ringgold

I need to decide on a cam so I can finish my engine rebuild. Sure it has been covered a thousand times, and I have searched, but I am going to go ahead and put it out there I want to do this as cheap as possible. I am not above using a stock cam, but which of the stock cams would work work best with my engine combo or what super cheap aftermarket cam is going to work fine?

So far here is what I am working with:

L76 block and crank (got the complete engine for $100)
Stock L76 floating wristpin rods
Wiseco Junkyard dog pistons (only thing I have splurged on)
Stock 862 Heads
LS1 intake manifold
Stock truck throttle body from either a 4.8 or 5.3
Stock L76 truck exhaust manifolds that are going to be used for the turbo stuff.

With the 862 heads and the compression of the truck L76 pistons, which the Wiseco are stock compression, I think it will be over 10:1 compression. I think the stock truck compression was 9.6:1 with the other heads. The 862's have a smaller chamber if I can remember correctly. I would have used the heads that came on the L76, but they were damaged. I need to get a cam obviously, probably use a set of PAC1218 springs, stock pushrods, and I also have to get a cam gear and front cover to match. Need some opinions and feel free to post up track times or dyno results with whatever you post. I don't care if you hate on me for being cheap, but I have an end goal on budget in mind. As of now I have the car, engine, trans, rear end, etc and I haven't spent over $4k for all of it. I'd also like to be able to dip into the 5's in the 1/8th if at all possible and drive it right back home. I'll post a build thread once I really start tearing into the whole thing. Right now I have a couple shots of the engine I am assembling.

ringgold

I forgot to mention which turbo I plan on using. Of course, since I said I wanted to go cheap, I will probably use one of the run of the mill China units that are often used. Something 76mm or above I suppose, not sure of the exhaust housing options, haven't looked into them a lot just yet. The car is going to be a street car and I am even going to try and keep A/C on it if possible, but will see it's share of the track. I'd really like to do Drag Week with it at some point, but as of now I just want to put together a solid fun car.

JoeNova

I thought the junkyard drop-in pistons were only available in 3.78 - 3.80 bore? Beyond that, they are just forged LS2 pistons.

With that being said, I'm not sure what the point of the point of forged pistons on stock rods is with a stock cam and china turbo. The stock pistons would have been more than enough.

Forcefed86

iTrader: (4)

What ECU? What vehicle weight? 24x crank wheel?

I’d go with the 77/83 VSracing turbo. Sub $500 and sized perfectly for an LS with your goal. You’ll need some serious power for 5’s depending on weight I’d guess. BW S475 is the next best option at $640 shipped. But you’d have to deal with T6 housing and a much larger turbo dimension wise. (more weight too)

Cheapest capable cam IMO would be any of the LS1 OEM grinds. Usually pick them up for under $50. LS6 cam is a little better but usually not cheap or easy to find these days. LS9 cam works great if you are batch firing off crank signal alone, but isn’t easily run on 24x crank and OEM PCM.

Trick flow 216/220 cam is the next cheapest aftermarket cam I’m aware of at around $260-280. If you’re spending that much it’s better to just go with one of the vendors $365ish dollar cams and gain a little more power. If you are using 100% OEM valve train I’d go with JFR’s triple 12. Has moderate lift/duration and is easy on OEM parts IMO. Great little cam, I loved mine and used it with 100% OEM valve train and PAC1218’s up to 26lbs on a 5.3.

ringgold

The engine was in a fire, had to be gone through. Water got into a couple cylinders either when they were trying to put the fire out or from the salvage yard. So when that happened it needed to be bored over a little. Since I only had $100 into the enigne and it could be fixed, I opted for a set. I searched around and asked about some aftermarket OEM style cast pistons for it, but didn't get a lot of answers that sat well with me since I could get them a little larger. I could have gotten pistons from Chevrolet parts dept, but if I remember correctly they were a little expensive in my opinion. Found out Wiseco did make set of their Junkyard series pistons in the correct bore for the stock rods and went for them. Even with a set of Wiseco pistons, machine work, and new bearings, I am still coming out cheaper than what some are buying 5.3 engines with a bunch of miles on them for. If I have $1000 in the engine by the time it is complete, I have a fresh engine and still some spend upwards of that for a high mileage unit.

The point is, I have a budget in mind and an end goal and I do not want to spend a fortune to get there. These stock rods seems to hold 800whp fairly well in my opinion and I don't plan on setting new world records, so they should work well for a while. I will use a cheap cam, cheap turbo, and other cheap parts just like everyone else is trying to do and some doing it really well to meet my goal. Hope that makes sense?

I will slap a China turbo on the engine and use my Tial 60mm wastegate and Tial BOV that I saved from a previous build along with the Wiseco pistons on stock rods. As long as it runs fine, looks good, and does what I want it to do I am good with it.

For the ECU I had planned on running Microsquirt and it is a 58x, but have been told that it is a fairly simple trick to make that ECU control the newer style engine. Since it is pretty cheap and I am using a TH400 I figured it was my best option.

I plan on using a set of Pac1218 springs since it seems people have good luck with them and seem to be easy on the other parts.

Forcefed86

iTrader: (4)

Since you’re using the crank signal only with the micro you can run the LS9 cam. That would be your best cheapest bet IMO. Usually around $125. I really liked mine. It limited the power down low that tends to bend rods anyway and really woke up in the upper RPM. I ran PAC 1218’s with mine as well. Converter a little on the loose side works well.

ringgold

Thanks Forcefed86. Any other opinions or recommendations?

Forcefed86

iTrader: (4)

Run good gas and give it hell!

SethU

Haven't completed my build yet, so haven't run it yet... But, I talked myself into an LS9 cam for my TT 5.3 MicroSquirt boat project on the following "merits".

Price can't be beat. $120 and another $120 for LS7 lifters is nearly flat tappet cost territory

Lobe profiles engineered for 100,000 mile plus valve train reliability. In my case the engine will live most of it's life at 3000+ RPM, so that's an attractive thought.

Close reported peak hp numbers to comparable aftermarket cams designed for similar rpm range (6200 pk hp w/ truck intake manifold). Close meaning, is $200+ more worth the marginal gain? Up to you. The clear benefit to aftermarket cams is actually in the low range power and torque. Off memory, comparable aftermarket cams were up 20-40 lbft on the bottom end.

My thought process anyway.

ringgold

That is a good way to look at it. Thanks!!

SethU

No problem. Thought this was a good read.
http://www.hotrod.com/how-to/engine/...st-comparison/

stevieturbo

****** LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL




Please get someone else to assemble the engine

ringgold

Pistons look backwards huh?

ringgold

Glad someone caught it. I would have caught it when I went to put the heads on, but either way, yeah, I'm not perfect. I just went out in the garage and looked at it to make sure the pics didn't get reversed or something weird. You know how many people have looked at those pics though and the actual engine itself? Weird it took this long for someone including myself to notice.

I guess I will pay attention how I lay out the pistons and rods next go around on an LS build, which this is my first of this type engine. Oh well, live and learn, and no I will not get someone else to assemble any of my engines. Ive had good luck up until now I don't plan on quitting.

ringgold

For the price, it's looking like the LS9 cam is probably what I'll lean towards putting in the engine unless I can find someone selling a good aftermarket cam for cheap.

SethU

For the price... Yes. Can't be beat.

The slight deficiency in low end torque (compared to aftermarket cams with the same operating range) could be an indication that a turbo/s might not spool as soon, but even that point may be a matter of a few hundred RPM.

Most bang for the buck... LS9 cam

Most bang... Aftermarket.

I had actually paid about $600 for a custom ground cam before I purchased the LS9 cam. It arrived way later than quoted, with different specs than were quoted, and without specific modifications I requested. Sure, I would have liked to have an application specific cam. But I'm even more happy with the LS9 the more I think about it, for my specific goals and needs.

Maybe I'll upgrade in the future. Maybe not. Will probably be more than I need in it's current configuration anyways. We'll see.

For about $100, if you want more or different later... toss it in the trash... or sell it if it's worth your time and effort. It's a no-brain-er if your budget is more important than getting every last dripping bit of performance out of it. And that doesn't even speak to "possible" reliability benefits of the factory cam.

Keep us posted. I will.

ringgold

There will definitely be a small build thread at some point. Especially now that I posted up a pic with the pistons in backwards.

Only thing I was worried about is the compression that this engine will be and how well stock cams work with that, especially in a turbo engine. Like I said, this is my first LS build. Trying to learn about these things since this is a new engine for me.

stevieturbo

That's a big mistake there...and ensure rods are correct way round too.

I'm equally amazed nobody mentioned it before !

ringgold

The rods are the correct way, hence the reason I laid them all out wrong. I wanted to make sure all the dimples on the rods faced the back of the engine, which they do. I paid more attention to that then the pistons themselves. I would have certainly noticed it when I went to stick the heads on.

I have been messing Hondas and 4 cylinders in general since 1997, when I got my first one. It's like clockwork with those, just like anything else that you do over and over. Right when you get complacent is when it will bite you!!! Ive been lucky with those and all of the engines I have built for my Honda projects and what not run well and are still running.

I am disappointed in myself on this, but I have seen high dollar engines built by reputable shops not live more than startup and some dyno pulls when the shop that built them were the ones that did startup and doing the tuning. So as much as I would like to be mad at myself, I know for a fact that many well known engine builders and tuners have all had their fair share of embarrassing car moments. Rags left in engines or intakes, tunes being way out and melting engines, pistons being in backwards......you name it!!!!

stevieturbo

I wouldnt care where dimples are...ensure if there is a radiused edge on the rod it goes to the crank/web side of the journal and any non radiused side goes rod-rod

And I've also seen new parts like pistons/rods marked incorrectly for position ! ( where is isnt so obviousl with valve cutout position lol )

But absolutely everyone makes mistakes