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Cam swap. missing power?

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Old Aug 7, 2010 | 03:56 PM
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Default Cam swap. missing power?

Ok I have a 99 Z28 thats a cam only/bolt on car. I dynoed 360 hp 353 tq and ran 8.11 @ 86 mph 1/8th mile with 28 in slicks. Mods are custom cam 224/236 .610/.608 111+3, comp 7.4 pushrods, patriot dual gold springs, stock rockers, ud pulley, LS6 intake and p&p stock tb, ss3600 with built tranny, 10 bolt with 3.23 gears, slp lid, stock maf, 42# injectors, 255 intake, 1 3/4 arh with catted y and magnaflow cb. I thought it was ok for a full weight street car until I ran my buddies bolt on 01 Z28. he has the same tranny gears, ebay heads with flomaster muffler in stock cb and still pulls on me. Can anybody tell me where to look to see where I'm losing power at?

Thanks, Mike
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Old Aug 7, 2010 | 03:59 PM
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Originally Posted by 94dragbird
Ok I have a 99 Z28 thats a cam only/bolt on car. I dynoed 360 hp 353 tq and ran 8.11 @ 86 mph 1/8th mile with 28 in slicks. Mods are custom cam 224/236 .610/.608 111+3, comp 7.4 pushrods, patriot dual gold springs, stock rockers, ud pulley, LS6 intake and p&p stock tb, ss3600 with built tranny, 10 bolt with 3.23 gears, slp lid, stock maf, 42# injectors, 255 intake, 1 3/4 arh with catted y and magnaflow cb. I thought it was ok for a full weight street car until I ran my buddies bolt on 01 Z28. he has the same tranny gears, ebay heads with flomaster muffler in stock cb and still pulls on me. Can anybody tell me where to look to see where I'm losing power at?

Thanks, Mike

probably in the tune...
my car, with headers and a fast intake and a great tune outran a lot of cammed cars with a so-so tune
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Old Aug 7, 2010 | 04:00 PM
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is it tuned?^^ too late lol
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Old Aug 7, 2010 | 04:05 PM
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Yes, speed inc tune. We did the install and I noticed after the tune that a hose was off coming from the tb to the pass. valve cover. Would this through the tune off that bad?
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Old Aug 7, 2010 | 04:19 PM
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is it a mail order tune, a dyno tune, or a street tune....
all very different...

you can do pulls on a dyno till you are blue in the face, but when you go back to the street and get some real airflow and real world resistance...you have to retune it to match for that situation....meaning, its gonna be slow on the street compared to a vehcile with Air fuel dialed in on the street/track.


and yes... the vacuum leak would hurt the power of the tune
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Old Aug 7, 2010 | 04:21 PM
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They tuned it both ways I believe.
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Old Aug 7, 2010 | 05:07 PM
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Originally Posted by soundengineer
is it a mail order tune, a dyno tune, or a street tune....
all very different...

you can do pulls on a dyno till you are blue in the face, but when you go back to the street and get some real airflow and real world resistance...you have to retune it to match for that situation....meaning, its gonna be slow on the street compared to a vehcile with Air fuel dialed in on the street/track.


and yes... the vacuum leak would hurt the power of the tune
X1. I would go for a street tune. If u think u had a vacuum leak it will hurt ur tune bad.
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Old Aug 7, 2010 | 05:17 PM
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I'm positive I had a leak so that's probably the main problem. I'm gonna get a wideband and have my buddy check the tune.
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Old Aug 8, 2010 | 09:43 AM
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While it may not be the only problem, the 3.23 gear and 28" tire couldn't be more wrong. 3.73 with a 26" DR and you should go quicker and MUCH faster.
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Old Aug 8, 2010 | 02:21 PM
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I've got 26's now and 3.73 gears but I'm not sure the 10 bolt can handle the gears and my tranny. I have a buddy thats thinking about getting rid of his 9in for a fab 9. If he does I'm getting his 9 and no more worries.
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Old Aug 8, 2010 | 06:45 PM
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Originally Posted by 94dragbird
I've got 26's now and 3.73 gears but I'm not sure the 10 bolt can handle the gears and my tranny. I have a buddy thats thinking about getting rid of his 9in for a fab 9. If he does I'm getting his 9 and no more worries.
Plenty of guys around here running a lot more power and hitting the rear much harder without issues. Don't read too much into the 10 bolt whiners, with an auto it's not an issue until you're going MUCH faster.
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Old Aug 8, 2010 | 09:10 PM
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i agree with looking at the tune.

my wife's 99 ta traps more than that and it only has a lid...
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Old Aug 8, 2010 | 09:21 PM
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Also, the 42#'ers are way overkill with that setup which makes tuning more difficult.
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Old Aug 8, 2010 | 10:32 PM
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The intake and exhaust duration seem like they are for L92 heads. Probably not the best cam for stock heads.
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Old Aug 8, 2010 | 10:57 PM
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I bought bigger injectors so I wouldn't have to when I go bigger cubes. A set of heads are in the work but I'm not sure what to go with. I was looking at TEA 5.3 stage 1.5 or tfs 220 as cast. The split might be due to my catted exhaust. pred z speced the cam out.
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Old Aug 9, 2010 | 06:24 AM
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The injectors wouldnt make a differnce if it was tuned.... The gears, tire size, and the cam is going to make it a dog on the low end... very shitty 1/8 mile combo.
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Old Aug 9, 2010 | 12:10 PM
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If you were once running rich u may want to check if those cats r ok. Sometimes they can get hurt with rich conditions and become a restriction. I know for a fact some factory cats actually flow better then aftermarket ones due to the actual size. many companies use smaller cats to increase ground clearance and what not. a stock cat will taper out quite a bit with a large internal surface area allowing pretty good flow. Not saying all aftermarkets flow bad. they use bigger perforations at times but i would def check them out. there is nothing wrong with the cam. it looks like some of the newer eps stuff that seems to b doing really good.
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Old Aug 9, 2010 | 02:09 PM
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Originally Posted by Marc 85Z28
While it may not be the only problem, the 3.23 gear and 28" tire couldn't be more wrong. 3.73 with a 26" DR and you should go quicker and MUCH faster.
When I read the original post I was thinking the SAME thing.
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Old Aug 10, 2010 | 06:26 PM
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Originally Posted by AznMuscle
When I read the original post I was thinking the SAME thing.
This one's getting fixed as I type. 3.73's with 26 inch slicks. The wideband's on it's way so my buddy can clean up the tune a bit. Any ideas of what this SHOULD be running?
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Old Aug 11, 2010 | 12:07 PM
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Should be trapping closer to 91 or more mph I would hope, and with a good 60', 7.8 or faster. I had a weak *** 60' in not that great of DA, mind you I suck at driving, and I went 7.8 at 93.5 rowing my own gears. You should be quicker with a nice stalled auto/cammed car.
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