Ok I've got a 99 ss with 160,000 miles.6 speed, lid, K&n, smooth bellows,cutout,160 degree thermostat, new plugs, msd wires, and a ls7 clutch.ive got around 3,000 to put into her.i was thinking tsp 233/339.595"/.603" cam package. what upgrades or supporting mods should go with a cam.would I be ok to do a cam on a 160,000 mile motor.the motor does not use oil, it seems to be in pretty good shape.i am the original owner and do not want to do anything that would damage my motor.i want to keep the car matching numbers for my son.also I was thinking tsp 1 7/8ths long tube headers and their off road y pipe.and a fast 102.any info or opinions are welcome.thanks

 

the 233/239 cam is a solid choice for a 346. As far as if its ok or not to put in a 150,000 + motor really comes down to the health of the individual motor. You being the original are going to be the best person to answer it. Does it consume oil? Any odd valve train / bottom end noise? Have you had a compression test done? If you can answer these no and no I would say its good to go.

As far as making an optimal setup with your budget i would....

Stuff on your list
-TSP cam package 750$
-TSP LTH 409$
-TSP OrY 150$

Stuff I would add
-Melling oil pump 129$
-36 lb injectors 300$
-Walbro 255 lph 80$
-ls7 lifters 140$
-Trunion upgrade 140$
-Timing chain 140$
-At the VERY least mail order tune 250$

This is right around 2,500$. I would keep a 500$ dollar cushion for gaskets / random things that will come up. If you end up not using that extra 500$ I would look into a used LS6 intake/porting your 241's/ 3.73 gears. Some other random thoughts. I would NOT buy the fast 102, thats way overkill for what you need. If you don't plan on touching the heads / intake I wouldn't go much bigger than the 233/239, it may make more power with a bigger cam but you're going to start hurting drivability. If your motor is healthy the only thing thats going to make stuff break is revving the hell out of it. You don't need to be revving to 7,500 rpm to make power. Keep the rpms down to 6,200-6,400.

Also if you haven't called TSP and talked to someone, pick up the phone and give em a call. They are awesome and will help you budget / answer questions.

 

No weird noises, but I have not had a compression test done.

 

Rvn2svn, thank you for the help.would you go with 1 7/8ths or 13/4 let headers?

 

1 7/8's flow better with the cam if you go that route.

 

1 7/8

 

Would you guys do heads over long tubes

 

Heads are going to give you more power than headers but doing them without headers is kind of pointless IMO

 

ball joints, bushings, tie rods, breaks. All worthwhile upgrades/replacements at 160k

 

No I would not do heads before headers. Yes, you would see a bigger HP dyno number if you put on a set of nice heads but...

manifolds are cheaper and can swapped on with a lot less work and will improve what's already on the car

cheapest heads (stock 243's) are going to be 400-500$. Add in porting / machine work and that'll at double. Add in new head gaskets/bolts/coolant/torque wrenches and that's a few hundred more. This is also way more complicated than a header swap.

I'd stick with the cam / bolt-on setup to stay in budget. If you want to do heads I'd strongly suggest saving up so you can do heads / intake manifold together so you'll only need to do one re-tune. Buying HP adders in waves keeps the car out of the garage and saves you cash from multiple re tunes.

 

233*/239* is a pretty big cam for stock cubes, mostly street driven.
I would consider something like BTR stage II 227*/234*, will out perform
The bigger cam from idle to ~ 6000 RPM, will have to spin that
"Mature" bottom end 6500+ RPM to possibly beat it and Driveability
Will be significantly worse! 1 7/8" LTs the way to go. If you don't
Upgrade the heads FAST 92 is good, have Tony port it if it's in the budget.

 

Rvn2svn, the reason I was thinking heads is because I could save up 400 for the headers easier than I could 1000 for a set of ported 243s.also I could do the headers myself, but I see what u r saying.

 

well I def don't want to damage my motor.maby I should go with a smaller cam.

 

ok guys is there any difference between a slp ported oil pump and a tsp ported ls6?

 

Milling your heads about .025" plus a valve job and .045" Cometic gaskets combined with PSI 1511 valve springs and the TSP 224R cam will be your best all around performer with drivability. If you can afford decent headers then go 1 7/8" and a quality retune. Might end up just shy of 400, say 385-390 range at the rear but the response, mpgs, and power under 6300 will help that well broke in engine live. I'd go TSP high pressure oil pump too.

 

Just to play it safe with that mileage, you need-
Lifters
Push rods
Timing chain
Oil pump
New gaskets.

I'd replace that ls7 clutch if you have the cash left over. That clutch is heavier than the stock clutch, you want to reduce weight.

 

I should have researched the ls7 clutch better.I thought I was putting in the best option.should have went with a ticks master too, but I went with the stock one.iv put right at 1000 miles on the car since, I was thinking about trying to return the master cylinder. Lol