Biggest cam for stock converter
Save yourself the frustration and go with the converter first. I once did a heads and 232/236 cam in my truck with no stall. It sucked! 
You cant effectively tune it either. Every light I had to hang on the brakes and hope my vacuum stays good enough to keep the a/c dampers in the right place. Off the line response was horrible even with 3.73's. I would never go that route again. Pulled everything off and decided to keep my truck a tow worthy daily driver. Obviously you have a smaller duration in mind but the effects are the same.
You cant effectively tune it either. Every light I had to hang on the brakes and hope my vacuum stays good enough to keep the a/c dampers in the right place. Off the line response was horrible even with 3.73's. I would never go that route again. Pulled everything off and decided to keep my truck a tow worthy daily driver. Obviously you have a smaller duration in mind but the effects are the same. I think you will find most of the guys who are defending a cam before stall just haven't had any experience with it "done right" yet and will likely change their tune once they experience things done right.
Far as the ZO6 cam, that is A stock cam still even if it wasn't stock to your car, I am sure there are no bad manners or anything but at the same time a stall wakes up a stock engine, the more modified the engine the more a stall will let it shine.
Far as the ZO6 cam, that is A stock cam still even if it wasn't stock to your car, I am sure there are no bad manners or anything but at the same time a stall wakes up a stock engine, the more modified the engine the more a stall will let it shine.
dont do it. Unless you are doing some 60mph roll hits, it will feel like a turd with a stock converter. It might not even spin the tires.
I've done this with a couple cars (cruiser old cars with swaps) with a 224ish cam. sounded great, pulled from a roll, wouldnt even get out of its own way off the line, worse than stock
I've done this with a couple cars (cruiser old cars with swaps) with a 224ish cam. sounded great, pulled from a roll, wouldnt even get out of its own way off the line, worse than stock
Can Texas speed chime in? I really would like to hear from them about it. They seem to think the max cam I could run with stock converter is a 224. I'll end up with that more than likely. And to those saying get a converter I WILL! I am just curious as to who is running a stock converter and cam. How it drives and their reccendation. It will maybe be 2 months of that can with stock converter do just getting an idea of what it's like.
Last edited by tjwashow; Oct 5, 2012 at 08:42 AM.
would you please just listen to the advice given! i was going down the same route thinking i needed a cam before a stall...luckily for me doing alot of research and the help of a few members talked me out of it. A quality stall is the best mod for a4 end of story. you can put any cam in your stock stall setup and a bolton/stall car will walk all over it and will be more driveable.
If you trust the seller, but it's a fairly large gamble. It's a part you can't inspect so you are going in blind as to whether it has wear or damage internally.
That said, I bought mine from a member here several years ago and it has been a great converter.
That said, I bought mine from a member here several years ago and it has been a great converter.
Just do the cam first. I mean clearly all these people telling you to do otherwise cant be right.
Then we'll wait to see you post a thread titled " cam only car beat by stock _________ " or " my car pushed through the brakes and I accidentally rear ended someone "
There's no point in doing a performance mod if it isn't going to run how it's supposed to. I've driven cars with a cam and no converter. It wasn't fun.
Then we'll wait to see you post a thread titled " cam only car beat by stock _________ " or " my car pushed through the brakes and I accidentally rear ended someone "
There's no point in doing a performance mod if it isn't going to run how it's supposed to. I've driven cars with a cam and no converter. It wasn't fun.
LS1 Tech Stories
The Best V8 Stories One Small Block at Time
Gas Monkey Built a 6-Wheel Ferrari Testarossa With a Corvette LT4 Engine
Verdad Gallardo
7 Most Reliable High-Performance Engines GM Has Ever Built
Verdad Gallardo
Amazing '71 Camaro Restomod Is Modern Muscle Car Under the Skin
Verdad Gallardo
6 Common C5 Corvette Failures and What's Involved In Repairing Them
Pouria Savadkouei
Retro Modern Bandit Pontiac Trans AM Comes With Burt Reynolds' Autograph
Verdad Gallardo
Top 10 Greatest Cadillac V Series Performance Models Ever, Ranked
Pouria Savadkouei
Top 10 Most Powerful Chevy Trucks Ever Made!
Hennessey's New Supercharged Silverado ZR2 Has 700 HP
Verdad Gallardo
Coachbuilt N2A Anteros Is an LS2-Powered C6 Corvette In Italian Clothes
Verdad Gallardo On a converter I wouldn't go any cheaper than Edgeracing converters which is what I use. I don't know what they get for an LS converter but their LT1 stuff is $525-550 something like that. Even with Edge the guys that later go to something like a Yank report less topend slip and better driveability.
The vast majority of guys I have seen recommend sub-$500 "performance" converters never had any experience with anything better and once they have that experience they change their tune.
Also consider a torque converter failure is likely to wipe the tranny too.
The vast majority of guys I have seen recommend sub-$500 "performance" converters never had any experience with anything better and once they have that experience they change their tune.
Also consider a torque converter failure is likely to wipe the tranny too.
You get what you pay for. Even yank has budget stalls. Rev max's $400 converter will not be equal to yank's SS series and visa-versa. For the same quality, most vendors will be within $100 of each other. Yank and Circle-D are probably the most reputable and have been around for a while. Not knocking rev max..newer sponsor but heard nothing but good things about them as well
On The Tree
Joined: Jan 2011
Posts: 123
Likes: 0
From: Saint Louis Area
I have had my revmax for over a year with no problems. Go 3600 or bigger. You will love it. Revmax has been around for a long time. Just a new sponsor for tech. Do a search there isnt anything negative. Read this thread
https://ls1tech.com/forums/automatic...700-one-2.html
https://ls1tech.com/forums/automatic...700-one-2.html
Last edited by ls1wallen; Oct 5, 2012 at 11:03 AM.
TECH Enthusiast
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 743
Likes: 4
From: melbourne (Aus)
i'd recommend a convertor and diff gears to anyone before going head and cam. these will liven up any ls? derivative. doesn't have to be 5k and 4.11's, but they make a difference and guarentee you will enjoy the car 10x more.
i've run a 4000 convertor and 4500 convertor on bolt on cars, first a ls1, then a L98. they still retain lock-up and drive pretty normal around town. but run 11.9 and 11.3 respectively, which is pretty awesome. both return decent fuel economy as well.
definitely don't skimp on a convertor, as mentioned circle d or yank would be my preference on your side of the world. cheap convertors or used ones are a minefield, all it takes is cooking the lock-up, destroying it then dumping a cup or two of metal filings through your auto. trust me, a lesson learnt the hard way.
i've run a 4000 convertor and 4500 convertor on bolt on cars, first a ls1, then a L98. they still retain lock-up and drive pretty normal around town. but run 11.9 and 11.3 respectively, which is pretty awesome. both return decent fuel economy as well.
definitely don't skimp on a convertor, as mentioned circle d or yank would be my preference on your side of the world. cheap convertors or used ones are a minefield, all it takes is cooking the lock-up, destroying it then dumping a cup or two of metal filings through your auto. trust me, a lesson learnt the hard way.
My Edge does handle WOT lockup BUT that didn't make it any quicker because with 28" tire and 4.10s locking it just kept it below peak HP in 3rd. Now granted it is easy to exceed the power I have with an LS so maybe on a higher HP car I could have had issues or if I had more gear in it and tried to lock it at WOT often.
Far as PWM you should have a Transgo kit before a stall and part of doing the kit should be getting rid of PWM, hell that should be done on a vehicle as soon as you decide to mod it atall. It is just there to hide any drivetrain feedback and does nothing but cause heat and wear.
Far as PWM you should have a Transgo kit before a stall and part of doing the kit should be getting rid of PWM, hell that should be done on a vehicle as soon as you decide to mod it atall. It is just there to hide any drivetrain feedback and does nothing but cause heat and wear.
yes they all had tunes. I doubt a stock stall and 224 cam would stay running in gear a all. It WILL try to push through the brakes at idle, even if it idles 700-750rpm.
Just trust the advice. Even if you dont race, get some kind of stall thats more than stock to make it more bearable at stop lights and taking off if nothing else if you stick a cam in there. I just had PTC loosen up a stock converter on my buddes 62 bel air for the same reason, all it did was loosen it up at idle so he didnt have to hold it still at red lights anymore so hard on the brakes
Just trust the advice. Even if you dont race, get some kind of stall thats more than stock to make it more bearable at stop lights and taking off if nothing else if you stick a cam in there. I just had PTC loosen up a stock converter on my buddes 62 bel air for the same reason, all it did was loosen it up at idle so he didnt have to hold it still at red lights anymore so hard on the brakes
Far as pull on the brakes, my 3800 Edge pulls on the brakes more at idle than my wife's bone stock 2003 Impala does. Not that it is too hard, just want to really push the point that "high stall" does not mean sloppy at low speeds.
