2002 LS6 Cam Upgrade. What is needed to do it right?
2002 LS6 Cam Upgrade. What is needed to do it right? I'm doing a low budget cam swap on an LS1 over the winter, so I'm sticking with the LS6 cam. The valve springs have already been upgraded to Comp 918's, and I will be replacing the stock pushrods. The stock 2002 LS6 uses the lightweight valves which are .6mm longer than the stock LS1 valves. Do the valves need to be replaced, or is it acceptable to just use a slightly longer pushrod? Thanks.
Re: 2002 LS6 Cam Upgrade. What is needed to do it right? Well I would suggest the LS6 valvesprings but since you already have the C918's in there you might as well stick with those. Many people including myself have used the stock 7.4" pushrods with this cam in stock LS1 heads. For perfect valvetrain geometry using the LS6 cam with LS1 heads you would need a .27" longer pushrod than stock. Other than having custom PR's made you can reuse the stock ones like I did and had no trouble at all. Or you can buy a set of Thunder Racing's 7.4" pushrods which are actually 7.415" so then you would only be .12" off perfect valvetrain geometry. With my previous LS6 cam setup with mods in sig below I made 376 rwhp @ 361 rwtq and the cam pulled very hard from 4000-6500 rpms.
Re: 2002 LS6 Cam Upgrade. What is needed to do it right? Seeing as I was planning on replacing the stock pushrods anyway, the TR pushrods sound like a good choice. Regarding the C918's, my thinking is that the added spring pressure will help prevent valve float when using the heavier LS1 valves. The stock LS6 springs were designed for the light weight valves. Does this make sense? I happen to have a brand new set of LS6 springs, so I could put them in if I had a good reason for doing so. Thanks. 
TECH Junkie
Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 3,604
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From: Los Angeles
Re: 2002 LS6 Cam Upgrade. What is needed to do it right? The stock pushrods will be fine..every Z06 straight off the factory line uses stock pushrods so I don't see why you should need anything different.
The 918's should be great. If I were you the only thing I'd do is put the cam in and enjoy.
The 918's should be great. If I were you the only thing I'd do is put the cam in and enjoy.
