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You reinforce what I have always thought-
Within the same mfr., a cam is a cam, whether for an LM7 truck engine or an ASA cam.
Same for springs, within reason. Wire winding is the same process whether for the above-mentioned truck engine or an LS3.
When I BOUGHT the engine in Feb 2018, it said the same thing.
I have not installed it yet. Summit had them on sale, so I jumped on the deal. Not sure when I will actually get around to it.
In my GTO I installed the LS7 cam back in 2008. The LS7 cam is almost identical to the LS9 cam. It made 420rwhp through a Richmond 6 speed and 12 bolt. It has run a best of 113 mph at the drag strip at a race weight of 4000 pounds. It drives awesome. This is on a L92 with a LS3 intake and VVT delete. Details in my GTO build thread.
The LS9 cam has a lot more lift than the LS3 cam, therefore you would want to put .600 lift springs into use.
The tensioner/dampener block choice is not really cam-dependent. The block is more favored among those around here.
I would not be too sure about whether the teeth are any different between 1-bolt or 3-bolt cams. Sounds like "internet wisdom".
You bring up the ASA cam, yet the main discussion here is about the LS9 cam. What about the ASA cam? It IS a much rougher cam than the LS9 cam.
The LS9 cam would do well in an LS3. Idle speeds are the same, as they both idle very smoothly, though the LS9 has a bit louder exhaust note due to the much longer exhaust duration
The LS9 cam has a lot more lift than the LS3 cam, therefore you would want to put .600 lift springs into use.
That is contradictory to what I have thus far, about the LS9 using the same valve spring as the LS3. If it does require aftermarket springs then I won't use the LS9 cam.
I based what I said on the facts that the LS3 cam has lifts of .551/.525, compared to the LS9 lifts of .558/.562 (I JUST looked these up, and thought the LS9 had more lift).
So apparently you should be able to use the LS3 springs after all. Sorry for the mixup! Looks like you're good!
You CAN NOT mail order tune this engine. It has to be dyno or street tuned by a competent tuner.
Originally Posted by P31Jeff
Back to the original post, just completed an LS1 to a crate LS3 376/525 swap in a 98 T/A. Sent the computer out and had it tuned for the LS3 . Very disappointed . Runs like **** so far. Will keep working away and get it figured out and keep you posted.
Any one looking for a lightly used asa cam with less than 400 miles on it, I know where you can find one cheap. LS9 cam is in, I already like it better and I've only heard the idle untuned.
LS9 cam made more power and runs much smoother. 441whp/423tq
Wow. So you went from 416 to 441 switching from the 525 ASA cam to the LS9 cam. Congrats @lees02WS6! If you did both runs on the same dyno, could you please ask your tuner to overlay the two runs and provide you that graph? I would be very interested in seeing this comparison. I may be following you down this path with my DR525. Thanks! Robin.
Long tube headers were added between runs, along with the cam swap. At the rated power of the LS376/525 with long tubes and calculating drive train loss
@15% = 456 whp
@18% = 444 whp
The numbers @grubinski got are in the ballpark. With the less aggressive cam I got with in the 18%, which if you look back at Post 18 is where I thought I'd end up around with the ASA cam. The big pluses are the LS9 cam idles far better, and doesn't poison you and everyone else in traffic. The LS9 also does not buck and surge, and the ASA cam definitely does - everywhere below 2500 RPM.
I'll ask about an overlay, but yes they same shop did the tunes.
I can see your problem.
First of all the valve events are certainly not ideal for an LS3
With an IVC of 40 and EVO of 51 explains why you didn't like this in the way it drove. Not a good choice.
And secondly you have too much overlap at 11 degrees.
If you had a 226/240 114 LSA +3 you would have only had 5 degrees of overlap and your driveability would be very close to stock.
Or have it on a 115 LSA +3 for 3 degrees of overlap. EIther way it would work well.
You would also make more power and torque off idle till the red line compared to the LS9.
I can see your problem.
First of all the valve events are certainly not ideal for an LS3
With an IVC of 40 and EVO of 51 explains why you didn't like this in the way it drove. Not a good choice.
And secondly you have too much overlap at 11 degrees.
If you had a 226/240 114 LSA +3 you would have only had 5 degrees of overlap and your driveability would be very close to stock.
Or have it on a 115 LSA +3 for 3 degrees of overlap. EIther way it would work well.
You would also make more power and torque off idle till the red line compared to the LS9.
That is good info. I had specific requirements Post111, so not sure if your recommendation would fall with in them
easy on the valve train (keep the stock ls3 valve springs)
idles @600 rpm
will pass emissions (sniffer, not just obd-II)
modest bump over stock ls3 power
I wanted stock drivability, idle, emissions, and reliability, while getting a modest bump in power. I think I have that, so I'm happy.
That is good info. I had specific requirements Post111, so not sure if your recommendation would fall with in them
easy on the valve train (keep the stock ls3 valve springs)
idles @600 rpm
will pass emissions (sniffer, not just obd-II)
modest bump over stock ls3 power
I wanted stock drivability, idle, emissions, and reliability, while getting a modest bump in power. I think I have that, so I'm happy.
That camshaft I specified, it may idle at around 700-750 so it's smooth.
Not sure if it will pass a sniffer.
Can be easy on the valvetrain but you would have to upgrade the springs and fit dual springs to suit .600 lift or so.
Most lobes these days from Cam motion or texas speed are easy on the valvetrain so you don't need to worry.
Just fit good quality springs and you will be fine.
You will be surprised how much better that camshaft will drive especially with more torque.
05-20-2019, 10:04 PM
