I finally finished my cam install.

after much searching I went with this cam

http://www.summitracing.com/parts.as...=CCA-54-416-11

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

Reason I chose this mild cam is the CTS-V is kindof my Daily driver. I still want good drivability and respectable gas milage.

Some say you could use the stock valve springs some say you cant, I ended up going with a patriot gold dual spring kit with titanium retainers just to be safe. But im sure LS6 springs would of worked to.
Also got the hardend push rods, new plugs and 8.5 MSD wires.

The cam install wasnt to bad, the A.C. was a pain to work around, I had it in the air hanging from the hood latch.. but other then that wasnt bad. Also the timing dots are harder to see compared to the LS1, not sure if every ls6 is like this or just the V. It has a extra gaurd around the crank area.

But the valve springs really got the best of me, there isnt much room to work in . And the tool I have sucks, ended up welding a socket on it which helped but it still sucked....I recomend if you plan on doing this buy one of the fancy tools that bolt down and can do 2 springs at once. it will save you lots of headache. Also I had some trouble attaching the leak down kit into the spark plug hole.

Car sounds awsome, I still have the stock headers , with a x-pipe and my mufflers are quiet , which is nice cause it stil lsounds good, but has a nice rumble to it.

Going to dyno sometime next week and tune in the near future, next summer ill toss on some headers.


Big thanks to the guy that made this write up,
http://ls1howto.com/index.php?article=23
and SS#1230 for answering a bunch of questions.

here is a video and some pics.

Turn your volume up for the vid, my camera isnt that great and also my mufflers are quiet. plus im on stock headers.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvvYomyxHOA

 

very nice!

can you do a few more vids with the camera farther away from the car?

 

Good job I plan on doing this very soon. I have a cam already in the shop, 228/230 114lsa that should have a really nice idle and good power for the car.
I replaced the plugs last weekend and I am with you. That passenger side is a biatch! Not looking forward to that.
I read the AC condenser can hang out the bottom. Good to hear you can tie it up to the hood also..

 

ya I tried to hang it from the bottom but it wouldnt go . I think our lines run diffrent then the f body.


My camera wouldnt pick up anything but distortion further away..

 

got my hands on a better camera, Heres a much better sound clip


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvvYomyxHOA

 

What mufflers do you have?

 

that plastic chain guide makes it a little difficult to see the timing dots. i just used a little mag lite and got them lined up okay. if your close, your good. cause if you are off by one tooth, its obvious.

 

The mufflers are OBX, cheap ebay things to be honest. But I had them on my old maxima and they sounded better then all the catbacks that were made.

so i bought them for my v.

They are quite when cruisin but still loud when I get on it.

when i get headers down the road it will be perfect.


I had SLP loudmouth on my camaro so im tired of super loud exhausts.

 

Tip for next time you do valve springs.. I ended up making an LSx valve spring tool out of a piece of angle iron about 20" long. On one end I cut the back side off (so it just had a flat strip), bent the flat strip at about 45* and drilled two holes in it- one is a 1/2" or so to clear the valve keepers and the other is just big enough for the rocker bolt to fit through. All you do is remove rockers, bolt the "tool" in place with the bigger hole over the valve tip and pull it like a lever. it compresses the spring and you just take the keepers off with a magnet.

If I remember right though, you may have to tighten the rocker bolt as you are depressing the spring and then loosen it when you get the keepers out to get the tool off the extended spring, but it is MUCH quicker and easier than the style you used. I have used them on LSx springs in the past, but they don't work very well.

 

Tip for next time you do valve springs.. I ended up making an LSx valve spring tool out of a piece of angle iron about 20" long. On one end I cut the back side off (so it just had a flat strip), bent the flat strip at about 45* and drilled two holes in it- one is a 1/2" or so to clear the valve keepers and the other is just big enough for the rocker bolt to fit through. All you do is remove rockers, bolt the "tool" in place with the bigger hole over the valve tip and pull it like a lever. it compresses the spring and you just take the keepers off with a magnet.

If I remember right though, you may have to tighten the rocker bolt as you are depressing the spring and then loosen it when you get the keepers out to get the tool off the extended spring, but it is MUCH quicker and easier than the style you used. I have used them on LSx springs in the past, but they don't work very well.

 

sounds cool, do you have a pic ?

 

I am on vacation right now (getting yelled at for still being on the boards though lol). When I get home, I can take one for you.

Joe

 

L82gofast or anyone,

I've done plugs and wires on my 2000 SS. How bad is the CTS-V compared to the Camaro. The Camaro sucks on the passenger side! It CAN be done though. I am living proof. It REALLY sucks though! Thanks

 

i finaly got my cam picked out for my v after a 45min phone call witha guy that runs an ls6 from a 04v with this particular cam and loves it and hauls some serious *** with his 3800+lbs drop top camaro... 238/240 .605 .609 112 lsa...

im not looking forward to the install tho... what are you guys doing to keep the valves up when you switch springs? shooting air into the spark plug holes?

 

wow thats a serious cam man, will make sick power but you prolly wont see double diget MPG anymore..

is the v your daily driver ?




i shot air but man it was a pain... couldnt get my hand in to catch the threads on the leak test kit...

 

what kind of horsepower gains are you expecting from the cam you put in? the car sound ssick but doesnt seem like it lopes a lot which is great for a DD.

 

it does lope a good amount, but cant hear it as much cause my exhaust is quiet .

Hoesntly im not sure what to expect for HP , see alot of mixed results.

With headers I will get ~400whp.

but with stock headers its hard to tell.

from what ive researched other ls6 setups put down around 360-380 whp with my basic mods..

Ill see this week when i dyno, the car feels faster but its realy hard to tell how much ive gained..

 

not bad so about 40 hp or so. tune should help too if you dont have one.

 

Have you ever had a big cammed 346 LSx engine? I hope you have a good tuner.

 

will be getting tunned this week hopefully.

ya car feels good , pulls hard, plus with headers it will be a true beast...

i'd like to buy headers but got alot of stuff to get for my condo and id like to upgrade to a house next summer..
headers have to wait lol