The new cam sounds awesome! It sure does rev quick. I cant wait to see the results on the track. What did you do to keep the lifters lifted while swapping out the cam? Did you rely on the lifter retainers and do the 360 degree crank spin? Any chance we will see a run with some spray after the baseline is run?

 

Thanks Tony! I'm looking forward to the track results too. I hope it was worth the swap from a performance perspective, but if not, at least it sounds cool..... Yeah, I used the retainers to keep the lifters in place, but I didn't trust them too long. I had the new cam staged and oiled up ready to stab in as soon as I pulled the old one out. This is my fourth cam swap on two LS motors and I've not had one fail me yet, but I don't give them much time to fail. Here's a few pics I didn't bother posting yesterday.....just to prove I was in there.....







As for the nitrous passes.....don't hold your breath brother . I would really love to.....trust me, but I don't even own a kit for this car yet. And, I have sworn to myself not to buy one before I upgrade the rear end and driveshaft. I wouldn't mind breaking the rear it if it wouldn't mean possibly parting ways with an axle and wheel assembly.....but those damn c-clips have me spooked and it isn't worth wrecking my car (or the guys next to me) if one lets go.

But speaking of nitrous kits, I've got my eye on a newer one from NX. I spotted it at SEMA and fell in love with it. The plate is a perimeter style but looks just like an HVH Supersucker 4-hole carb spacer. It's called the Trinity Stage Six and that thing looks bad ***!!! I asked the guys at the NX booth if it was a brand new plate for this year and they said they've had it out for a little over a year. But I can't find anyone but them advertising it on the web; not even Summit. I wish now I would have taken a pic of it in person at SEMA because the only pic I have of it now is in their paper catalog. Even their website doesn't show a pic. Before this I was looking at their Gemini Twin perimeter plate, but after seeing it installed on an intake it looked narrower than the 4150 plenum opening which makes me wonder of it would shroud the carb during NA operation. I still want to read more about this Trinity plate but I love the looks of it!!!!

 

I installed new lifter trays when I assembled my engine so hopefully if and when a new cam is in the future they will hold as well as yours.


I have looked into the NOS wet shot for the LS2 throttle body for mine. They have a new perimeter plate that would seem to be an awesome setup. I just wonder what the stock pistons will take before you risk a broke ring land or some melted aluminum?

 

After just completing my 7th C5 Corvette cam swap this weekend, I can say I am totally jealous of the room you have in the "old school" engine bay. I have never had a lifter drop during a cam swap, but just for insurance I use a 5/16" wood dowel ($0.69 at Lowes) in each oil galley.
Your build looks very nice and clean. Enjoy the new cam and all the attention you will get with a nice lopey idle.

 

GC99TA, The new cam sounds sweet, and most importantly; I hope it meets your expectations on the track! A little off the cam topic, I have to give you credit for your inventive re-location of the F-body alt bracket! Using the factory bracket you know the alternator is properly supportted, not distorting the housing or killing the bearings. AND you saved yourself $180 on a Kwik mount! Hats off to you. Hope you don't mind if I imitate your design when I drop in my engine.

Mind if I ask how you like the manual steering on your car? I am planning to lose the power steering on my Nova for the sake of weight and simplicity and I am looking for people's opinion on the driving experience without power assist. thanks!

Chevy 406; nice trick with the wooden dowel to retain the lifters! Might have to put that to use some day. Thanks for sharing.

 

With new lifter trays installed, I would feel extremely confident that they will hold the lifters up very well. But, if you want to build your confidence in them before pulling the cam, try this: Roll the motor over a couple of times to get the lifters seated in the trays. Then (with the cam still in place) take a pushrod and poke each one back down into place and feel how much friction is really holding them up. Or, do as Chevy406 said below and use the 5/16th dowles in the oil galleys once the lifters are up in the trays. I've heard of guys using steel or aluminum 5/16th rod for this, but never thought of using wood. Good call Chevy406!

I personally run a dry kit on my Trans Am, but the perimiter plate technology has come a long way and is exactly what I would switch to if I ever dumped my dry kit. The NOS kit looks promising, as does the similar plate kit from Nitrous Outlet, so I would check them out as well. The guys from Nitrous Outlet are constantly posting on LS1tech in the Nitrous forum so getting tech support from those guys should be a no brainer.

Your question on how much spray these stock bottom ends will take is a heavily debated one. But my experience (as well as most others) has been, as long as you are on top of your game (good "stock" fuel system, recommended nitrous jetting, safe NA A/F ratio, spark plugs, pull some timing, ect) these motors will almost live FOREVER on a 150 shot or less. When you have your car dyno tuned, I would ask if they can also give you a separate "nitrous tune" that has about 6 degrees of timing removed (2 degrees per 50hp). Assuming your NA A/F ratio is safe and you use the recommended jetting that comes with the kit (which is usually on the safe "rich" side) I would think you would have no issues at all. The other thing you'll want to do is swap in a set of colder plugs when you plan to spray. I'd get flamed in the nitrous section for saying this, but I've gotten away with using NGK TR6 plugs for 150 shots for many, many years. The TR6 is one heat range colder than stock but it still a projected tip plug, which is why a lot of guys shy away from it these days. A much better choice would probably be the BR6EF, or even the BR7EF, which are both non-projected tip plugs, one and two heat ranges colder respectively.

I'm sure you've been around long enough that you've probably messed with nitrous in the past, but if you haven't.........be warned.....that stuff is like crack! As soon as you get some.....you want more .

 

Good call on the wood dowels! Like I told Tony above, I've seen guys use steel and aluminum, but you can't beat the cost effectiveness of wood! I definately don't envy you working in that cramped C5 engine bay. I'm used to my 4th Gen TA, which makes this Camaro seem like childs play to work on. I'm used to having the cowl cover up the rear half of the engine and the shock towers that make changing spark plugs a 2-3hr job instead of a 10 minute one!

Thanks much for the compliment on the build. The new cam should be fun!

 

Thanks cruisin! As they say, necessity is the mother of invention. Most guys can't really appreaciate my alternator relocation method because most LS swappers keep the power steering intact, so this method doesn't work for them. Oh, and another old saying goes something like, "imitation is the highest form of flattery".....or something like that. So, no I don't mind at all if you imitate my design . I'm not sure how well I outlined it earlier in this thread, but you'll need to do a bit of relief grinding on the back side of the stock bracket for where the support brace strap (running from the head) bolts to the back of it. But once complete, this is a very sturdy mount that won't budge.

I like my manual steering just fine and actually prefer it over power on this particular car. But I think running skinny front tires is a huge help in making the steering much easier, as well as having a somewhat lightened front end. Once the car is moving you hardly notice it at all except for the fact that you get a lot more steering feedback from the car as opposed to power steering. This is especially appreciated at high speeds where you could get into a lot of trouble by over correcting with a "loose feeling" and higher ratio power steering system. The only time you may miss power steering is in tight parking lot situations where you are needing to do some heavy steering while sitting still.

 

You know you made the comment you didnt like the original maroon/burgundy. Have you seen the January 2012 Super Chevy magazine yet? On page 40-43 they did an article titled "sucker punch" and its a standard grille '71 in a wine red. This car is sweet! Hotchkis suspension and all. Of course the Rallye Sport would look much better especially with the tall spoiler.

 

Hmmmm, no I haven't seen it yet but I'll have to check it out. I let my Super Chevy expire and only get Chevy High Performance and GM High Tech now. I checked online and of course they're still only showing Decembers stuff for online right now. I'll have to stop by the store and have a look. Thanks!

 

Hey, those were some great first runs. Your mph was right on for that DA. Also, that DA is what's allowing the 87 octane, so you only get to use 1 excuse! With better air, I bet it would ping, but you could put 91 in and add a few mph. Nice job.

 

Thanks man, and yes....you're correct; the DA is a big part of why I can get away with running 87. That's why if you go to places like Denver, you can actually buy 85 octain at the pump. Less air density equals less cylinder pressure, which means you can get away with a much lower octain fuel. I'm sure you were just kidding, but I really wasn't using the low octain as an excuse. A lot of folks don't realize it, but a engine will actually run it's best on the lowest octain fuel that it can tollerate, assuming that the maximum amount of useful ignition timing is also being used. If your engine isn't pinging, the only reason to add more octain is if you can also add more ignition timing to build more power. Since I'm already running 34 degrees of timing, I suspect adding 89 or 92 would actually slow the car down (or at least not make it any faster). I've seen many guys put "race fuel" in there 9:1 SBC expecting huge gains, only to be disappointed with slower times.

As you know, GM rated the stock LY6 to run on 87 octain fuel in all weather conditions at sea level, and in a much heavier vehicle (='s load). I have taken that motor and actually reduced the cylinder pressure by adding a camshaft with much more duration and overlap than stock. Add to that the fact that I am at high altitude, and the 87 octain fuel is more than adequate. But of course, since I'm running it much harder than the General intended, I will certainly up the octain when I get back down closer to sea level.

Thanks again for the props. tsnow promises we're all gonna get together for a big east coast cruise of some sort once I get back to VA for good next summer. I hope we can make it happen! I really want to see all of these cars I've been watching come together for so long. I'm not sure if I've ever posted in your thread (I don't comment as often as I should) but I've been following it ever since I saw that smashed up van with an LY6 in the first post! Great work!

 

I had what I thought were a few minutes so I reread the whole thread, totally great build, really well thought out and love the 2nd generation, sure was a lot of readind and a LOT more work for you. Pat on the back man. Cool.

 

Hey man, thanks a lot for the compliments, and thanks for taking the time to read through the whole thing. I know that didn't happen in "a few minutes".

 

Here is the pic of the front cover Jan. 2012 Super Chevy.

 

Cool...thanks for the pic man. You've peaked my interest....that does look kinda good, doesn't it? Good thing I'm not getting this thing painted anytime real soon......otherwise I'd probably give myself and ulcer trying to decide on a color....

 

I made it out to the track today for some test runs with my new custom spec’d camshaft. The weather was decent (better overall DA than last time out) and the crowd at the track was very light. So, I was able to experiment this time with some different launch RPMs. As it turns out, after trying 3400 (last time out) 3600, 3800, and 4000……..the car definitely likes 3800 the best. The car ran all new best times today. The best 60’ was 1.68 (former best of 1.71), the best ET was 11.74 (former best was 1.85), and the best MPH was 115.45 (former best was 113.84). The MPH really came around later in the day, even though the DA was getting worse, but I have a feeling I was accidentally lifting before the stripe on the earlier passes because I didn’t make any changes that should have jumped up the MPH like that and the 1/8 mile MPHs are pretty close on all five runs.

Once I got home, I corrected my best pass from last time out (with the old cam) and my best pass from today, all down to sea level. This showed a “corrected” gain of .075 in ET and 1.4 MPH with the new cam. So all in all I’m pleased. The next time out I plan to test with the headers uncapped and I may also possibly test an HVH Supersucker as well.

Here are the details and vids of the runs. This time I’ll include the launch RPM too since I was changing it almost every pass. My buddy from work and his wife were videoing my runs and taking pics, so don’t mind the verbal commentary in the background. I guess they forgot video cameras also record sound……LOL. The vids aren’t the best…..but here they are anyway. No vid of the first pass for some reason?

First Pass
DA: 4375ft
Launch: 3800RPM
60’: 1.68
1/8: 7.48
MPH: 92.35
1/4: 11.78
MPH: 113.92

Second Pass
DA: 4501ft
Launch: 4000RPM
60’: 1.70
1/8: 7.57
MPH: 91.99
1/4: 11.87
MPH: 113.80

http://youtu.be/p0uBD_1-ZQQ

Third Pass
DA: 4520ft
Launch: 4000RPM
60’: 1.71
1/8: 7.54
MPH: 92.29
1/4: 11.83
MPH: 114.16

http://youtu.be/Zd62BKNFjpM

Fourth Pass
DA: 4572ft
Launch: 3800RPM
60’: 1.70
1/8: 7.49
MPH: 92.73
1/4: 11.74
MPH: 115.41

http://youtu.be/35VklwqxYZQ

Fifth Pass
DA: 4654ft
Launch: 3600RPM
60’: 1.71
1/8: 7.56
MPH: 92.71
1/4: 11.81
MPH: 115.45

http://youtu.be/3eNOC9r0p7U

 

Nice job!

I would have thought the .07 correction to sea level would be more. There must be an even bigger correction to 0 DA.

I didn't catch what gear you used. Did you get the 9 inch? I thought I saw pics of the 8.5 bolted in but surely those aren't 2.73s. Which gear?

It would be good to meet up some time. Your Camaro looks great!

 

Thanks man! I would have thought so too, considering my last best was 11.85 and new best was 11.74. But the 11.74 was run in slightly better air today than the 11.85 was ran in a few weeks ago. So, instead of being .11 quicker, it was really only .07 quicker when both times were corrected to the same air standard (sea level). It doesn't sound quite as good, but it makes it a more fair comparioson I guess.

The rear is still the 8.5 10-bolt but I had a used stock posi and some used 4.10s installed in it for "temporary" use until I can afford a 9-inch. It still has the stock 28 spline axels. Thanks again for the compliments!

 

My friend Brian just dropped off a DVD full of pictures from the track yesterday. I went through them all and these are a few of my favorites.