Time for a change.. New cam?
Time for a change.. New cam? Ok, my TA is just a street car, pretty weekend driver type thing.. Maybe 1,000 miles a year, which is a shame, need to change that..
Anyway.. Since it was a DD I wanted to keep it mild - Vig 2800 converter and a TR224 with some TSP 2.5 heads and a rear end out of a stock 3.42 car. So that's how she sits right now, of course with all the accessory bolt ons for the heads/cam package.
Well it's time for some change.
New converter and new cam. Planning a 4000 PTC converter.
I'd like to match them so as to get the best performance. I was thinking turbo, but I don't think I'm really "into it" enough right now to want to put forth all the effort.
It's no longer a daily driver, I'd still like it to be streetable, as I don't take it to the strip, but it doesn't have to be as mild mannered as it used to be. I don't race. I don't go to the strip. I just enjoy a fast vehicle.
So I'm looking for the meanest STREET cam. I don't need something with no low end and gobs of power at 11,000rpm. I'd lean more towards something in the mid range, to best use the power on the street..
Suggestions?
Anyway.. Since it was a DD I wanted to keep it mild - Vig 2800 converter and a TR224 with some TSP 2.5 heads and a rear end out of a stock 3.42 car. So that's how she sits right now, of course with all the accessory bolt ons for the heads/cam package.
Well it's time for some change.
New converter and new cam. Planning a 4000 PTC converter.
I'd like to match them so as to get the best performance. I was thinking turbo, but I don't think I'm really "into it" enough right now to want to put forth all the effort.
It's no longer a daily driver, I'd still like it to be streetable, as I don't take it to the strip, but it doesn't have to be as mild mannered as it used to be. I don't race. I don't go to the strip. I just enjoy a fast vehicle.
So I'm looking for the meanest STREET cam. I don't need something with no low end and gobs of power at 11,000rpm. I'd lean more towards something in the mid range, to best use the power on the street..
Suggestions?
That is exactly the same cam I was going to suggest checking out
My 99 TA was also daily with H&C etc 224/224 xer cam and the Tick SNS Stage 2 would have been my next cam if I'd kept the LS1.
Teching In
Joined: Jan 2014
Posts: 36
Likes: 13
I think it comes down to how wild you want to go. The stage 2 has 10 degrees of overlap and the stage 3 has 15 degrees. The drive ability comes down to how good your tuner is the more overlap your cam has. The stage 2 does well with 10 degrees and has enough wild for the street in my opinion, but some people may be able to handle a bigger cam with no compromise in their mind. I don’t want for torque in just about any gear with the stage 2. My car is a manual, the bigger cam may not affect an auto near as much, as long as it’s stalled appropriately. I have no experience in this area, but the knowledge base on here suggests that a high stall takes some getting used to as well. Black Bird may have more helpful advice, but for my application that is why I chose the stage 2. Here’s some helpful reading from a past thread. Martin is one of the cam gurus that frequented tech when he was at Tick. https://ls1tech.com/forums/generatio...-2-mild-2.html
Basically what the others said, I felt the SNS Stage 2 would be wild enough for me w/ 10 degrees of over lap and no real worries about P to V. Given that my set up was already a little tight on P to V, there was no way the SNS Stage 3 would have worked with ported heads on my LS1.
Mostly personal preference: I'd rather have a heads & cam car with a smaller cam that drives well vs a car with a big cam and stock heads that's harder to get tuned to drive well.
I tend to keep cars into the driver or weekend cruiser role if I like them and prefer good mannered set ups etc. Far too tame for many on the forum etc but I got over the bigger cam stock head stuff in my teens with a small block chevy that had too much cam..one foot on brake and one on the gas to keep it idling at stop lights etc
I know of others that love the SNS Stage 3 and are very happy with it.
Mostly personal preference: I'd rather have a heads & cam car with a smaller cam that drives well vs a car with a big cam and stock heads that's harder to get tuned to drive well.
I tend to keep cars into the driver or weekend cruiser role if I like them and prefer good mannered set ups etc. Far too tame for many on the forum etc but I got over the bigger cam stock head stuff in my teens with a small block chevy that had too much cam..one foot on brake and one on the gas to keep it idling at stop lights etc
I know of others that love the SNS Stage 3 and are very happy with it.
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Brett Foote
TECH Apprentice
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 317
Likes: 52
From: Charleston, SC
Given your goals and car use, I wouldn’t change cams. Between parts (cam, gaskets, fluids, etc.) and retuning you’re probably looking at spending a grand for a cam that will give you a marginal increase in power. If your happy with the way the car drives now, It may not be worth the risk of losing it with a bigger cam. Depends on the ability of your tuner. I would do the converter first and then reassess changing the cam.
10 Second Club
Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 2,317
Likes: 20
From: Hurley, VA
With an auto the driveability problems from the cam are easier avoided. Don’t lock the converter at low rpm cruise (where bucking would be). Pulling out the converter won’t be locked so parking lots wouldn’t be a problem like a manual transmission. With a big cam and converter you may lose some of the cruising torque and response but if you can live with the converter I wouldn’t be worried about going up with the cam just don’t get something that will kill the valve train or rev beyond what your comfortable with. I tuned a 3600 yank torquer V4 trans am and it could be daily driven no problem. Only real driveability difference was going up hill the car would stall up into the 2500 range. If it was a stick I’d be more conservative but at the end of the day is an extra 15rwhp and a harder hit out of the gate worth the investment.
I’m curious to know how many miles are on this engine? Maybe it would be worth it to build a nice stroker engine instead. Spend the money once and be done. In a few years you might want to be faster then the heads cam ls1z just throwing another idea tour way that’s all
Do the converter first and see how you like it.
The 4000 stall will hit a hell of a lot harder than the 2800 and give you more shift extension, it will over all make the car considerably faster.
Going to a larger cam wont gain all that much, change it if you want, but you may be happy with just the stall.
Possibly use the cam swap money to do something that will make more of a change in power.. what intake manifold is on it right now?
And btw, I hope you're running drag radials or slicks, you may not need them very bad with the 2800 but you will with the 4000
The 4000 stall will hit a hell of a lot harder than the 2800 and give you more shift extension, it will over all make the car considerably faster.
Going to a larger cam wont gain all that much, change it if you want, but you may be happy with just the stall.
Possibly use the cam swap money to do something that will make more of a change in power.. what intake manifold is on it right now?
And btw, I hope you're running drag radials or slicks, you may not need them very bad with the 2800 but you will with the 4000
TECH Regular
Joined: Feb 2017
Posts: 436
Likes: 29
From: Michigan
You're gonna love a 4k converter, but I would recommend taking a look at Yank I went with the Yank 4000SS converter for my car when it still had the stock cam and that thing made it MOVE some people where telling me that the stall was too big and would affect the drivability but it did not affect it at all now that I got the MS4 in the car I wish I would have went with the Yank 4400PT herd from the guys running that converter that it is all smiles but the 4k ss with the lock up the thing drives really awesome even in the city it locks up around 30mph and drives just like stock
Personally sense you're looking for some thing mid range I would ditch that cam sense it is on the small side and either go with the SNS stage 2 or the Torquer V4 but sense you do have the TSP 2.5 heads you could give them a call and ask for a recommendation and just be honest with the questions they ask and they will steer you in the right direction for sure
Personally sense you're looking for some thing mid range I would ditch that cam sense it is on the small side and either go with the SNS stage 2 or the Torquer V4 but sense you do have the TSP 2.5 heads you could give them a call and ask for a recommendation and just be honest with the questions they ask and they will steer you in the right direction for sure
