Brand? Part #. Comp cams maybe? Which springs? I was looking through summit last night. Soooo many different cams.

Thank you.

 

http://www.summitracing.com/int/part...MobileSwitchNo

Hot rod used this cam. Mind you with a carb and made 415hp

 

The easy way is to cut the EGR tube about .75" -1" from the flange. Place tape over the tube & fill with 2-part epoxy. You can also tap the hole & instal a pipe plug. I can't remember if it is 1/2" or 3/4" NPT. I have a spare intake laying around I can measure if you need me to.

The epoxy works even under positive manifold pressure. I did it to mine & a friends. I ran 9psi for 6yrs & he has had it plugged for 5yrs with as much as 16psi.

Later year intakes have the port blocked so you can always look for one of those. I don't recall if those were the updated intakes to fix the cracking problem. It should be since I believe it was the heat from the EGR that caused them to get brittle & crack. One motor I picked up a while back had the blocked EGR. So did another engine a friend of mine got when his intake cracked & a rod let go when coolant got sucked into the engine.

Also when looking at dyno numbers: those numbers are with no accessory drive & most often an electric water pump. Factor in about 5-10% loss with accessories to find a cam that will get you to a real-world 400BHP. You must have the supporting mods as well such as headers & injectors. LS2's are a good start for this range.

 

http://www.hotrod.com/how-to/engine/1307-ls-cam-test-comparison/

Keep the fuel injection for a peace of mind. Hope that helps you.

 

To give you an idea of the kind of cams I have seen spec'ed for 5.3's, here are a couple of Martin's cams I have written down:
206/206, .560/.540, 114+5
217/225, .637/.620, 114+3
224/228, .603/.595, 112+2
226/230, .612/.603, 111+2

If you haven't already noticed, I like Martin's cams so much that I take notes.

 

Thanks guys. And yes. In running injection. Most likely Megasquirt.

 

Does Martin have a website?

 

David, why run a 600 plus lift on a cam to achieve 400 hp? I wouldn't dare to do that for a couple of reasons.
- first reason when you get a cam over 600 lift you need a great dual valvespring which costs more money than a single beehive type spring.
-second reason more lift mean more stress on your valvetrain overall which down the road requires more maintenance.
-third reason it's plenty of cams on the market with 550 or less lift than can achieve the goal. If the op is on a tight budget he can pickup a LS3/LS6 valvespring (rated 560 max lift) for 50 -60 bucks and reuse his stock retainers. If he wants more insurance I recommend a PAC 600 lift beehive spring for a nice pillow.

 

I'm all for budget. First LS build. Around here there is very little LS stuff for sale. eBay maybe for LS3 springs?

 

I was just throwing out some of the custom 5.3 cams I have seen to give an idea.

The first one on the list, the 206/206 cam could use ls6 springs. And here are two cam motion cams and a howard's cam that all fit the sub-.600" lift category...
Kip:
205/210, .510/.510, 115+4
212/216, .518/.510, 114-4
Howard's:
208/214, .525/.525, 114-4

These would probably be better for valvetrain longevity, for sure.

PS. If you took a weighted average of all the Martin/kip/howard cams I have listed, and combined them into one cam to rule them all...

214/218, .566/.558, 113+1

 

You can pickup the LS3 springs NEW for 60 bucks from vendors here.
Ws6 store, Brian Tooley Racing, Martin Smallwood, Scoggin-Dickey, etc the list goes on and on.

 

And by the way, the cam motion 212/216, .518/.510, 114-4 is an off the shelf stage two truck cam.

 

I love a good hotrod idle myself, but a camshaft with a choppy idle does not play well with a stock torque converter. If you want a cam with some chop, you will need to be willing to go to at least a 2600-2800 stall converter.

If you need to keep the stock torque converter, you should really have a look at these results. This guy gained over 40 horsepower with a very mild cam:
https://ls1tech.com/forums/dynamomet...hp-22rwtq.html

If you absolutely must have the choppy idle and even more power, get yourself a 3000 stall converter and run this Cam Motion camshaft: XA226/350-XA236/340-10+4. This cam will idle with authority, work with a good quality beehive valve spring like the PAC 1218 and make some serious midrange power and torque.

 

Thanks. Is the LS6 spring ok for that cam?

 

I'm not dead set on choppy idle. Would like some! Also not opposed to changing converter.

 

The LS6 spring kit is a perfect choice the the Drop-In cam.

The 226/236 cam will need a good quality beehive like the PAC 1218.

 

Also. This is going in a small sports car. So might effect cam choice?

 

If you are trying to get the most out of it, you bet. Either of these cams will still work as suggested, but a small sports car will really like the bigger cam. You just have to upgrade your stall converter.

How much does it weigh? What transmission and what rear gear? What are you doing with the car?

 

I don't have a Trans yet. But looking at a 4L60E out of a 2000 chef truck V6. Will it work? I just started another thread about that. I don't know what gear yet either. Will likely have to swap in a different diff to handle the power. Car weighs about 2000lb. Going to be a driver. Maybe hit a few autocross with it too.

 

LOL! That's funny, I'm glad you like them hah!
Not yet, but I am working on it. I'd be glad to lay out some pricing for you regarding cam cost, spring cost, push rods, and other items I recommend during a cam installation.
Lift isn't always an indicator of aggressiveness. I can easily design a lobe that is .580 lift that has more jerk and higher acceleration rates than a .610 lift lobe. Ramp rate and lobe intensity is much more important than lift by itself.

I've done more 5.3 cams for stock stall converters than I can count. Most of my customers that have camshafts and stock converters are on a budget, like most of us are. Some just have bigger budgets than others!

One of the packages I REALLY like is to custom grind a cam for the stock converter and 5.3 engine and use LS6 beehive springs to keep cost down. The other side benefit to a LS6 spring is it will last much longer than an aftermarket beehive and aftermarket dual springs.

The LS6 valve springs I sell for 79.99 and replacement one piece seals/locators for 25.00 dollars. Push rods would be 95.00 dollars and the camshaft would be 450.00 dollars.

Now, my cams are more expensive than some on this site and in the industry, but they're all ground on 8620 billet steel Cam Motion cores. They are hand polished and cam doctored so IMO you're getting the best product you can in regards to the camshaft itself. Comp does NOT hand polish their cams and although they do cam doctor them, they aren't as interested in accuracy as Cam Motion. Kips camshafts are within tenths of a degree to what they're supposed to be. I've seen Comp Cams up to 1-3 degrees off, and Comp tell me that's as good as it gets and no one can do any better...

I would need to know the weight of the vehicle this engine is going in, the rear gear ratio, tire size and usage of the vehicle before recommending cam specs for the engine.

I hope to get to work with you Parrisw in the near future!