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Cam and heads in the works

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Old 07-03-2010, 11:43 AM
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Due to the fact that I ruined the lifters, I'm forced to swap out the cam and lifters. I didn't know that I was supposed to use non DOD lifters, with the non DOD tray. I have to pull the heads, so in order to justify having to do this and my stupidity, I'm forced to do some major upgrades (there goes my nitrious funds!) I have orded quite a few of these parts already.
TR220/220 .551/.551 114LSA
TR 7.4 push rods
LS7 springs
Street ported stock heads
LS7 lifters
LS2 buckets
LS2/LS3 valley tray
LS1 intake with LS6 fuel rail and injectors 28.8lb (will go LS6 later)
GM head bolts
GM MLS head gaskets

TR220/220 5.3 dyno resaults/ disscusion LOOK@THE TORQUE CURVE!
http://performancetrucks.net/forums/...d.php?t=438267

https://ls1tech.com/forums/ls4-perfo...less-vids.html Before headers, 3" exhaust and raised shifts

https://ls1tech.com/forums/ls4-perfo...right-now.html 13.26@105 2.05 60ft

https://ls1tech.com/forums/ls4-perfo...results-2.html 13.24@110ish
2.165 60ft After headers, 3" exhaust and 6500 shifts

https://ls1tech.com/forums/ls4-perfo...aust-pics.html

https://ls1tech.com/forums/ls4-perfo...s-finally.html

https://ls1tech.com/forums/ls4-perfo...king-good.html

https://ls1tech.com/forums/ls4-perfo...gine-pics.html

https://ls1tech.com/forums/ls4-perfo...ad-bottom.html

https://ls1tech.com/forums/ls4-perfo...tfs-heads.html

Last edited by 91parkave; 04-02-2015 at 08:08 AM.
Old 07-03-2010, 12:10 PM
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Lol so now you've decided to eventually go with the LS6 intake.

I anticipate the results.
Old 07-03-2010, 12:19 PM
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This is a buddy's truck.. He had a ls1 hot cam pile cam that made

331 hp 316tq >>>>>>>THIS IS WITH HOT CAM!

Put a TR220 cam in and made with just the cam change 350 hp and 353 tq


mods
5.3L
2004 gmc ext cab 2wd 80,000 miles
ASP PULLEY
S&B lid
tr220 cam
B&B catback
stock heads stock longblock
Pacesetter headers/Ypipe (no cats)
Trailblazer convertor
ported tb
on 20inch SS wheels
Tuned by Owen Priest from ARD.. Thanks Owen!!

I have ported LS6 heads
Headers
3" into dual 2.5" exhaust with Spintech Xl mufflers
LS1 intake (For now)
We already have a 2200-2500 stall (3000 is recommended. once I get gears I will upgrade)
CAI
18" wheels
I'm hoping for similar result's with tuning

Last edited by DavidGXP; 11-18-2011 at 01:19 PM.
Old 07-03-2010, 12:33 PM
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That curve is nice. Traction's going to be a problem! I wonder what effect an LS6 is going to have over his truck intake?
Old 07-03-2010, 04:00 PM
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Go with a bigger cam. Something more in the 224-228 range.
Old 07-03-2010, 11:31 PM
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Originally Posted by Nacho SS
Go with a bigger cam. Something more in the 224-228 range.
No way.. man The TR220 is proven in the 5.3's
The TR224 is proven in the LS1's
I don't want anything too radical that is going to require a bunch of tuning.
Plus nobody has really proven that caming this motor produces positive results.
Old 07-03-2010, 11:37 PM
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The bad guy
Old 07-04-2010, 12:08 AM
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Lifter looks like the problem.
Old 07-04-2010, 03:10 AM
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Originally Posted by DavidGXP
No way.. man The TR220 is proven in the 5.3's
The TR224 is proven in the LS1's
I don't want anything too radical that is going to require a bunch of tuning.
Plus nobody has really proven that caming this motor produces positive results.
tr220 proven in what 5.3? nobody has put a tr220 in a ls4 with 243 heads. the truck you have listed above that shows a 5.3 cam swap has lm7 iron heads. its a whole different iron engine block.

tr224 proven in the ls1? what do you possibly mean by that...if its a good, streetable cam, the specs on the cam aren't going to change from engine to engine.

you're going to be underwhelmed power wise if you go with that tr220. our ls4s are terrible at getting air in and out faster (shitty intake manifold and a stupid exhaust). a cam will always benefit the motor - as long as the valve timing events are occurring properly and the tune is there. when people dropped ls6 cams in ls4s, they didn't say they "lost" power, it just shifted into a different RPM range, taking away some low-end torque that gives the initial sensation of speed and putting it up top.

and any cam is going to require a fair share of tuning. the difference between a tr220 and a tr224 is not night and day in hptuners.

i hope this goes well and all...but it seems like you contradict yourself with every next sentence.
Old 07-04-2010, 09:05 AM
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Im anxiously awaiting results for this cam swap. That is actually the same size cam my tuner recommended, 220 range, props to you for being the first to try it. I'll jump on board the TR220 cam train if it goes well. How soon do you plan to have it back on the road??? Definitely keep us posted along the way!

Joe.
Old 07-05-2010, 01:43 PM
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Originally Posted by Nacho SS
tr220 proven in what 5.3? nobody has put a tr220 in a ls4 with 243 heads. the truck you have listed above that shows a 5.3 cam swap has lm7 iron heads. its a whole different iron engine block.

tr224 proven in the ls1? what do you possibly mean by that...if its a good, street able cam, the specs on the cam aren't going to change from engine to engine.

you're going to be underwhelmed power wise if you go with that tr220. our ls4s are terrible at getting air in and out faster (shitty intake manifold and a stupid exhaust). a cam will always benefit the motor - as long as the valve timing events are occurring properly and the tune is there. when people dropped ls6 cams in ls4s, they didn't say they "lost" power, it just shifted into a different RPM range, taking away some low-end torque that gives the initial sensation of speed and putting it up top.

and any cam is going to require a fair share of tuning. the difference between a tr220 and a tr224 is not night and day in hptuners.

i hope this goes well and all...but it seems like you contradict yourself with every next sentence.
How do I multi quote? LOL
I have done a lot of research on this cam in the truck forums and have been very impressed with their dyno numbers as well as the track times. This why I posted a link so you all can get an idea of what kind of numbers I am shooting for.
I really, don't want to go too big. And if you think about it, I am.. making a big jump from our stock cam to to the TR220. Stock is some where around 190/204 on a 115. Or.. so I was told! Nobody seems to have a definite answer unfortunately. The TR220 has a 270/270 advertised duration which is much sorter then our stock cam and this is what makes the cam so aggressive. It will accelerate the valve much quicker. I could always go bigger but I'd rather start conservative
My biggest concern is our stock gearing. I pass through the 1/4 just topping 2nd gear. If I move the power band up too much then I'll be wasting rpm by crossing over in the middle of a shift or 200-300 rpm before my next shift. This would obviously hurt my track times and MPH. Also, I don't wanna run a super lose converter on the street.
Gears and converter will be upgraded eventually
We have the truck motor minus heads and 60* bellhousing. This is why I'm constantly searching their forums.
Trust me, I hope this works out too......
And I will stay open minded
Old 07-06-2010, 09:40 PM
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Originally Posted by DavidGXP
How do I multi quote? LOL
I have done a lot of research on this cam in the truck forums and have been very impressed with their dyno numbers as well as the track times. This why I posted a link so you all can get an idea of what kind of numbers I am shooting for.
I really, don't want to go too big. And if you think about it, I am.. making a big jump from our stock cam to to the TR220. Stock is some where around 190/204 on a 115. Or.. so I was told! Nobody seems to have a definite answer unfortunately. The TR220 has a 270/270 advertised duration which is much sorter then our stock cam and this is what makes the cam so aggressive. It will accelerate the valve much quicker. I could always go bigger but I'd rather start conservative
My biggest concern is our stock gearing. I pass through the 1/4 just topping 2nd gear. If I move the power band up too much then I'll be wasting rpm by crossing over in the middle of a shift or 200-300 rpm before my next shift. This would obviously hurt my track times and MPH. Also, I don't wanna run a super lose converter on the street.
Gears and converter will be upgraded eventually
We have the truck motor minus heads and 60* bellhousing. This is why I'm constantly searching their forums.
Trust me, I hope this works out too......
And I will stay open minded
I think the biggest challenge to making power will be the cylinder heads. 243 heads are great, but they are bigger than a 5.3 "truck" motor. LS6 heads are 64cc compared to 5.3 heads at 61.1cc. for example a 5.3 in a truck with an LS6 cam makes great usable power, but if you add the LS6 heads to it, it looses power. You mentioned 'street ported heads' have the surface milled slightly to bring the compression ratio back down and I think you'll have a screamer on your hands then. just my 2 cents tho.
Old 07-06-2010, 10:07 PM
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looks like you changed the header flex pipe.
Old 07-06-2010, 10:22 PM
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Originally Posted by Cliffy
I think the biggest challenge to making power will be the cylinder heads. 243 heads are great, but they are bigger than a 5.3 "truck" motor. LS6 heads are 64cc compared to 5.3 heads at 61.1cc. for example a 5.3 in a truck with an LS6 cam makes great usable power, but if you add the LS6 heads to it, it looses power. You mentioned 'street ported heads' have the surface milled slightly to bring the compression ratio back down and I think you'll have a screamer on your hands then. just my 2 cents tho.
thats exactly what i'm saying. thats great your friends truck made power with that cam, unfortunately its a completely different engine despite being the same number of liters.
Old 07-06-2010, 11:26 PM
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Originally Posted by Nacho SS
thats exactly what i'm saying. thats great your friends truck made power with that cam, unfortunately its a completely different engine despite being the same number of liters.
It's the same engine with different heads. The 243s flow better than stock truck heads, just have larger combustion chambers. Milling the heads will bump the compression back up to an acceptable level to make power. As for the cam: it VERY much matters what motor it's going into. It's extremely easy to overcam a small cube LSx engine. Probably has something to do with the small bore/long stroke. The general rule of thumb is to take 10* off of a cam that's proven to work on a 346 to work on a 325 with the same setup. This, however has yet to be proven. All we know is that several people have went with larger cams and seen only nominal power increases. We have no reason to believe that this setup isn't going to be effective.
Old 07-06-2010, 11:52 PM
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I think you are right about staying conservative on the cam unless you want to rev it too the moon. NMP's car want's to hit 7K before it's happy.

I'm also beginning to think that MAF is restrictive at the 400hp level.
Old 07-07-2010, 12:01 AM
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Originally Posted by JDMC5
I think you are right about staying conservative on the cam unless you want to rev it too the moon. NMP's car want's to hit 7K before it's happy.

I'm also beginning to think that MAF is restrictive at the 400hp level.
Is this a hint that his car is nearing 400 wheel?
Old 07-07-2010, 12:30 AM
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haha, no probably more like 350 whp level, I meant 400 crank. When I left he was in the middle of trying to get the car to run without the maf. After comparing the LS4 with my LS6 maf I was like.......maybe it is a restriction.
Old 07-07-2010, 08:04 AM
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Sorry guys but the 5.3 truck engine and the 5.3 LS4 are two different engines...the LS4 is based off an LS2.....






The cam will help your car, but the truck engines were very limited by their stock cam's and intake manifolds.....they were designed for torque...not power which is why they always pick up such a dramatic amount of power.
Old 07-07-2010, 11:01 AM
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Originally Posted by Bryan921SS
Sorry guys but the 5.3 truck engine and the 5.3 LS4 are two different engines...the LS4 is based off an LS2.....






The cam will help your car, but the truck engines were very limited by their stock cam's and intake manifolds.....they were designed for torque...not power which is why they always pick up such a dramatic amount of power.
Seriously? Because we have different heads and intake we're a completely different engine and everything learned by the iron block guys has no bearing on us? You know F-bodies have different heads, cams, and intakes depending on what year LS1 it was? Hell, some even have "LS6" blocks. Does that mean that a 99 camaro and a 01 camaro have different engines, and what works on one won't work for the other?


And you did click on David's link and see the torque curve that truck made.....right?


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