5.3 cam help
Thread Starter
Teching In
Joined: Jan 2013
Posts: 3
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5.3 cam help im swapping a carbed 5.3 into my 3rd gen camaro, and i plan on going turbo in spring, what would be a good cam to go that will make good power na, and wont be a dog out of boost when i go turbod, the only one i looked into so far is a tick performance stage 3 cam. i dont mind a choppy or big lift cam if its like a ms3, this will be a weekend/track car. Im will probably be using the 862 heads for now since i am building another 5.3 motor top to bottom, car will have a glide and has 4.10 gears, sorry for all the nubie talk, new to this
Thread Starter
Teching In
Joined: Jan 2013
Posts: 3
Likes: 0
he could set me up with something similar to a ms3, im confused on what to do because i hear people saying a mean na cam will be fine with a turbo then some others are saying dont do it will lose power
It can be very confusing shopping around for cams, so I feel your pain there. The thing is Martin is one of the best in the game at speccing cams, and FI in particular. I'll put it this way, if I gave you a cam recommendation and Martin gave you a different one, go with Martin's.
You CAN do whatever you want, but a shelf cam for NA that you then bolt a procharger onto will not run as well as a procharger bolted onto a motor with the right cam designed for it. Even turbo and super charged need to be cammed differently. Turbo can be even worse, because the exhaust pressures are so different from NA. You're deliberately building up exhaust pressure to do work. It can't behave like NA, and it won't. There's a thread in the stickies "Why LSA doesn't matter" you should really check out. Martin spills his guts on why cams work like they do. Should be required reading for the enthusiast, IMO.
I would suggest building your valve train (springs, lifters, rockers) for the higher HP application, and then when you install the turbo, quick cam swap and go. You'll be better off in the short term and long term. If you try to cut corners to save a bit of money, it either won't run right or it will cost you money making it work, or you'll damage something. It really is cheaper to pay the extra money for it to be right. Why risk a multi thousand dollar engine build over not wanting to spend another 400 on the right cam? If you're dead set on only buying one cam, then buy the turbo cam you need. It'll run safely NA while you amass parts for the turbo build.
Sorry for the book. It just isn't that simple, unfortunately.
You CAN do whatever you want, but a shelf cam for NA that you then bolt a procharger onto will not run as well as a procharger bolted onto a motor with the right cam designed for it. Even turbo and super charged need to be cammed differently. Turbo can be even worse, because the exhaust pressures are so different from NA. You're deliberately building up exhaust pressure to do work. It can't behave like NA, and it won't. There's a thread in the stickies "Why LSA doesn't matter" you should really check out. Martin spills his guts on why cams work like they do. Should be required reading for the enthusiast, IMO.
I would suggest building your valve train (springs, lifters, rockers) for the higher HP application, and then when you install the turbo, quick cam swap and go. You'll be better off in the short term and long term. If you try to cut corners to save a bit of money, it either won't run right or it will cost you money making it work, or you'll damage something. It really is cheaper to pay the extra money for it to be right. Why risk a multi thousand dollar engine build over not wanting to spend another 400 on the right cam? If you're dead set on only buying one cam, then buy the turbo cam you need. It'll run safely NA while you amass parts for the turbo build.
Sorry for the book. It just isn't that simple, unfortunately.
