Generation III Internal Engine - LS1 Hotcam owners - a few questions

I'm getting close to purchasing my cam setup that I want to have done this summer, and I've narrowed it down to wanting to get the GM Hotcam/ LS6 springs setup. And now I have a couple more questions before I make the purchase.

1. Will I be able to pass CA emissions with this camshaft?
2. What pushrod size will I need?
3. Do I need a larger oil pump for this cam?
4. What does this camshaft sound like? More aggressive than a Z06 cam I hope...

Any help would be greatly appreciated. I have done a fair amount of searching but I can't find any clear, good idle clips of this cam.

Thank you,

- Robby

Check out the thread in my sig. You'll find some results plus a video burried in one of them. It sounds good. But it will fool you. It doesnt make the kind of power that you would expect to come from something that sounds that nasty.

Oil pump? Well, you're a 98, and unless you have less that four miles on it then you will most definately need an oil pump. Just go to SDPC2000.com and get the LS6 or HD oil pump. I forget which they call it. Its like $60. Do it and forget about it.

Pushrods. I have comp 7.4 that I bought new for $93 shipped. Shop around. Again, being that you're a 98 you need pushrods too. Comp 7.4s will take you a long long way no matter what you do (unless you mill the heads... but what ever you do dont upgrade the stock heads :turd: )

Kalifornya? Dude... you've got LTs and an ORY. You would fail it now. You can smell unburnt fuel with the stock cam. Just wait until you throw a cam with more overlap in!

Honestly though, they're a pain to tune, and the power gains arent worth it in my opinion. Go for something much bigger and dont look back. $429 for a kit? For crappy LS6 springs and a .525 lift cam? No way. TSP sells kits with pushrods, 918 springs, and any cam you want...even a Torquer V2... $599. Thats $499 if you dont count the pushrods. Worth the difference? When is another 30rwph worth an extra $70??? All the time.

If you buy a hotcam used then its okay. That was my story. I had a Vinci tuner which tuned the hell out of my cam, all the tools I needed, and a 98 engine with shot pushrods, springs, oil pump, and timing chain. I had all the parts anyway and then someone offered me a hotcam for $120. What started out as a fresh up turned into a cam swap. The only problem is now I have the cam bug. I need something a LOT bigger!

Next cam is going to be a Vinci 049 cam (228/232 .600/.600 112). Even with stock heads over 400rwhp should be easy :devil:

Thanks for the info man! Let me just share with you my goals first and the reason to want to go with a small cam like the hotcam. I'm not looking for all out performance rather I am just looking for something that has a nice little lope to it that I can smog. Though I understand that there are alot of greater cams out there, but with a small lift on this cam that means I won't have to change out springs every 15k miles.

As for the exhaust, I will be going to smog legal shorties, and a catted y-pipe to go along with my smog legal cam.

The hotcam isn't a bad cam and can make good power, some guys have posted close to 400 rwhp. I think 390 was the highest I've seen on here. I wouldn't expect everyone to get that close. I also love the idea of never changing springs again I absolutely hate changing those things. you will need a different cam, that hotcam is not smog legal for Cali. A 224/224 114 LSA is the biggest safe cam. I've read of others passing with slightly bigger numbers, but I wouldn't count on it, especialy the way Cali gets tougher laws all the time. Try the SDPC place for other options for another cam if you want to pass

are you sure a hotcam wouldn't pass? Its about the same numbers as a 224 isn't it?

are you sure a hotcam wouldn't pass? Its about the same numbers as a 224 isn't it?

A hotcam is less duration than a traditional 224 off the shelf cam. You should be able to pass no problem, at least in the cam department. Your exhaust system is another issue.

thanks for the response. I will be changing the exhaust system to a smog legal one within the next year.

from my calculations the hotcam doesn't look like it would pass it has -0.5 overlap, and the general rule of thumb is -4 to -6 overlap being the max to pass. the 224/224 114 LSa cam has -4 overlap and most people can't get the 112 LSA to pass, but I've read of some people beig able to pass with it, but its hit or miss.

well there isn't any other cam with low lift that will give me a nice lope and be able to pass smog. Don't the 224 cams have higher lift than a hotcam, meaning more emissions and what not?

Have a custom cam ground then. It might cost more, but if it's what you want, then it will be worth it.

ya that's out of budget man. So your telling me that a hotcam won't pass smog?! .525/.525 219/228 112 lsa. There's gotta be a way to make that work.

Georgia has the next strickess emmisions next to Calie.

a friend of mine has a hot cam and I have a little bit more of a cam passing emmisions is in the tune and deltetion of emmision parts.

how are you passing w/ LTs don't get caught without cats it's a 100K fine.


I maybe having some real low miles LS6 valve springs I will sell cheap.

Nah man custom cams are cheap from TSP. You can get any cam ground for $389 or so. And if I am not mistaken you can get a custom cam in their $599 kit. Well worth it.

Lets say that you got a HotCam kit and paid $429 for it. Then you spent a hundred dollars on pushrods, because you should get them too. Now your up to $529.

Well, for $70 more you can get it all as a kit with a custom cam and 918 springs, as well as pushrods. 918 springs are a million times better than LS6 springs. Just my $0.02

I live In visalia. I have a hot cam in my car now, come by and ride and listen, maybe I will sell it cheap, real cheap. I went 12.6 with that cam, only other mods, lid, 3500 stall, ORY and cut out, (no headers, I know I know, they are being shipped right now)

Personally I would get the 224/224 114 LSA. A good tuner should be able to get you through emissions and you'll have some great power on top of it.

thanks for all the replies folks. How am I passing with LTs? I'm not, they were on there after smog so they will be going off before my next smog. I am aware of the fines, that is why I am going to put a smog legal exhaust setup in the near future. I really would like a used hotcam, that is my budget for this car. I can't afford an awesome tsp package.

Orangefun, I would love to take you up on that offer. I am located near Sacramento, Ca.

Personally I would get the 224/224 114 LSA. A good tuner should be able to get you through emissions and you'll have some great power on top of it.

I'm sure it does, but I am looking for more of the sound factor than the performance factor. My car is fast enough for me already, now I just want a little bit of lope to make it sound good. I'm trying to keep need of replacing valve springs alot out because I drive this car ALOT.

I'm sure it does, but I am looking for more of the sound factor than the performance factor. My car is fast enough for me already, now I just want a little bit of lope to make it sound good. I'm trying to keep need of replacing valve springs alot out because I drive this car ALOT.

Why don't you just lower your idle then? That'll give you some choppyness right there. It's not a wise idea to get a cam purely for the sound, especially with a low budget. It's an in-depth performance mod that has a side effect of changing the sound of the car; it shouldn't be vice versa.

I think thats even more of a reason to steer away from the hotcam. Yeah, it sounds good, but it also behaves like a big cam. You can find plenty of 224 cams for cheap that sound choppy. But unless you find a hotcam for a smokin deal, I wouldnt go for it. Its borderline annoying if you've still got 3.42s. People say that 224 cams can drive like they're stock, but still sound choppy as hell.

Why don't you just lower your idle then? That'll give you some choppyness right there. It's not a wise idea to get a cam purely for the sound, especially with a low budget. It's an in-depth performance mod that has a side effect of changing the sound of the car; it shouldn't be vice versa.

i do understand, I don't have a problem with changing the behavior of the car. But like i said, my car is fast enough fo me so I'm not concerned with getting as much as possible out of it, just want a sweet sound, for the most part. i doubt lowering my idle would work out too well, it'd probably die alot on me I'm guessing. If I can find a good deal on a 224 i'd possibly do that to, but it seemed like hotcams were cheaper than those so that's what i was gunnin for.

i do understand, I don't have a problem with changing the behavior of the car. But like i said, my car is fast enough fo me so I'm not concerned with getting as much as possible out of it, just want a sweet sound, for the most part. i doubt lowering my idle would work out too well, it'd probably die alot on me I'm guessing. If I can find a good deal on a 224 i'd possibly do that to, but it seemed like hotcams were cheaper than those so that's what i was gunnin for.

Rob, I am selling my hotcam and is in excellent condition, if your interested Pm and Ill give you my info and some pix. I dont think its hard to tune, there are a lot of fbody and vettes in my area that have had a lot of success tuning it using EFI live.

yes it sucks finding a cam that will work with emissions, I thought I read somewhere that the hotcam said not 50 state smog legal (maybe summit, but not on the website) which would make sense because it has to much negative overlap. Maybe it would pass, but from I've read on here guys have a hard time passing with anything more than -6 to -4 overlap, and I wouldn't throw that thing in there to find out it doesn't, there are guys on here that must know for sure. There are other choices such as that B2 cam, I believe that thing chops more and doesn't have to high lift or duration. Check out this place for another choice
http://www.sdparts.com/product/CRA144HR67/Z220SDPCLS1CustomCamshaft22022405510551114.aspx
This place has the kit cheaper than the hotcam kit, you can use LS6 springs and it should pass and you don't have to worry about changing springs, the cam is easy on the springs just as Hotcam. Its a crane cam and the tech told me it should make more power than hotcam. I can't confirm that but its not a bad cam, plus SDPC can change the numbers so you can get it as a 224/224 cam instead of 220/224 without any extra cost. I was in the same boat as you living in L.A. and looking for something to pass, I wanted something much bigger so didn't get anything. Keep in mind Cali keeps getting tougher laws, right now car manufacters are wanting to sue the state for the increasing tougher standards-the state is trying to hit older cars as well, but it hasn't happened yet, so I wouldn't go something that is borderline passing. From what I've heard the newer LS1 Rhoads Lifters can allow you to increase duration up to 10 degrees more and still pass(this is what they told me over the phone) I think there was a chevy article on it as well. Of course you would have to pull the heads to replace them.
If I were still living in Cali, I would go no bigger than a 224/224 114 LSA and get some heads because heads can add good power and keep you emissions compliant.
There are a couple performance shops that offer heads/cam packages that will give around 400 rwhp, but it comes at a price, one shop was in San Diego, but the cost was around 6 grand installed, might as well go FI for that price and do it yourself.

I was just looking up the hotcam and came up with a different number than what I read before, apparently the numbers might be 218/227 112 LSA which gives it a -1.5 overlap, but still probably won't pass with that number either. the 224/224 114 gives -4 and the 220/224 114 gives a -6. For comparision here are the stock numbers I found-I haven't calculated these myself, so I won't say they are correct, but they look to be so. These wil give you an idea of how the aftermarket cams might idle and lope compared to stock cams, since your interested in the sound as well.
overlap Year Lift Duration LSA

LS1 Y-Body’s (Corvettes)
-31 97-99 .472/.479 199/209 117
-27.5 2000 .500/.500 198/209 115.5
-30.5 01-03 .467/.479 196/207 116
---------------------------------------
LS6 Y-Body’s (Corvettes)
-24.5 2001 .525/.525 204/211 116
-24 02-03 .555/.551 204/218 117.5
---------------------------------------
LS1 F-Body’s (Camaro, Firebird)
-35.5 98-00 .500/.500 198/209 119.5
-30.5 01-02 .467/.479 196/207 116




Here is an article by car craft that mentions that the hotcam "may not pass"
http://www.carcraft.com/howto/ls1_engine_cam_install/

1. Will I be able to pass CA emissions with this camshaft?
2. What pushrod size will I need?
3. Do I need a larger oil pump for this cam?
4. What does this camshaft sound like? More aggressive than a Z06 cam I hope...
- Robby

1. I'm noy sure, but as others have said it's going to be difficult. You would have to get it tuned by a very very good tuner to have a chance.
2. stock push rod length
3. no
4. here's my car, Hotcam, LT's ORY and Corsa

http://www.ls1sounds.com/Corsa/corsa_jethotLT_ORY-Ibullet_WS6-idle.mpeg