xricer

I eventually want to cam my car and just buy a cam package from tsp or something but I dont want change my heads or my gears. Heads are just WAY too much money for me and I dont want to swap to shorter gears because I want to make my stock 10 bolt last as long as it can, I pretty much DD my car and baby it for the most part, I definately cant afford a 12 bolt! I guess what I'm asking is what is the biggest, meanest sounding cam I can go with that will work well with stock heads, and will still have the right power band for 3.42's. I noticed while looking at some of the bigger cams on some sites it says something like "gears required." I know I can still destroy my 10 bolt and I know a cam and the extra power will make it even easier to kill but I do take it pretty easy on my ta, I just love the sound of a cammed V8 and the choppy idle

brian_rs/ss

i has 224r and me likes it gud. yew shud git juan.

xricer

Do you need a new timing chain and oil pump for a cam swap? Its not a deal breaker for me or anything they dont seem all that expensive, just wondering and I want to make sure if I do it, I do it right! Your car sounds great! I'm so bored with the way my stock *** car idles lol

brian_rs/ss

need? meh, no...good idea? yes, very. i went with an in-motion single roller ls2 timing set and a melling high volume pump(which kicks *** btw) along with patriot dual springs and comp push rods. but there are many spring/pr/timing kits out there, it all just depends on what your future holds in store. personally i am about two weeks away from going to 243's and ls6 intake. so my out put will be increased again(400-ish) and i still have all the supporting hardware i could need(as far as what we are talking about)

1969mach1

TR224 or TSP224R

98z8uup

iTrader: (7)

You can also look at the VRX3 from Vengence racing.

Predator

I asked the same question before I bought a cam and I went with a TR224/112, but you know what, 3.42s were still 3.42s, so I broke down and got a 12-bolt with 4.11s. Now I'm happy.

xricer

So pretty much you don't want to go bigger than a 224?

RedRocketZ28

iTrader: (19)

You can bigger than that and be just fine. My cam is a 231/232 on a 111+4 and I like the way it drives with my 3.42's. I have 4.10's waiting to be installed though. Depends on what you want for the car. My goal was to hit 400 rwhp with the stock 853 heads that are on my car and have good usable power everywhere. I told PatrickG what I wanted and that is the cam he spec'd me. I got close with 387 rwhp and am pretty happy with the way the car runs. Sounds like you would be happy with a 224 cam, they perform very well.

BriancWS6

iTrader: (18)

Friend of mine ran a 228/228 cam with his stock 3.42s for a while. His car drove and performed nicely. Once I installed 4.10s and a few other items for him though, it was even better!

For what your wanting to do, a 224 to 228 cam will work good for you.

You have an 02, which has the better oil pump than earlier years. If you have relatively low miles, I wouldn't change the pump out, or the timing set, especially for how you use the car.

Damian

iTrader: (89)

Low-mid 220's are best with 3:42's. The TR224 is perfect for it.

01ssreda4

iTrader: (96)

I agree, a tr224 is a great street friendly cam. However, with age the 10 bolts become time bombs. I would trust a correctly rebuilt 10 bolt with 4.10s more then an aged original 10 bolt with 3.42s. Food for thought considering rebuild kits are only about $125.

garygnu

what converter are or will you be using?

Engine_HP

iTrader: (1)

im curious why ? is there a relation ship bitween gears and cams ?

thewholefnshow1

iTrader: (2)

I have a clone of that cam and it kicks ***. But I would say a 224, 228 or VRX3 for what he's doing any of those 3 would be great.

dug

iTrader: (10)

get a 224/224 108 cam

tspence45

iTrader: (30)

Because of the cam's power band. With a higher power band, you want shorter gears, so you don't lose a ton of low-end.

01redws6ta

I like the cam I installed...can still cruise at 1300 rpm or so uphill in 6th and get no surging. You'll need a good tune though. I think a set of 4.10's would help though. The LSA and valve overlap should be looked at closely too when choosing...this will make a big difference. I did a lot of research before I chose my cam.

xricer

what is cam surge btw? Thanks for the good info guys, sorry for my noob question I dont know **** compared to most everybody on this site it seems like lol

xricer

my car has just under 70k miles idk if you would consider that low miles. My oil pressure never gets below like 45, I guess thats good but I'll probably get a new pump and timing chain just for the hell of it