Well I have not changed them on the Camaro but have read its a pita. The passenger side, especially #8, on the V is a pain. I think If I was smart I should have taken off the coil pack for a bit more room. To install I used a piece of vacuum tubing on the plug to get it started. There is no way for you to twist it with your hand, no room.

 

I have a friend with slinky/gumby arms so he has always done my #8 plug changes on my previous LS1 car. It pays to have tall & skinny as hell friends.

 

I have not changed the plugs on the V yet, but I can tell you just from looking that it isn't nearly as bad as the Camaro. I hate working on 4th gen f bodies!

 

personally i dont think it could be anymore difficult then a 4th gen fbody. i almost took a hammer to my car everytime i had to change the plugs which was a lot due to nitrous. the V doesnt look nearly as bad since the motor isnt stuck half way into the dash.

 

This car is definetly not my daily driver... I drive it 2-3 days a week when I get sick of driving my z71... It also only comes out in the summer... I spoke with a guy that runs the identical cam with great results in a o4 ctsv ls6 powered AUTOMATIC camaro and sed I should love the cam and have no driveability issues.. The car already averages 16-17 mpg how I drive it so that's not an issue either...

If I don't like it I'll pull it out and try again...

 

cool, that thing will be a beast!

im wondering if I should of gone with something like a 228tr cam, but well see what mine puts down this week.

 

DYNO NUMBERS !!

comp cam 220 int./224 exh 112 lobe 0.530 int./0.534 exh. lift


only other mods are : k&n intake, catback, and efi tune by slowhawk.


Still on stock headers which is hurting me alot but im happy with the numbers.
Just ran out of extra cash for the headers they are gona have to wait.

Also keep in mind the cts-v has more drivetrain loss then a ls6 vette would.




But the tq curve climbs up there right away, and the by looks of the hp curve this is a awsome street/highway cam .

Car rides like stock, just a bit more lope at idle since its a 112 cam but you can't notice it much cause my exhaust is quiet.


HP max is 361
TQ max is 349


With headers im sure my numbers will be damm close to the 400 range.

The runs are done on a mustang dyno, #'s might be slightly higher on a dyno jet but prolly not much, these seem acurate considering im on stock headers.

 

seems like a pretty decent gain for just a cam. sucks that for this car hp per dollar really blows compared to just about every other car. you can pick up 30rwp with a tune on an 03 cobra for 350 bucks, not over a grand on the V.

 

Nice results for such a mild cam. Headers and a FAST intake will get you very close to your goal.

 

id be happy with those numbers on a mustange dyno.

the reason you can pick up so much HP on a cobra is because they are blown. they are picking up lots of hp with an intake pulley and tune on the 09 Vs....

 

yea i understand but that cobras are blown i was just using it as an example. even putting exhaust on a non cobra will net you 15-20hp for a $400 catback not 1300 for 2 hp like us.

 

a) you don't quite get 15-20hp on a GT with *just* a cat back and
b) the reason you don't gain much on the V is the factory exhaust is pretty adequate for a stock V. Would you have felt better if they made it a factory dual 1 3/4" with suit case mufflers so that you can gain 30+hp with just a cat back ?

 

yea i wish they would have given the V single exhaust so we could upgrade to dual exhaust. i also wish they would have put an ls1 in so we could do ls6. i wish that the car hasnt reached its full potential of 330rwhp from the factory and now requires extensive and expensive modifcations to get 10hp. i also wish the aftermarket was larger so we had more option besides a 700 dollar catback and a 1300 dollar catback. i dont want or expect a race car, i would like to customize/mod a car to get what i want out of it. its a thrill every car owner gets)modding a car to achieve goals and accomplish them), which the V leaves many unable to do due to the fact that i dont have 2k for a cam, 6k for a blower, or another 2k for headers all said and done.

 

The v is no more expensive than an F body as far as cam and such go. Even headers are in the same ballpark, unless you buy Blackjack or some other crap header for the F body. The V (aside from the diff and V specific parts) is very cheap to mod, just like any LS based GM platform. You want to talk about the price of a cam install- buy cams for that Ford 4.6 mod motor and let me know how that works out lol.

Comparing a factory supercharged "pony" car to an NA luxo-barge is not even close to apples to apples. Any NA car is going to require a bit more than a pulley swap to get noticeable power gains out of it, that's just the nature of the beast.

If the price to mod a certain car is too much, maybe that should have been a consideration prior to purchase rather than a regret after. If you were looking for bang for the buck, a used 03 Cobra could be had for less than a used 04-05 V and is easy to make quicker than stock (though once you go all out, it doesn't matter if you start with a Yugo or Vette, it gets just as expensive..). If you want a Mustang, get a Mustang, if you want a comfy 4dr that still performs adequately, then the V fits well. Overall though, the V is not that expensive at all to mod if you know what to look for and do all your own work. Heck, I have BMW and Audi friends who can't believe how cheap the V is to mod lol.

 

V isnt realy cheap to mod, the cam was cheap cause the labor was free, But if i had to pay someone to do it it would not be cheap.
BMWs are over priced to begin with so the company that sell aftermarket for this just over price all the parts to...

03 cobras are nice, I like the luxery 4 dr and n/a better.
I bet id give a cobra a good run for the money right now (if he had just bolt ons and a stock pulley )

my buddie has a stock C6 z51, and he has raced about 3-4 cobras now and none of them beat him, soon as he hit 4th gear on the vette he had a few cars on them. And i run close to his vette now...

they are nothing special to me.

 

What I am trying to say is that the "V" specifically may not be "cheap" to pay to have modded, but the LSx power plant is no more expensive to DIY than any other LSx motor. Cams, heads, internals, etc. are the same price, regardless of what car the motor is in. IMHO, the V is much easier to work on than an F-body as well, so labor should not be too bad if you do have to pay someone to do it- as long as it is someone who is fair and will not bang you with a "Caddy Tax".

Me personally, NOBODY touches my cars for any reason- paint, body work (unless it needs to go on a frame rack or for insurance reasons), motor, trans rebuilds, custom fabbing, etc. I do every bit of it myself , so I could care less what the shell is, the motor is going to cost me the same to build as any other LSx powered car.

 

Here are the pics of my "home made LSx valve spring compressor". Works like a charm.

Also, I hope you didn't waste money on a "camshaft installation tool" for the lifters- 2 lengths of brake line work just fine .

 

crap man I have a bunch of the same angle laying in my garage .(Welded a bunch of it up on my toyota pickup frame and have some extra pieces..hehe)

why didnt you share this pic with me before lol!!
could of saved me hours of work

Looks very creative and simple.
I was tryin to think of something but said to my self naaa the one i have wont be bad.

thanks for the pic. I hope i never have to change the springs again but at least I know what i can use just in case


O, and for the cam shaft install tool I electric taped two 1/8 "steel rods together side by side. Worked great.


im with you on no one touching my car, I learned if you want the assurance of something being done right you gotta do it yourself..

I have a few buddies that weld so i use them often cause i dont have my own machine and dont do it often so im not very good.

And stuff like tunning i let someone who has more knowlegde it in them me take care of it.

 

Yeah, I have used the kind you used in the past with OK luck, but it does not work as well on the LS beehive springs. I'll still use it when the heads are already off or something, but it is a royal PITA! The first in-car cam install I did several years back, I made this right off the bat. I wasn't even going to attempt using that other spring compressor!!

Only downside to this one is you have to hand thread the screw in, then pull the lever and tighten the screw the rest of the way with a ratchet to fully compress the spring, then after removing the keepers, you have to use the ratchet to loosen the bolt since there will be tension on it from the spring. It is not bad at all though, goes very quickly once you get started. MUCH quicker than the compressor you used and a lot easier .

 

This was my first time doing springs. The first day of the spring swap i was so pissed off at my spring compressor...
It kicked my *** I was cranking it by hand... so i had my buddie weld a socket on it, helped but was still a pain.

What did you use to keep the valves from falling in ? i used a compression test kit but had trouble getting the treads to start in the spark plug hole... could be the fact i had a cheap kit.