cm7988

So one of the great lifters that GM has been making has decided to collapse in my 06 gxp with less than 20,000 miles. Im gonna change all he lifters while im in there, also Im really considering swapping out the cam seeing as the lifters are out already, why not right?? Now all ive done so far was a K&N air intake and Magnaflow catback. Frim what Ive read i really should be putting on headers and LS6 intake to get the benifits of a new cam, but would a cam make a differnece with out the other mods yet? If so what are some good choices? the GM performace cams like the 02-04 ls6 cam, or aftermarket?
Would i need to do some tuning after i swap the cam?

1BAD06MCSS

to get the full benefits of a cam you are right, you would need the supporting mods in order to make good gains. However, consider the following..... If you indeed want to mod your car this much, you will not get the substantial gains that other RWD platforms will. You will only further your traction issues and your tranny will fail much faster therefore, needing more modifications to handle your new found power.... If I were you, I would not waste my money on doing this because it is going to cost soooo much to gain sooo little.... Save your money toward a car that you can mod and make better gains outta for the money..... This is just MHO, so do what you want with your car, it is your money.... The only mods that I plan on doing in the future is headers, custom dyno tune, and 3 inch exhaust and call it quits. I plan on saving for another LS platform car or trading in the Monte for a larger SUV and getting a LS platformed car.....

Battle_Ravage

Or because you enjoy your car and don't want another money pit, do the swap and the internal work, take it easy until you can afford the trans upgrade, then mod some more, and then show all the deserters what they're missing.

EDIT: Better to be different than do the same exact build everyone does on F-bodies.

CenTexSS

iTrader: (2)

I personally wouldn't do the cam until you have the supporting mods. And get with good tuner and get a custom grind cam for your application. There's been several cam swaps that did not yield the results they were looking for. Sittingmongoose has spent quite a bit, and IIRC he's around 330whp. You gotta pay to play, and with these cars it's more than usual lol.

blakss

iTrader: (4)

Personally I'd do the cam swap. If not now at least replace with LS7 lifters ,regular valley cover and custom tune. Kinda set your self up for later mods.

JDMC5

iTrader: (3)

If your going to do the cam plan on swapping the intake, toss on a set of headers and of course a tune (yes it is necessary). That should leave you very happy.

nmp0098

Hey, here's what I would do if I were doing the cam thing again and ditching DOD. Thunder Racing is a site sponser, and I like their aggressive ramp rate cams a lot.

DOD Delete Kit:

http://www.thunderracing.com/shop-by...e-Kit_930.html



N/A Cam, needs to be mated to PAC-1218's or equivalent, chromoly pushrods, and you can reuse the stock rockers:

http://www.thunderracing.com/shop-by...-Cams_947.html



Bigger Lift N/A cam, needs to be mated to PAC-1219's or equivalent, chromoly pushrods, and requires aftermarket roller rockers:

http://www.thunderracing.com/shop-by...hafts_972.html



N/A and N2O cam, needs to be mated to PAC-1219's or equivalent, chromoly pushrods, and requires aftermarket roller rockers:

http://www.thunderracing.com/shop-by...-Cams_944.html


I was looking around in case advancing my cam didn't do what I wanted it to do. These are all appropriately sized for a street/strip 5.3L. My favorite is the last one, because the extra exhaust duration should help with our single pipe system and wider LSA should help the cam hold on a bit and match with our 4 speeds pretty well. It just needs the roller rockers too. Despite the quote, the PAC-1219s support up to 0.625" lift and because they weigh significantly less you will not need the titanium retainers. They are a new offering.

IMO, if you are going to do the cam you will need the intake at the very least, but you could do that later. You won't see the gains you want now, but you'll notice something.

DavidGXP

iTrader: (14)

I had a collapsed lifter too, and ended up pulling the cam out to install my TR220 cam. I had a LS1 intake and headers but ended up selling everything like a dumb *** to go turbo. (Never happend)
Yes! Now, is the time to cam! I wish I would have. I find myself wondering what if.. all of the freaking time
You can always add headers and intake later on in life. NMP listed some nice cams.
I'd contact http://guerragroup.com/camshaft_help.htm for help with cam selection.

Stock cam is
197/197 .286/.286 DOD lobes
193/193 .283/.283 Non DOD lobes
114LSA

You'll need a LS2 valley cover from Katec
LS4 head bolt kit
Head gaskets GM LS4
Balancer bolt
LS7 lifters
Matching valve springs
7.4" Molly push rods

DavidGXP

iTrader: (14)

[QUOTE=nmp0098;14442408]

My favorite is the last one, because the extra exhaust duration should help with our single pipe system and wider LSA should help the cam hold on a bit and match with our 4 speeds pretty well.

Thats a lot of exhaust duration man. Might kill mid range torque by cutting into the power stroke too early. Great cam for N20 with 4 inch bores.
People tend to forget that we only have a 3.78" bore.
I hate DT headers for this reason. They use 1 7/8" primarys. Great way to kill torque. I'd like to see 1 5/8" primarys.

JDMC5

iTrader: (3)

yes, that's too big for the 5.3. 1 3/4 is probably a better bet.

nmp0098

That cam may not be perfect, but it is in the ball park. My current cam has 232 degrees of exhaust duration, and a pretty early exhaust valve openimg after advancing the hell out of it. I'm making a ton of mid range torque at the moment. I'm also dumping through a cat and the stock mufflers. A final point is that the advertised duration for the stocker is large. It's so large that my exhaust valve opens after it would with the stock cam.

I believe that Katech unit is a bit expensive. I'd just cut and weld a Gen IV non-DOD valley cover like what comes from Thunder Racing. The kit is like $300 including the lifters. But, nothing wrong for springing for the easier Katech piece.

Dave, are you sure the TR220 has the same cam base radius as the stock cam? Unless you mill the heads, you should need longer pushrods to get the correct lifter pre-load. That's why I have 7.45" chromoly push rods. If you mill the heads, it tends to swing to 7.35" or so unless you have a really lumpy cam. A pushrod length checker is $20 from comp cams.

I wish you had stuck with that TR220 as well. I really think you would have liked the result. There's something about a choppy idle in Grand Prix that makes me smile every time.

707chance

iTrader: (2)

"There's something about a choppy idle in Grand Prix that makes me smile every time."



Today a buddy told me to call him before I get to his house so he could step outside to hear "that beast" coming up the hill.

DavidGXP

iTrader: (14)

I would just use what ever pushrods Thunder racing recomends for that cam. I am using 7.4's right now with my stock cam, milled heads and 1.8 rocker arms. My Rocker arm kit came with shims, so that is what I am using. A little noisy in mornings but other then that I'm good.
That pushrod checker is a good idea.. I just might have to pick one up.

RunninPlaya

ok rookie question probably, but is it possible to keep DoD with a LS6 cam? i only ask because the gxp is my wifes car and she loves that her car has ample power and we're still averaging around 20 mpg here on base (30 mph speed limit and lots of stop and go).

91parkave

iTrader: (4)

No. And if you want a factory can that will male greater power look into the ls2 cam

Cory1750

I am pretty sure there are other dod cams out there I just don't remember much about it. There was a write up about swapping in a new dod cam though.

RunninPlaya

Sorry for the thread jack but thanks for the info guys.

Cory1750

Honestly I tuned out DOD and I still see 20 mpg even when I go cruising and beat on it. It is my daily driver that sees a decent amount of highway but on the weekends its sometimes up to 3 hours of cruising around with lights and it still averages out to 20 mpg. So if you get it properly tuned you probably won't see a hit in mpg because honestly I got the same mpg when I still had dod.

x11 nut

iTrader: (3)

Is that calculated mileage or by the DIC?

BlackImpSS

iTrader: (1)

I believe it's the new era cam for the g8's possibly, otherwise, I believe you can get a custom ground and retain DOD if you wanted to go that route. Honestly, if your digging into your engine to swap cams you might as well ditch DOD.