Upgrading cam - NEED OPINIONS
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Teching In
Joined: Dec 2012
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Upgrading cam - NEED OPINIONS I am currently running a thunder racing classic cam - 230/236 .592 .602 and feel like its time for an upgrade. When dynoed, car made 440rwhp. My goals are to hit 500rwhp before spraying the car with direct port nitrous. Also the car is a weekend street warrior and will hit the track 5 or so times a year to make passes. I also am considering upgrading to the FAST LSX intake and 102mm body. Car mods are in my signature. Thanks guys. Just wanna know your opinions and recommendations.
FAST 102 will be needed, as will 1-7/8" headers, and better heads.
You'll need something in the 238+ intake range and 240s exhaust. MS4, Polluter v2, T-Rex, Vindicator, Futral F16, or custom spec similar. That'd add about 10-15HP at the expensive of some drivability. 455.
1-7/8" headers from TSP would be good with TSP True Duals or if you have the coin the Kooks 1-7/8 and Kooks 3" TD setup would make a ton of power. If you've seen any of the threads on the Pacesetter vs TSP headers, you know that's about 10HP. If you go from 1-3/4" last gen Kooks (roughly equivalent to Pacesetter) to the 1-7/8" new gen Kooks with the Merge collector, it's closer to 20HP. So I'd expect at least 10HP. 465.
And heads. Well that's a war waiting to happen. But since you already have PRC, you could step up the PRC 227s. I think the PRC 227s are worth about 10-15HP over the LS6 PRC heads, which are good for about 10 over the 5.3s. So that plus the FAST, which will add a solid 10-15HP, should add you a good solid 30-40HP. That'd put you in the 495-505 range.
Just make sure your valvetrain geometry is good and preload is correct, degree the cam, set the gap in the spark plugs, and all the other little tricks to make sure you hit the numbers. At 440, you have a way to go, but I think 480+ would be no problem with the above changes and if everything were perfect, you could chase 500.
You'll need something in the 238+ intake range and 240s exhaust. MS4, Polluter v2, T-Rex, Vindicator, Futral F16, or custom spec similar. That'd add about 10-15HP at the expensive of some drivability. 455.
1-7/8" headers from TSP would be good with TSP True Duals or if you have the coin the Kooks 1-7/8 and Kooks 3" TD setup would make a ton of power. If you've seen any of the threads on the Pacesetter vs TSP headers, you know that's about 10HP. If you go from 1-3/4" last gen Kooks (roughly equivalent to Pacesetter) to the 1-7/8" new gen Kooks with the Merge collector, it's closer to 20HP. So I'd expect at least 10HP. 465.
And heads. Well that's a war waiting to happen. But since you already have PRC, you could step up the PRC 227s. I think the PRC 227s are worth about 10-15HP over the LS6 PRC heads, which are good for about 10 over the 5.3s. So that plus the FAST, which will add a solid 10-15HP, should add you a good solid 30-40HP. That'd put you in the 495-505 range.
Just make sure your valvetrain geometry is good and preload is correct, degree the cam, set the gap in the spark plugs, and all the other little tricks to make sure you hit the numbers. At 440, you have a way to go, but I think 480+ would be no problem with the above changes and if everything were perfect, you could chase 500.
Or you could keep the cam and make the other changes. You'd still probably hit 480 all day and keep the manners the same. But if you want to add 60HP, you're going to need to make changes. At that point, the cam swap is the cheapest option.
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Leave it alone, put the 102/102 on there with a sd tune and hit it with the hose. You won't gain near what you will put into time and money wise.
At the very most put in a better cam, I like the polluter v2, but everything else will be a huge waste of money IMHO if you spraying anyway
At the very most put in a better cam, I like the polluter v2, but everything else will be a huge waste of money IMHO if you spraying anyway
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I dont think guys realize how hard 500 is to hit on one of these ls1's... can it be done, sure but it takes very close attention to detail. If you'd like some direction I'd be more than happy to help but I would honestly put a bigger jet in it to make up for the power you're looking for. It's going to take significant changes IMO to hit that mark. I'm always up for a challenge though 
Teching In
Joined: Jan 2006
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From: Texas
I've read several threads over the same topic of hitting 500 with an ls1. What you will find is you have to have everything just bout right. And the durability and street manners will suffer. To reach the goals N/A on a street driven car most the recommendations i've read being made are to get more cubes to make the power and maintain drivability.
x2. go for the times, don't worry about dyno numbers. i wish internet people would step away from the dyno so much, it's just another tuning tool. swap out nitrous jets and you can kit any dyno number you want. worry about the track times that you want, it's a lot more ideal man.
Thread Starter
Teching In
Joined: Dec 2012
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It's just a personal goal of mine. I have my goals for times as well just haven't had the chance to run it at the track. Previous owner said he ran 10.48 at 1000ft with stock heads. Just weighing my options and learning what I can from others opinions and experiences. Once again, the feedback is appreciated!
