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I have a 5.3l with a 217/227 .597 cam. I also posted the stock heads my self. I've been tuning myself with hptuners. And am not sure I'm happy with this cam. It was a regrind and didn't have the specs I wanted. What kind of power should I be making with this cam?
The torqueyness haha. Doesn't really pull right off the line seems to be way more top end power. Maybe in my tune then? Haha this is the first car I've attempted to tune myself.
Was also kind of wondering if anybody had any guesses as to what my torque or hp numbers should be. Don't have access to a dyno until September:/
I don't know that the 5.3 will ever be as torquey as the 350 L98 in the third gens. I'd keep what you have and look at either more gear or more stall (if automatic). That will help a lot.
Tuning can also help depending on how much timing you are running in the lower g/cyl cells.
anything over 220 duration @ .050 is going to take away a pretty decent amount of low end and move it up to the higher power band, whats the LSA on that regrind? This just sounds like another case of crappy regrinds from delta cam's. I have dealt with them before and their cam's are ****. Last time I had a cam done there they couldnt give me a cam card for the cam because "they didnt have the crank present to get accurate measurements" and the base circles were all cut differently by rediculous amounts. I'm sure the regrind was probably a cheap solution for you, but honestly, youd be better off spending the money for a vinci 210/218 or 212/218 truck cam, on a 112 or 114 LSA, that will give you the power you are looking for in the low end without it being a dog in any one particular area. I am running a 214/220 .540/.535 115+2 lsa custom grind from ddtech cams and it has rediculous mid and top end, but it does suffer some down low, any bigger and it would have been unbearable.
Last edited by spawne32; Jul 22, 2015 at 10:30 AM.
Hmmm yeah its in a car so sacrificing overall power for a little more grunt is not to important. I wanted to go with a cam grind like eps's 222/226. I'm thinking the lack of snappiness is probably tuning cause it pulls way harder from like 5500 to 6500 than anywhere else and that seems pretty high in the rpm range for what should be a pretty small cam
You could tighten up the separation as well. Right now you have a 10 degree split, which favors top end vs midrange or low-end grunt with the added exhaust duration.
That's why I think the BTR Stage II Truck Cam - 212/218 .553/.553 113+2 would be strong. Or you could tighten it up a little more and see if he can grind on a 112+3.
Hmmm yeah its in a car so sacrificing overall power for a little more grunt is not to important. I wanted to go with a cam grind like eps's 222/226. I'm thinking the lack of snappiness is probably tuning cause it pulls way harder from like 5500 to 6500 than anywhere else and that seems pretty high in the rpm range for what should be a pretty small cam
Quick way to test to see if your regrind is cut poorly is through a compression test. When I was diagnosing my issues with my delta regrind, I had compression numbers that varied from 120 to 180 and every cylinder was drastically different. However a leakdown test showed 5-6% on every cylinder. The difference in compression was actually the lobe of the cam being cut so inaccurately, every cylinder had different opening and closing events and durations. After a swap back to a stock cam compression was consistent across the board and the car idled perfectly.
Regrinds are not the best option. And if you're not getting accurate action at the valve due to cam lobes being off, then you'll never have the type of performance or street manners you would expect.
Any ballpark ideas on power? Speaking of Delta cams -_- they ground my intake and exhaust specs backwards....never going there again. didnt even notice until i said i needed a spec sheet. Id be happy with sacrificing lower torque if it just didn't seem like it wasn't pulling till atleast 5k. I'm thinking of ordering an eps 222/226 seen good reviews and such.
Any ballpark ideas on power? Speaking of Delta cams -_- they ground my intake and exhaust specs backwards....never going there again. didnt even notice until i said i needed a spec sheet. Id be happy with sacrificing lower torque if it just didn't seem like it wasn't pulling till atleast 5k. I'm thinking of ordering an eps 222/226 seen good reviews and such.
Paired up with the right converter, im sure that would be fantastic, I'd be willing to bet money on the fact that the regrind from delta is what makes your car feel like a dog.
EPS 222/226 would need to be ground on something like a 109+2 to equal the low-end grunt of what you have now (assuming it's ground right - who knows). Going bigger is not helping you with your off-idle torque desire.
But, that's sort of why the LS1 is such a great motor. Get away from trying to maximize a very narrow part of the powerband and make the entire range better. In that regard, the 222/226 is awesome. Talk to Geoff and tell him what you want. He may recommend it on a 112+2. You'll hear it loping a bit... which may kill the stealth factor.
Ok I need to clarify what I want haha. I don't need the off idle snappiness necessarily I'm fine with losing low end power with a bigger cam. I can just launch at a higher rpm. I was more commenting on how this cam feels like its missing power down low. I'm starting to think it may be a shitty regrind. Wouldn't be surprised they had to use a new core as they screwed up the one I gave them.
Also, you may want to look at some of the "sleeper" cams. Essentially, anything that would work in a 5.7 works in the 5.3 due to the same rod/stroke length. You'll just be down approx 30hp/30tq to an LS1. But the curves would look the same.
A good little cam from Steve @ SNLPerformance was this:
Originally Posted by SNLPerformance
My sleeper cam I speced in 2008 was a 218/230 .605/.604 116+2 and made 422rwhp through 4.10s with ported 5.3 heads and went 10.9@127 in my C5.
The EPS 222/226 114+2 would have pretty similar valve events to the SNL grind. It would work well and be a pretty mild cam and a good sleeper. But may not carry as high as the exhaust doesn't have the extended duration of the SNL grind.
Hmm definetely something to think about. And no worries about the lope...you should hear it lope now(another reason grind is suspicious) most people where I am drive daddy's BMW or think their car is fast cause its new haha. I like a nice chop too
lol only bad part about the 5.3 is that any cam you go with is always going to sound more aggressive on the smaller displacement motor compared to its larger counterparts. You know my car has a cam in it, and the 214/220 is considered a baby by most peoples standards.
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Cammed 2006 5.3l question. 
