&n filter, so i was thinkin its stock, . . when i drive, its kinda choppy at idle but when i pop the clutch its all good, . . i kinda have trouble with it drivin it in traffic when it gets unbelievably slow, in 1st gear it jumps, shakes and rocks back in forth when i let go of the gas and slowly press it back, . . (ya know, . . press, let go, press, let go etc) . . (i drive fine in other manuals and don't have that problem, . . but then again its my first 325 hp car i've driven) it pulls pretty good i'd say from 3000 upward, . . . then it hit me, . . maybe the dude sold all that ****, like the intake mods for some quick cash, . . but didn't bother sellin the small cam, . . i know, duh, i should dyno it but its in winter storage right now, .. im probably being to optomistic and i probably jus wanna hear there is a cam or a small cam, . . whatcha guys think????
Old 11-10-2005, 04:28 PM
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A guy I know did just what you suspected the previous owner of your car did, he sold all the bolt ons but left the cam in there. His cam was bigger than my TR224, although not by much, and with the stock exhaust manifolds on there, you couldn't even hardly tell that there was a cam in it. Seeing how the motor shook a bit was the only tell tale sign this car had a cam. When your car is ideling with your hood open, do you see the engine shake quite a bit? If so, you might have a small cam in there. Stock, LS1's run pretty quiet and don't shake hard at all. Also, do you hear a bit of the sewing machine sound from the aftermarked valve springs? It's hard to tell, if it is a small cam. You might want to pull the valve covers and see what kinda springs are in there. People with smaller cams usually use Comp918s which have a blue stripe, if that's what you see, you know for sure you have a small cam.

The dyno would be the best way to find out, as you mentioned.
Old 11-10-2005, 04:39 PM
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its not currently in my garage right now, . .i guess i gotta wait and see, . .hopefully the bastard sold the bolt ons and left me a damn cam, . . he already f*cked up the the sound system, took the monsoon amp and now the stock subs don't work, . . left me some boston speakers, (never heard of em) . . . but it sounds optomistic (referin to the cam), . . i really don't remember it shaking like you said, . .but like i said, i kinda have a hard time in slow traffic, . . it feels like im toyin with it and it jus wants to take off, (like holdin a rottweiler that wants to tear apart the poodle a block away)
Old 11-10-2005, 04:45 PM
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Pull the valve covers and what the springs are or the pushrods. Dyno is your best bet. Or try to contact whoever owned the car before you and ask them.
Old 11-10-2005, 05:28 PM
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You never know. Its not with the effort to swap the stock cam in for $200.
Old 11-10-2005, 05:43 PM
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You could measure the valve lift pretty easily by pulling the valve covers.
Old 11-10-2005, 10:49 PM
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i hear people talk about their cams not being streetable, . . . is this what they are talkin about??? what kind of problems, (with driveability), are there with buyin a large cam??
Old 11-11-2005, 02:07 AM
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2 options.
> get a live datalog with an analyser (to see if there is any problems)
> Analysis is clean, then you wideband dyno tune this thing.

> I agree that any cam in there WILL have aftermarket springs so pulling covers will 98% confirm.

Now if you answer that, you'll be beating your head to the wall to find out which cam
Old 11-13-2005, 03:46 PM
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take a look at the exhaust manifold bolt heads for any tale tell signs. like maybe it had a socket on it or wrench etc.etc. that would only give some confirmation that it might of had headers. like mentioned before, dyno would be some help and pulling valve cover off and check lift.


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Old 11-13-2005, 04:24 PM
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Originally Posted by 02TransAm/Batmobile
hey, jus got a beautiful black ws6 m6 in june, . . popped the hood, . . didn't see ****, . . all stock cept a k&n filter, so i was thinkin its stock, . . when i drive, its kinda choppy at idle but when i pop the clutch its all good, . . i kinda have trouble with it drivin it in traffic when it gets unbelievably slow, in 1st gear it jumps, shakes and rocks back in forth when i let go of the gas and slowly press it back, . . (ya know, . . press, let go, press, let go etc) . . (i drive fine in other manuals and don't have that problem, . . but then again its my first 325 hp car i've driven) it pulls pretty good i'd say from 3000 upward, . . . then it hit me, . . maybe the dude sold all that ****, like the intake mods for some quick cash, . . but didn't bother sellin the small cam, . . i know, duh, i should dyno it but its in winter storage right now, .. im probably being to optomistic and i probably jus wanna hear there is a cam or a small cam, . . whatcha guys think????
I know that the gauges in our cars aren't the best, but does it pull past 6000?
Have you noticed where the redline is? Stock redline is 6190, if it pulls past that id guess it is cammed.
Old 11-13-2005, 04:42 PM
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If it is a "small" cam, it could still have the stock valvetrain so pulling the valvecovers might tell you something. Maybe the MAF is dirty with oil (from the K&N) causing it to run like **** at low RPM's. It could have a vacuum leak or something also. If it is cammed and has all stock boltons now, it could need a tune. Getting some 1/4 mile times could tell you if it's stock or not too. Let me go beat the **** out of it for awhile and I'll tell you if it's stock. You got this car in June and are just noticing this?
Old 11-14-2005, 05:23 PM
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While pulling the valve covers to look at the springs is a good place to start, don't take that as gospel. Remember that SOME people are: Cheap, Lazy, Ignorant, or sometimes all or only some of the above.

My point is, don't assume that he changed the springs when/if he changed the cam.

You might also look for other hints such as: unfactory looking silicone blobs around the timing cover, bolt heads that have obviously had a wrench on them, grease/dirt circles where the bolt head has been removed and re-installed, any little bracket etc. that should be under a bolt head and isn't (tranny coolant line retainer brackets if A4) any little detail that might clue you in to whether the engine has been opened up or not. Some people are not as meticulous in their work as others...

Last edited by 69GMC/99LS1; 11-14-2005 at 05:30 PM.
Old 11-14-2005, 05:53 PM
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Throw it on the Dyno.
Old 11-14-2005, 06:43 PM
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call the guy you bought it from... seems like it would save you alot of time
Old 11-14-2005, 06:44 PM
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Originally Posted by trix5032
call the guy you bought it from... seems like it would save you alot of time
I was just comming back to post that.
Old 11-14-2005, 08:02 PM
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Originally Posted by 02TransAm/Batmobile
hey, jus got a beautiful black ws6 m6 in june, . . popped the hood, . . didn't see ****, . . all stock cept a k&n filter, so i was thinkin its stock, . . when i drive, its kinda choppy at idle but when i pop the clutch its all good, . . i kinda have trouble with it drivin it in traffic when it gets unbelievably slow, in 1st gear it jumps, shakes and rocks back in forth when i let go of the gas and slowly press it back, . . (ya know, . . press, let go, press, let go etc) . . (i drive fine in other manuals and don't have that problem, . . but then again its my first 325 hp car i've driven) it pulls pretty good i'd say from 3000 upward, . . . then it hit me, . . maybe the dude sold all that ****, like the intake mods for some quick cash, . . but didn't bother sellin the small cam, . . i know, duh, i should dyno it but its in winter storage right now, .. im probably being to optomistic and i probably jus wanna hear there is a cam or a small cam, . . whatcha guys think????
from your description, it sounds more like clutch chatter.




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