I have a '99 Corvette hardtop with the following bolt on engine mods currently done:
Breathless racing LT headers into high flow cats to SLP loudmouth axle back
Hand ported LS6 intake manifold with ported throttle body
Breathless racing high flow air bridge
modified stock air filter box with K&N drop in filter
and a tune from Doug at ECS.

I have a set or ported and mildly milled 853 casting heads that has NEW PAC 1218 springs, Ti retainers and a 5 angle valve job that I will be installing along with LS7 lifters hardened push rods, high flow melling oil pump and C5R timing chain...none of these parts are installed yet.

I have a lightly used thunder racing 224r 112 lsa cam (224/224 .563/.563 112 lsa) that I am going back and forth about using. It's the set up that a member here on the forum ran for awhile and then sold and moved on to bigger and better. The cam is smooth and shows no wear. I'm not worried about using the cam...just not sure it's the right cam after thinking about it over and over and over. And all of these builds and sound clips don't help either. lol

I see alot of guys are running over .600 lift but I'm trying to avoid that since the PAC1218 springs are rated at .600 lift max and the heads I have while ported and having a valve job already done will flow better than stockers but still not quite as good as others. I will also be upgrading the fuel injectors since the stockers will be inadequate...likely a set of SVO red tops or comparable if I can find them.

I know that the TR 224r 112 lsa cam is a tried and true design and a pretty decent street cam. But I would like to get more lope and choppy idle as well as performance. I like the sound of the Comp Cams ***** Thumpr but have heard they are all sound and not much for performance gains.

I have been thinking about getting a custom ground cam...something like a 224/230 or 232 .56X/.57X 110 or 111 lsa for a little more "umph", a lower torque band and that lopey lope idle. From what I understand I should be able to use the PAC 1218 springs without any issue with that sort of cam specs.

With the parts I have would a custom cam make more sense for that sound and performance gain or should I keep looking at off the shelf cams that will work with my heads and springs? I'm torn...the 224r cam can put down some solid numbers with these heads and supporting mods but I'd like more lope. I don't know...I'm likely overthinking it since I'm still on a tight budget and collecting the parts as I can.

Currently I use the car as my main daily driver/commuter car. It has 148000 miles on it and still runs like a champ. It's a '99 Hardtop (6 speed manual car) and has an LS6 clutch in it already (replaced by the previous owner at 90k miles). I don't plan on tracking the Vette...maybe down the road some HPDE road course type of stuff but no drag strips...straight line if fun but handling in the twisties is what I enjoy.

Hoping members in here can provide insight or a name of someone to get in touch with and discuss more in depth. Thanks in advance.

 

Sounds like you have a nice build going. I don't know too much about cams but I had Tony Mamo spec mine. He tends to spec a real nice cam for the street and still has a nice sound to it. The more crazy sound you get the less streetable it is so I hear (just haven't experienced a cam "too big" myself). But I love the aggressive sound as well and there are a lot of guys on here that have great sounding cars that are very streetable. In my 6 speed street car Tony spec'd me a 235/238 on a 113+0 LSA. Lift is in the low .6xx but the car is supposed to produce good torque almost right off the throttle and usually the torque curves he produces are very flat. They jump up high at low rpm and stay there but that's what I wanted for this car and that's how he spec'd it. I would assume not going to the track and wanting to do some road racing you will want the same style as well. If you call Comp and give them all your specs and desires they will give you a recommendation too. I actually called them just to see what they would say. Also I've heard real good stuff about Martin @ Tick and Brian Tooley as well. I have a few buddies that like them. There are plenty other good vendors too. You just have to see who you click with for a custom grind. Hope this helps a little anyway. Some other more knowledgeable cam theory guys will chime in here too most likely. I'm sure the TR cam would work great with your setup too. Just depends what you want.

Good luck!

 

I personally would never throw in a used cam.

I would def go with a TSP 228r cam. Great all around cam.

 

Sounds like you just want more and that cam isn't going to do it for you. I would get a custom ground cam.. If you do decide on selling that cam please let me know.

 

EPS 226/230 or Cam Motion 228/232 would be great cams for what you are looking for. TSP 228 and Tick SNS stage 2 are also solid options.

 

Thanks for the feedback and suggestions guys. I'll check out the specs on the cams suggested.

The hardest part that I have run into so far is that most cams are over .600 lift which is the max for these PAC 1218 springs and I don't want to have to replace them since they are already installed and are NEW.

AiDRocks-- I'll be sure to keep you in mind if I do decide to sell the TR224r.
Time for more research.

 

Don't worrie we make cams with any lift,duration,lobe separation,advancement you want + we have 3 different core choices. You can get the same from any of our dealers. Just let them know what spec you want it will be done. Kip

 

This cam has always worked very well in my customer's DD and/or street cruiser type applications. It has just enough overlap to have a nice chop at idle, but still drive very respectably in town, in parking lots and at highway speeds. Very broad 2000-6500rpm RPM range and all of my cams are ground on Kip's Cam Motion cores (see above post).

Specs are:

224/228 .595/.578 114+2

The lobes I have chosen will work perfectly with PAC 1218 springs and will allow for long valve spring life.

 

Thanks for the reply Kip. If I have time this week I may give you a call and talk to you and see what we can come up with over the phone and get some ideas from you.