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I mean that's the range the car will spend 90% of its life in.
Quarter miles and racing will be maybe 4 days of the year, and will only put the boot in on the roads on a whim now and then.
There's plenty of tuners here, we have the LS1 engines in our Holden Commodores which are everywhere here, but it's about the same price to buy a cam here, as it is to buy a cam, springs, pushrods, retainers and all plus shipping from the states, so that's why I was looking at the Texas Speed cams.
I don't want to go too tame with the cam, as I'll most likely put the 3.46 gears in shortly after the install, and the turbo route is still a maybe. I know you can't get everything in one magical cam, but if I can find a cam that will work as a daily, and possibly work with a low boost single turbo set up it would be great, otherwise whatever the best cam I can get to get me in the 2000-5500 torque range. Some lope would be nice but not essential, the car attracts enough attention as it is
Cool car!
Are you sure about the prices? I'm a fellow Aussie and I imported a Cam Motion combo from the USA for my Monaro in 2017 but I've now found that with the dollar the way it is and the changes in GST, the local purchase can be cheaper. Could be worth checking?
Are you sure about the prices? I'm a fellow Aussie and I imported a Cam Motion combo from the USA for my Monaro in 2017 but I've now found that with the dollar the way it is and the changes in GST, the local purchase can be cheaper. Could be worth checking?
Thanks mate.
Yeah I've had a look around, if I was just getting the cam I could get a similar spec'd one for AUD$650 but pushrods, springs, retainers etc and I'm looking at minimum $1200 in Australia
Out of all the cams I have had. I was most happy with my 230/232 cam as a daily. Throttle response was incredible, and it made decent power all over and didn't buck and wasn't a pain to drive.
Otherwise I would say something in the mid to upper 220s or low 230s, with a close split and not a bunch of overlap. IMO
Ebay screwed me on the cam prices, it says $60 import taxes and then ramps it up to $170USD when you go to pay, so I'll have to order the cam and spring kit separately.
I'm still edging towards the Torquer V4 now that the gears will match and it meets the requirements (i.e. intake, exhaust upgrade, bigger injectors, 3000+stall and gears)
The stall is a 9" non-lockup as well I found out.
If we ignore the daily driver part for now and think oF it as a weekend cruiser will the V4 suit?
Last edited by evilstuie; Jan 23, 2020 at 05:51 AM.
IMO - If the car will see much in the way of mileage as a weekend or daily as mentioned earlier in the post, higher stall locking converter would be a nice option. From experience non locking generates more heat & less gas mileage.
IMO - If the car will see much in the way of mileage as a weekend or daily as mentioned earlier in the post, higher stall locking converter would be a nice option. From experience non locking generates more heat & less gas mileage.
thanks man
I always wanted a KITT car since I was two years old, so when I got the opportunity I made it happen. Now I just want it to make it form point A to B LOL
I've got a twin trans cooler set up for the heat side of things, so i think it should be ok, for the gas mileage, I've come to the realisation I should accept it wont be greta (purposeful spelling "mistake")
Is that with a 2.73 ratio diff though for the first one?
No, actually it's a 3.70 from a 9"
And that cam you just posted is too much for a daily and ptv is probably going to be tight. Stick with what works and dont overthink it. Most daily driver cams will be splitting hairs in difference. Anything in the 22x/22x (114-112) <.630 <.630 will work fine.
I'm curious about what everyone means by "daily" in terms of cam suitability...
Do they mean it'll run rough as guts, that you'll have to rev the car up a lot to get it moving, or is more just a lack of power/bog down a bit in low/cruise rpms?
If it just means the power band won't be there for the typical driving conditions, but the power is there at the bottom of the pedal, then I have no issues with it.
I've got the donor car on the front lawn now so I need to make the cam decision today and order so it'll be ready to go for next weekend.
the VCM710 is the current front runner. I'm thinking its good for the stock motor but will still allow upgraded heads and possibly even a turbo later on to be added and still get more out of it if I want more later on.
The 3.42 gears and 3000 stall will get it moving and the exhaust is already there to let it breathe.
I'm curious about what everyone means by "daily" in terms of cam suitability...
Do they mean it'll run rough as guts, that you'll have to rev the car up a lot to get it moving, or is more just a lack of power/bog down a bit in low/cruise rpms?
If it just means the power band won't be there for the typical driving conditions, but the power is there at the bottom of the pedal, then I have no issues with it.
I've got the donor car on the front lawn now so I need to make the cam decision today and order so it'll be ready to go for next weekend.
the VCM710 is the current front runner. I'm thinking its good for the stock motor but will still allow upgraded heads and possibly even a turbo later on to be added and still get more out of it if I want more later on.
The 3.42 gears and 3000 stall will get it moving and the exhaust is already there to let it breathe.
Negative to zero overlap results in a very nice driving, close to stock or near stock mannered engine with good tuning and supporting mods in my experience. The idle might be slightly higher.
Examples these are based only on my personal experience with cams I've owned in cars I drive.
224/224 114 LSA cam that popular for LS1's twenty years ago. My six speed TA had a version of this cam, car drove nearly stock. Idled at 900 rpm. Had LS6 intake, ported heads, long tube headers, mail order tune and 4.10 gears. Only place I had non stock driveabilty was up hill in a parking deck at very low speeds. Two of my friends thought it was too much cam because of the slightly higher idle speed of 900 rpm vs stock 750 rpm or so. 27 mpg highway
Zero to + 13 degrees
+1 degree of overlap, 91 RS 383 LS1 with 229/229 on 114 LSA with 4.10's and supporting mods. Drives stock to me. One friend whines its too much because car idles at 800 rpm. 25 mpg highway
+5 degrees, 221/221 on a 108 in a 72 vette with 350 and 8.5 to compression stock stall & 3.08 gears. Stalled at stoplights and surged. Stall was too tight. Bad tuning. This was the worse driver of all the cams. Fault was in my set up not the cam. 15 mpg average
+13 degrees, 230/236 on 110 LSA, same 72 vette with Dart 400, 10.85 to compression, yank 3200 stall, 3.08 gears. Drives like stock other than with looser stall car will roll backward on a hill easier. Tune is near perfect. Correct compression and stall plus good tune really helped. Both friends mentioned above agree car is well mannered. One says stock the other says 750 rpm idle is on the high side. My opinion the cam is too small and should be closer to a 236/242. 14 mpg and 19.5 mpg highway
+13 degrees, 237/245 on 114 lsa in 416 LS in 99 TA, six speed 4.10 gears. Tune is good not perfect slight surge occasionally, idles 950 rpms doesn't stall. One friend says its undriveable and another says it drives like a muscle car should. To me it drives close to stock. I do slip the clutch a little more at low speeds and in parking garages. Heavy stop and go traffic isn't much fun but the car is still daily driver suitable to me. Several friends disagree. This is near the limit of what i would find acceptable as a daily driver. Typically 17 mpg
VCM710 232/234 on 110 has 13 degrees of overlap. Seems like too much for daily in an LS1 to me. Maybe in an LS2 or LS3 sure. For an LS1 size engine the 227 intake to 235 exhaust is a nice range for a friendly daily driver with good mods and tune in my opinion and experience. Say a 227/232 on a 114 or 228/232 on similar lsa. Or in that range typically
more than 16 degrees overlap - i don't have experience driving this sort of cam daily. I think i would find it too much in heavy traffic for frequent than say as a weekend driver.
Hope that helps as reference points
Last edited by 99 Black Bird T/A; Feb 1, 2020 at 11:03 PM.
Different people have different tolerances for cams and it probably also depends on what you're used to with cars and the conditions you drive in. Having spent time in the USA, I get how guys from most parts of the country see it differently to myself, living in a big Aussie City.
Personally, I drive in a lot of built up traffic in a manual and responsiveness, low down power and no bucking/ surging matters most. If I lived in a more open area with higher speed, flowing roads and had a stalled auto (plus liked to race), my choice would be different. It's all up to how you use and drive your car.
Different people have different tolerances for cams and it probably also depends on what you're used to with cars and the conditions you drive in. Having spent time in the USA, I get how guys from most parts of the country see it differently to myself, living in a big Aussie City.
Personally, I drive in a lot of built up traffic in a manual and responsiveness, low down power and no bucking/ surging matters most. If I lived in a more open area with higher speed, flowing roads and had a stalled auto (plus liked to race), my choice would be different. It's all up to how you use and drive your car.
Cool, my "daily" drive to work is pretty much traffic free, a couple of traffic lights but 60km/h to 80km/h for most of the way. I start at 5 am and finish around 3pm so the only traffic is school zones on the way home.
I ended up biting the bullet and bought the VCM 710 kit.
I was looking at the BTR stage 3 N/A LS1 cam with the higher lift etc, but realistically the on other mods i'll make to this engine in the short term is a swap of heads to some ported ones, or possibly small boost turbo.
I don't think the extra .050~ lift will really be of benefit for what I'm gonna do and use the car for.
I'll let you know how I go.
Last edited by evilstuie; Feb 2, 2020 at 01:53 AM.
Daily driving means you can drive it for 8 hours on a road trip reliably and not have any concerns. Typically you would use a more mild mannered cam that produces plenty of vacuum, doesnt idle too high, easy to tune, lobes with lower jerk intensity and requiring more mild springs that will last a long time. Bigger cans have more overlap which reduce vacuum at low throttle applications. Ideally, the rule of thumb for a 346 ls1 is to not rock a cam with more then 7° overlap, ideally 4° or less. But this depends on lobes used.
As I said most sponsors here sell daily driver cams that all have their own twist on how they operate but at the end of the day, most of them work fine and you would be splitting hairs. Just pick a cam that operates in the rpm range this engine will turn and the most important part to consider would be cylinder heads. The right head will massively increase power across the board and could even increase efficiency, response and fuel economy.
