Should I go with a bigger cam?
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Teching In
Joined: Apr 2024
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Should I go with a bigger cam? I have a bone stock 2000 trans am, the following mods are the ones going on the car. Keep in mind this will be a daily for the most part, I don't mind a large cam though
- Fast 102 intake and TB
- PRC Heads
- TSP Long tubes and y pipe
- Circle D 4k stall
- 42 lbs injectors
i think any of those 2 cams you mentioned are good choices. with the 4k stall, you'd best get a cam with mid to top end range in my opinion. what rear is on the car? that'll also decide on street and drag behavior. i've had the lunati voodoo off the shelf cam (232/238@0.050) in the past and it did well on the street and at the strip with a mid3k stall.
I have a bone stock 2000 trans am, the following mods are the ones going on the car. Keep in mind this will be a daily for the most part, I don't mind a large cam though
- Fast 102 intake and TB
- PRC Heads
- TSP Long tubes and y pipe
- Circle D 4k stall
- 42 lbs injectors
TECH Regular
Joined: May 2023
Posts: 427
Likes: 142
From: Franconia, PA
I have a bone stock 2000 trans am, the following mods are the ones going on the car. Keep in mind this will be a daily for the most part, I don't mind a large cam though
- Fast 102 intake and TB
- PRC Heads
- TSP Long tubes and y pipe
- Circle D 4k stall
- 42 lbs injectors
I plan on using a rick crawford custom cam. Will likely go with 225/233, .612, .612, 111+3. I think it would work great for you too. I'll get it from the below vendor:
Camshafts ACE/RCR | Product categories | ACE Performance
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Joined: May 2016
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From: St. Louis
Ask the people you're buying the cylinder heads from what cam you should use and give them the rest of your setup
With the other mods you have listed sans the cylinder heads and camshaft The car would be high 11's bottom 12s with a 3.42 or 3.73 gear and a 26" tire
I mean just the nice Aftermarket intake manifold full exhaust 4K stall. Nice tune. The car will run high 11s bottom 12s all day long with a decent tune tuning is critical. For the cost of a camshaft I mean just the part you could buy yourself HP tuners and start learning yourself. Even now in 2024 a lot of people struggle to tune a larger throttle body. Especially on a mismatched setup where the cylinder head people and the camshaft people have no idea what the hell the other is doing, Just keep that in mind.
The cylinder heads and the camshaft need to go together, or you could do a Max effort camshaft on the stock heads, people have been going 10's on the stock cylinder heads since these cars were new. Just something to think about
With the other mods you have listed sans the cylinder heads and camshaft The car would be high 11's bottom 12s with a 3.42 or 3.73 gear and a 26" tire
I mean just the nice Aftermarket intake manifold full exhaust 4K stall. Nice tune. The car will run high 11s bottom 12s all day long with a decent tune tuning is critical. For the cost of a camshaft I mean just the part you could buy yourself HP tuners and start learning yourself. Even now in 2024 a lot of people struggle to tune a larger throttle body. Especially on a mismatched setup where the cylinder head people and the camshaft people have no idea what the hell the other is doing, Just keep that in mind.
The cylinder heads and the camshaft need to go together, or you could do a Max effort camshaft on the stock heads, people have been going 10's on the stock cylinder heads since these cars were new. Just something to think about
TECH Enthusiast
Joined: Jul 2018
Posts: 635
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From: Missouri
since it says ( daily for the most part) id go smaller. something like the bald eagle cam 227/234 .600/.600 111 lsa or the fti street sweeper ht 228/232 .612/.600 111lsa. it'll drive really good on the street and still lope nice (im betting you have been listening to sound clips of the above cams) remember the exhaust/tuner have alot of control over that. you can hide a big cam (somewhat) and you can make a smaller cam (seem bigger) with those two things .
TECH Regular
Joined: May 2023
Posts: 427
Likes: 142
From: Franconia, PA
Like the previous post mentioned, bald eagle cam is good. streetsweeper HT is better. A little tougher on the valvetrain though.
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From: Coast of San Mateo County Between Pacifica & HMB
Cam Motion Titan 4 (227*/232* 113*+4*) or Titan 5 (232*/238* 113*+4*) will both drive very well on the street
with your stall, with 3.23:1 diff I would go Titan 4.
Just my .02
with your stall, with 3.23:1 diff I would go Titan 4.
Just my .02
TECH Regular
Joined: May 2023
Posts: 427
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From: Franconia, PA
228/232 is about the optimum duration profile imo. Going larger starts to trade a bit of low/midrange for more top end in a 346. Ideally, most of the 23x and larger cams are going to want gears, 4400 stall, Intake Manifold, valvetrain, more compression and exhaust that will support 7400-7500rpm shifts. I think the 228/232 would overall perform better with your setup as is vs a 232/238. A cam shaft basically moves the power curve around. The rest of the combo is what makes the power in that RPM range. A generic example: Ideally you wouldn't put a cam that is primarily designed to make power from 3500-7500rpm in an engine that is best suited for 3000-7000rpm.
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Joined: Jan 2008
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From: Ohio, Georgia, Nevada, Texas
OP,
You have a nice foundation you're building here and have received great advice from the community!
We are fans of the added compression and thinner head gasket suggested by @Che70velle. No matter the cam you go with, Chevelle's comment about a tuner couldn't have been said any better: " Find yourself the best one you can afford. It will pay dividends in driveability and power."
Onto a cam recommendation. All the cams discussed are basically in the same range. They move valve events around depending on the characteristics they were after for that grind. We think the SUM-8707R1 that @Abs suggested would be a great fit here. Specs on it are .600/.600, 226/238, 113+3 with 6* of overlap. The 8707R1 will have a steady lope, but it's easy to tune and live with. It'll have a nice wide powerband and pull strongly to 7,000+. Seeing as you're going with PRC heads those will likely come with a PAC .660" lift duals which will work well with the 8707R1. The planned intake, injectors, and exhaust mods will help bring everything out of the cam swap!
Being that we all suffer from the "need more power" sickness this might be a good time to look into a fuel pump upgrade as well.
This should be a great combo that will sure be fun to drive!
You have a nice foundation you're building here and have received great advice from the community!
We are fans of the added compression and thinner head gasket suggested by @Che70velle. No matter the cam you go with, Chevelle's comment about a tuner couldn't have been said any better: " Find yourself the best one you can afford. It will pay dividends in driveability and power."
Onto a cam recommendation. All the cams discussed are basically in the same range. They move valve events around depending on the characteristics they were after for that grind. We think the SUM-8707R1 that @Abs suggested would be a great fit here. Specs on it are .600/.600, 226/238, 113+3 with 6* of overlap. The 8707R1 will have a steady lope, but it's easy to tune and live with. It'll have a nice wide powerband and pull strongly to 7,000+. Seeing as you're going with PRC heads those will likely come with a PAC .660" lift duals which will work well with the 8707R1. The planned intake, injectors, and exhaust mods will help bring everything out of the cam swap!
Being that we all suffer from the "need more power" sickness this might be a good time to look into a fuel pump upgrade as well.
This should be a great combo that will sure be fun to drive!
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Joined: Feb 2018
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From: Michigan
I ran the Torquer V2 with PRC 225s, Fast 102, TSP 1-7/8 headers and a 4" y-pipe and that setup hurt a lot of peoples feelings. I never had it on a dyno, but it hung with C6 Grand Sports that were around 480-500 whp. I shifted it at 7000 but my car was a 6 speed.
I beat the tar out of that cam for 20k miles and it looked great when I had it out after I blew a hole in a piston in my LS1. I put it right in the LS6 shortblock and went on my way.
I beat the tar out of that cam for 20k miles and it looked great when I had it out after I blew a hole in a piston in my LS1. I put it right in the LS6 shortblock and went on my way.
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I had a Torquer v2, 232/234 @ 112, +4, with the SBE 5.7L that came with my Corvette. Also had a Fast 102, ported heads (not sure what brand, they came with the car) and a full exhaust (with high flow cats).
It did 450whp one one dyno, 475whp on another. I met a guy with a bone stock C6 LS7 who said he could barely keep up with me on the straights at our local track, and I'm told those dyno around 450whp.
It didn't feel like it had full torque until about 4000 RPM, but I've heard other people say theirs came on around 3500. It didn't feel weak at low RPM, it just felt a LOT stronger if I dropped down a gear (or two) to get the revs up before flooring it.
It had some surge in first gear below 1500 RPM and at the very bottom of 2nd gear, but drove well otherwise. I heard from a guy who said his didn't surge at all, and if my timing chain hadn't failed I would be trying to tune the surge out of mine. Based on my experience smoothing out the came in my current setup (238/251 in a 454) I think the surge in my old setup was probably a solvable problem.
It did 450whp one one dyno, 475whp on another. I met a guy with a bone stock C6 LS7 who said he could barely keep up with me on the straights at our local track, and I'm told those dyno around 450whp.
It didn't feel like it had full torque until about 4000 RPM, but I've heard other people say theirs came on around 3500. It didn't feel weak at low RPM, it just felt a LOT stronger if I dropped down a gear (or two) to get the revs up before flooring it.
It had some surge in first gear below 1500 RPM and at the very bottom of 2nd gear, but drove well otherwise. I heard from a guy who said his didn't surge at all, and if my timing chain hadn't failed I would be trying to tune the surge out of mine. Based on my experience smoothing out the came in my current setup (238/251 in a 454) I think the surge in my old setup was probably a solvable problem.
The torquer v2 is a good cam. I've used in it many builds. You should be able to run low 11s with it in a full weight car with the right converter and supporting mods. I ran one for years in my daily. It was full weight, 3720 lbs . It ran 11.20s I even had a car seat in the back on those runs. With that being said I'm getting ready to try a v4 in a Corvette for a buddy .