Check out tick SNS torquemax. 227/235-110+3. 11 degrees of overlap, and will give you pretty strong midrange with engine compression at or below 11:1

Edit -- will sound the same as BTR stage 3, but will not be nearly as soggy on lower compression

 

I like that. It's basically a BTR Stg II, but with less LSA.

SNS Torquemax Stg 2 227/235 110 - 11° overlap

 

I agree with what others are saying for the cam specs and having a nice drivable car with a good powerband for the street. I'm personally running a set of AI ported 799 heads that have been milled to achieve 11:1 compression and one of their 226/234 cams (I don't remember the lsa off the top of my head) and it's a great street setup. The car drives almost like stock but pulls decently to 6500 rpm and honestly has enough power to take 99% of what you would run into on the street.

 

Oddly, the Streetsweeper HT seems to have a more aggressive idle than the Torquemax Stg 2, and maybe even the BTR Stage III. How would that be possible? Different lobe designs? FYI, I'm only basing this on various YouTube videos.

 

Yup. power will come on sooner and harder because the IVC is earlier. it may not carry as well up top, so you won't punch a dyno ticket to internet fame or anything. But for a thumpy street machine that will power through the midrange, it's a fantastic cam.

 

I forgot about the Torquemax stage 2, that's another great option. May just be the hot ticket for you. I was actually stuck between the torquemax stage 2 and the SSHT when deciding on cams and ultimately had my reasons for choosing the SSHT; however, I feel either would work real well for you. I now run a Cam Motion custom grind which is a copy of my original SSHT and couldn't be happier. Always an option to have them drum you something up or do something similar to what I did so you can run their lobes.

Lots of variables can effect the idle sound such as the idle rpm, exhaust setup, things that can altered in the tune to give it more chop, etc.

 

And the video I linked was an LS2. displacement will tame a cam. And vettes have dual exhaust, whereas most f bodies do not. Lots of possibilities.

 

Well, the heads are bought. Budget dictated that I go with a set of used 243s. They're off a 60K mile Corvette LS2. I will be cleaning them up, blending the bowls and doing a little hand porting, lapping the valves, and having them decked. I'm going to cc them first, but plan to deck them .007"-.010". I also bought .040" Cometic gaskets for a 3.91" bore and a LS spring compressor tool. I got all of that shipped for $550.

I ordered a custom cam requrest from BTR Saturday night. I'm waiting to hear back from them on that.

Here's my shopping list. I'm not sure if I need a fuel pump and injectors for this build. Even though the car only has 21K miles on it, should I go ahead with LS7 lifters, new timing gear set, and a Melling oil pump? Is copper spray and radiator tabs still recommended?

ITEM PN/DESCRIPTION REQUIRED NEEDED???
Heads 243 - Hand Ported, valves lapped $380
Mill Heads $80
Camshaft BTR Cutsom Grind $439
Timing Chain Kit JP $90
Push Rods Manley $100
Lifters LS7 - 12499225 $175
Oil Pump Melling 10295 $120
Valve Springs BTR .660 Platinum $229
Trunion Kit BTR TRUNNION KIT - V2 - TK002 $170
Injectors Bosch 0280155868 $333
Fuel Pump Racetronix RFPK-001 $230

Head Gaskets Cometic .040" - 3.91" bore $120
Exhaust Gaskets 12617944 $38
Cam Install Kit TSP $43
Head Bolt Kit TSP $50
Balancer Bolt 12557840 $5

Radiator Tabs $6
Head Dowels $10
Copper Spray $6
Spark Plugs NGK TR5IX Iridium IX $49
Head Porting Stuff $50
Assembly Lube Lucas $7
PR Length Checker $18
Spring Compressor BTR $50

HP Tuners $400
TOTAL $2228 $970


FYI, while not cylinder heads, I have ported many many chainsaw cylinder and have them all over the world. Pics of the heads I did for the LQ4 in my truck are here. Pics of head porting

PLEASE GIVE YOUR INPUT!!!

 

Cometic says not to use copper spray with their gaskets. I’ve installed those .040” Cometics 3 times with no copper spray as instructed and never an issue.

I once owned a JP timing set, not a fan. The chain that came with my kit was subpar in my opinion, it felt and looked flimsier than my stock chain. I think I ended up going Cloyes if I remember right. Lotta guys run the LS2 chain on stock sprockets but I’ve not tried that.

Im sure the TR5 plugs will work fine but I’d also consider the TR6s given your compression will be raised a full point or more over stock.

Oil pump wise I believe your ‘02 pump is the same as the one used in the LS6 motors. You can easily port it yourself and that will be sufficient. No need to go aftermarket there.

 

Keep the input coming. Most of my LS experience is 10 years old. Quite a lot has changed since then.

 

Any reason to go with GM head bolts over TSP?

PAC vs BTR springs?

Which trunion upgrade kit?

 

CHE trunnions have held up well for me, I recently took one of mine apart with 8000 miles and posted the pictures in the trunnion upgrade thread.

If not CHE, I would either do the RPM Speed max effort trunnions, or possibly the BTR V2 trunnion upgrade. I wouldn't do the Comp type or the crappy Straub/Smith Bros type since they all show an unacceptable amount of wear IMO.

 

Looks like you got things well covered. I took a look at the head porting in your link and the work looks nice. I'll share what I did with my 799 heads to see if you get any ideas. I removed/reduced the rocker stud boss, "backcut the intake valves" as shown by David Vizard, and on my newest set of 862 heads I've reduced the spark plug boss to improve flow. Maybe during the summer I'll remove my 799 heads and reduce the spark plug boss to improve flow; then reinstall on my Camaro.

One thing got from another forum is to use Permatex Ultra Copper rtv instead of gaskets on my exhaust manifolds and I don't have any exhaust leaks on my '73 Nova or '01 Camaro; seems to work.

 

Never had an issue with my ls having exhaust leaks using factory gaskets with my headers.

 

I have had some issues, but doubling up on the MLS exhaust gaskets solved my problems. Back in my SBC days, I never ran header gaskets. Always used RTV only and no leaks ever, even with my circle track stuff.

 

Sure. I just gave some options as that has helped me when I've done research for both the SBC and LS1.

 

I've tuned a torque max stage 2 and a Titan 2 and they both didn't give up anything down low and pulled to 7k. Titan 2 drove like stock and tuned easy, torque max took some work.

 

Putting these specs together for reference. I'm anxious to see what BTR recommends.

BTR Stg II 227/234 113 - 4.5° (not enough overlap)

Streetsweeper HT 228/232 111 - 8°

SNS Torquemax Stg 2 227/235 110 - 11°

BTR Stg III 231/242 112 - 12.5°

 

Titan4 is one of the best all around street cams. it won't have the overlap of the torquemax, but exactly like you said - pretty easy to tune, pulls hard, no torque lost down low. Torquemax or anything else with 10 degrees overlap on a 346 is going to take some work getting the idle tuning.

 

If not, then I chose too small of a cam