SierraCarver

Hey guys,

I don't post here very much simply because most anything I need to know can be found by searching, but I have a question that I need some advice with.

The specs on my car can be found below in my signature. Basically I bought the car a few years back with a fresh rebuilt 355 and a new GM hotcam kit. The car had been dynoed with a pig rich tune at 320 RWHP. Since then I have added these heads: https://ls1tech.com/forums/parts-cla...ey-valves.html and since I have tuned the computer with tunercat to run much better when in WOT and all around driving.

I would estimate the car now makes between 340 and 350 RWHP, but is still not as fast as I would like. I know the hotcam is killing me and not really letting me take advantage of the "new" heads. Before I get flamed for the hotcam and the ported heads, keep in mind this is in California where the smog ***** crack down on us every 2 years when we go in for the most strict emissions testing in the country.

This is basically a good weather car that I occasionally run open track with. No drag racing, but I do run the occasional new Camaros, Corvettes, and Mustangs on the street here and there.

What should I do to make more power with the car while still being able to smog the car (I just smogged it and it passed, but not by much). I am thinking a more aggressive cam or maybe going from the 1.6RR to 1.7. I should have gone bigger with the TB because I am getting vacuum everywhere above 5400 RPM @ WOT. I know long tubes would gain me some real power but that is out of the question considering where I live.

Thanks in advance for the help.

Jerry

SS RRR

iTrader: (2)

What was done for years before the LT's came out and before OBDII and dual cats came out was people would flange the exhaust so the cat can be taken out in favor of a "test pipe" which was well worth it. Not sure if you can find someone to modify the exhaust like that or not, but it would give you the choice to be smog legal if you needed to be.
Not sure about the cam selection. IMO I would go with a LPE 211/219 cam hands down. With a cat in place you'd pass smog as good as stock with a good tune and with good ported heads you can make great power for street or track with a 26" tire and 3.73 gears.

speed_demon24

iTrader: (6)

You would gain a hell of a lot more with a good set of heads than slightly stepping up the cam size. Those heads look horrible...

SierraCarver

I don't know about the heads being "horrible", maybe not as nice as some other ported stockers, but still much better than stock. It is hard to tell in the pictures but the bowl work is actually pretty good. Only thing I would change is to not have them gasket matched, but too late for that.

henry172

iTrader: (2)

I would bet my LE1 heads with little manley stainless steel 1.94/1.50 valves will make a lot more power than those with the 2.02/1.60 valves. After my head swap and rebuild my hot cam lt1 makes a lot more power; but if you want a new cam i would go with the cc503 it should pass smog. The cc503 will only pass if it is running correctly, your cats are good and the car tuned correctly.

irocurpony8489

iTrader: (2)

would he gain power from swapping the hot cam with the lpe cam?

henry172

iTrader: (2)

It will have more on the low to mid range but it will not be a huge difference. CC503 or custom grind is his best bet. His heads and hot cam 355 should be quick. I had my heads and hot cam 355 lt1 running over the weekend with a bad opti and it was fast; I could not even hook up with my 275 tires, I could do a burnout through 3rd gear with my A4; after the new opti its time for 315 DR's. After I work all the bugs out I am going to be really happy with my hot cam lt1, but I do have a A4 with a good stall converter.

SS RRR

iTrader: (2)

I won't guarantee anything since the heads play a major role in making power as well. With what he is asking performance wise the LPE cam would fit the bill nicely. It's my biased opinion because I ran a LPE cam with LPE heads/intake and was able to go 12.0's to 12.2's at 115mph in the 1/4 at full weight. Nothing was removed except for spare and jack. The car behaved just like stock. I had LT's and had an off road y-pipe and a dual cat pipe. When OBDII cars still had to be sniffed I'd bolt the cat pipe and pass as if the car was stock. The only catch was the cam really has no lope so if that's what the OP wants then perhaps another cam should be taken into consideration.
Car dynoed 370rwhp and 355rwtq with the off road y-pipe. When I had this setup with Edelbrock shorties going through stock exhaust (including cats) it made 350/350.

SierraCarver

Thanks for the responses guys. I think I'm going to do the off road pipe in place of the cat first, since I have been thinking about this for a while anyways. Next I need to go larger on the TB. I listened to everyone on this forum saying a 52mm would be fine for my setup, well I get a decent amount of vacuum anywhere above 5500 rpm where the car really starts to pull. Those two things together will likely put me at around the 360 rwhp mark. Then I will likely go with a new cam. Cc503 or custom grind is what I've been thinking. I am not sure my heads with the large valves will like the smaller lpe cam.
Thanks for all the input, it is appreciated.

SierraCarver

Also, any input on going to 1.7 rr? They will net similar lift to a new cam, but with much less work. The springs will have no problem with the .558" valve lift with the 1.7s.

henry172

iTrader: (2)

The 1.7rrs on the hot cam might also be a good option; I am thinking about doing this also. I don't think I would run the 1.7s on a cam much larger than the hot cam.

speed_demon24

iTrader: (6)

The better the heads the smaller the cam you need to make the same power with all other things equal. Since you are limited in cam size living in cali I would get the best heads you can afford for your application. Upping the cam size might get you 10 rwhp if you are lucky which isn't even noticeable.

95mysticta

iTrader: (4)

Get a custom grind built for emissions... email AI or LE and either of them can spec you something that will match your build and pass emissions. Im running the LE emissions 223/230 112lsa cam which will pass Ontario emissions for sure im not sure if Cali is more strict then us or not but if anything you could always stay mid 22x/23x and have made on a 114lsa to smooth out the idle which is what you need to pass the sniffer if you have idle tests.

96TransAmboosted

iTrader: (8)

larger TB is a waste at your power level, but its your money. I also agree with SSR that cam will work great with what your trying to do. And i also know the test pipe will wake that car up a bit.