Hey everyone,

My car is a 99 Z28, A4, 2,74 axle, with 55k miles on it.
She got full suspension mods, subframe connectors...etc., Koni and K&W suspension, lowered about 2", 245 on 17x9 TTM all the way around, Lid, (free ram air),3" magnaflow catback, and a predator tune...so not too much done to it...

2 weeks ago my car was running on 7 pistons, took my valvecovers off and i found out it was missing a pushrod...

I started working in the engine bay for a couple hours, (i got access to a shop at my uncle with a lift and all the tools i need) trying to get the heads off etc... after a few cuts and many jammed fingers i decided to drop my engine out of the bottom, no sooner said, than done.

I found the missing pushrod snapped a half and another one bent. i have no idea how this happened to a stock motor...

This is my only car and its my DD i never took it to the track and i never beat the crap out of it... just a few pulls on the street here and there.

well, i figuered since my motor is out of the car it would be the best time for an engine overhaul and some new internals and engine parts.
Because of a $3000ish budget I decided to do a Cam swap with supporting bolt-ons etc.
My Goal is a around 400rwhp DD, Weekend Warrior, for now...

This is what came together on my list:

Vrx3 Cam on a 112 Lsa
TEA Dual gold spring kit
Hardened Pushrods
LS7 Lifters
Melling High Volume Oilpump
Katech C5R Timing Chain
Complete Heads&Cam Gasket&Seal Kit
ASP UD Pulley
TSP 1 7/8"SS with catted Y-pipe

(correct me if i forgot anything)

Later when I got enough money saved up ill go with a yank SS 3200, 12bolt with 3,42 gears, DR, FAST Intake Manifold+TB, and a Trans rebuild. Sometimes in the future i would like some new Heads, but driveline first! lol

What do you guys think about my Plans/setup? Would be very nice to hear some oppinions from the experts from America

Please add your 2cents if you have something to throw in!

Thanks already
Ole

 

First off welcome to the site, it's nice to see people from other countries enjoying American muscle. Anyway your list looks very good and you will probably get close to your goal. I highlighted some things in bold that I think you may consider revising.

The TEA dual gold kit is a great spring kit but I dont think duals are necessary not only are they heavy thus leading to valve train instability, but they can also cause premature valvetrain stress. The cam is on the smaller side so I think a good beehive is the answer maybe something like the pac 1218 or 1518.

The timing chain again is a great product but not necessary for your build you can save a little bit of cash by just going with a gm standard ls2 chain.

This is probably the most important thing on the list. The yank stall is a must with the cam swap or before but definitley dont wait till after its done to do a stall. A cammed auto car with the stock stall will be a pain to drive. To get the car to have a stable idle the idle speed will have to be raised thus wanting to "push" through the brakes at a stop with the stock converter. Also the higher flash point will get the car into it's power band much quicker with the higher flash stall speed. I'd recommend doing the 3200 stall if you are keeping the 2.73 gears for a while if not go 3600. More on that in a sec.

The 12 bolt is a good future option but i highly doubt you will have an issue with the 10bolt with just a cam only stalled auto car. Referring to the previous paragraph the 2.73's will tend to make the stall feel looser driving around thus my recommendation of doing the 3200 stall however being that you want 3.42's the 3600 becomes a much better choice. The 3.42 gears will make the 3600 stall feel like a 3200 when driving around town but the performance will be greatly improved when you mash the go pedal.

All in all your list seems pretty good. In sum I would change the spring choice and just swap your 2.73 gears out for some 3.42's and then go with a 3600 stall. Either way though get a stall before or with the cam swap lol. If you can find a complete rear end out of an m6 fbody they come with 3.42 gears stock so you can just swap the whole rear end out.

Best of luck
Dan

 

Thanks for your writeup Dan!

Its amazing to drive the Camaro over here, its a big head turner lol nobody knows the car and everybody LOVES the sound its really rar and its pretty fun to race all these mercedes, bmw, etc...

The Cam im lookin at comes in a Kit with either Comp 918, 921 Dual, or TEA Golds. I will go single Spings then, but the 918s dont seem to have a good name am i right?

If the ls2 timing chain is good enough for my setup ill just go with it, it does safe some money! lol

Thanks for the stall info, I changed my plans a lil bit and i will purchase the YANK SS 3600 with my camkit and put it in at the same time, I will have to wait to purchase my headers and ypipe then... i know a cam needs to breath, but i cant afford all the parts right now i hope i can buy my LT+ypipe and the 3.42´s in February!

What do you think about my LSA choice on the cam? 112 instead of 114?

I prbl have some traction issiues with my 245s and my gear+stall setup right? I will see how good my traction is once im done lol the problem is, bc my car sits so low, i cant really fit wide tires on my rear...

Thanks again!

Ole

 

The comp 918's got a bad rep from a bad batch back a few years ago, but I, as well as others have ram them with 0 problems.

I agree with doing the stall first, or at the same time as a can swap in an a4. I'd look at something around a 3,600 stall

 

The 112 lsa will give you a little more lope, and will peak sooner in the rpms than a wider lsa.....your tire size limit might because good thing because your stock 10 bolt rear will last longer if you can't dead hook off the line

 

Thanks for the info!

True that! lol

 

i agree about the 112lsa your idle will be a little more lopey and the powerband will come on a little sooner but i still wouldnt get the 918's. no offense to the guy above me but it seems like almost every time theres a spring failure on here its with 918's and thats even with newer batches. its not worth the risk to me, one broekn spring and some serious damage can happen.

 

The yank stall is a must with the cam swap ,,,,,,agree x 2 ,very good post redbird

 

No offense taken

 

alright, Yank SS3600 is in the cart lol

i will try to get the pac 1218 or the 1518 into the kit, if possible.

what do you guys think about the Comp Cams LS-Series Retro Fit-Trunion Kit?
would that be a good upgrade for my rockers? since i have them taken out anyways.. lol

Do you guys think i should add anything else on my list?

 

the trunion kit is an excellent upgrade and relatively cheap to do. you can dpo it in your garage with simple hand tools in a couple hours and it really increases the rocker strength. btw good deal on the yank 3600, btw it looks like your going to be driving the car I think a cam with around a 226/230 or 230/234 duration and .600 lift would be a nice place to start. usually a custom cam specd by pat g or geoff is better than an off the shelf one. oh and btw another good spring i forgot to mention if the pac isnt available is the PSI 1511 maxlife it's the spring that gm performance parts uses in their builds..

 

918, pacs, psi are all good. if you're worried that they'll let go I'd keep them on the shelf for six months and check the batch numbers online to see if you have a good set. bc if you don't they'll be all over the web.

 

If the car is rare, how do you get it tuned? Dyno tunes are scary enough because of the lack of quality tuners. I can't imagine the headache if there are no LS shops at all.

 

Welcome to my life!

There is a guy bout 2 hours away from here, hes suppose to be a very good corvette specialist... so he will be my first address to talk to.

But still... it really gives you a headache

 

I bet it's a headache. I didn't see new head bolts in your list. Make sure you don't try to reuse the GM bolts.

 

They r included in the Gasket/Seal kit

 

Thanks again!

still figuering everything out... lol

 

The VRX3 cam is a strong performer for a smaller cam. It should get you close to your goal. My old Z28 made right at 400rwhp with that cam and bolt-ons.

 

Hey Ole, after going over your pm's again I completely understand what your thinking of in terms of ordering the wrong stuff lol so here's a little list i came up with that hopefully helps you out a bit. Before i get started thought just know that when i put the valve springs in the list I'm going to keep the separate but eps also offers a complete cam kit with pac springs like TSP or vengence does.

Cam of your choice (EPS, TSP, etc)
Melling Oil Pump
Valvesprings (PSI, PAC, COMP, etc)
Cam Install Kit (all gaskets, head bolts, oil o-ring, and valve seals)
LS2 Timing Chain
3600 Stall
Transmission Cooler w/fluid and tranny filter (necessary for a high stall converter)
Powerbond Underdrive Pulley w/belts
Pushrods (make sure you measure even if you just buy a generic length at first)
Trunion Kit
I think that about covers it but if I am forgetting something someone please chime in. Read this though it will help you get an idea od what al is entailed obviously some parts can be skipped because your heads and engine will be out of the car. http://ls1howto.com/index.php?article=23

 

Hey!

Im finally done with everything!
My Baby is back on the road and its just undiscribable amazing. lol
I love everypart of it!
It was alot of work, but it was worth every second of it and i learned alot about my own car.
thanks for all your guyses help!

it runs great! I havent gone WOT yet but what i felt so far was alot of torq lol
i ran into a few lil problems tho... my cam is not that big, so i think my ecu should be able to keep the car alive by itself right?

I had to set the idle 450rpm higher, idles at 950-1000. otherwise it dies on me all the time i come to a stop...
but that seems a lil too high for me, am i right?