that by installing a cam it can decrease the life of your motor....i've heard a lot of people from this board complaining about how after a few months the lobes on the cam were completely round....this is the only thing that has me hesitant to installing a cam...

 

no,

maybe if theres a batch of bad cam grinds.

 

Sounds more like an oiling problem.

 

adding a cam will increase more stress than stock.

above stress is nothing to worry about, driving styles are what will blow the motor.

 

so when installing a different cam....the oil pump should also be changed?

 

If you have a pre 01 model then it is highly recommended to replace your oil pump with a newer LS6, or even ported LS6 pump. They are readily attainable from many of our sponsors.

As far as the cam making the engines durability decrease.....it is widely known that a properly tuned heads/cam or cam only car is capable of lasting an extremely long interval. It's your driving habits and matainence that will ultimately determine how long your engine lives.

 

A big cam will increase wear on the valvetrain some, especially the valvesprings. Other then that, no additional wear.

 

But can't you counter the stress on the valvetrain by changing the valvesprings?

 

You HAVE to change the springs. It's just that with an aggressive cam profile they don't last as long as the stock cam/springs. You just have to replace the periodically....no big deal.

 

Yyyep.

 

Read the stickies homie...then slap yourself.

Nate

 

Replacing springs is better than getting a fresh shortblock. Although that is unless you want the shortblock.

 

It has alot to do with the material the cam manufacturer gets in. If a bad batch (with low hardness) makes it through their quality dept, it'll grind down to nothing eventually.

I'd say its an exception and not a rule.

 

whats considered an aggressive cam?

 

A cam with an agressive ramp rate on the lobe (anything with less than 53 ramp rate variance)

 

Every power mod will decrease the life of your motor. Youll be harder on bearings, the increase revs will put more G forces on rotating and reciprocating internals, the increased lift creates more wear in the valvetrain and is harder on your valve seats. Does this mean your motor wll be shot in a few thousand miles? Certainly not! However if a failure was to occour in your engine, the more HP you run, the sooner it will happen. Use good parts, build it up strong, and pay attention to detail during the install and youll do fine for a long time. I did recently lose a cam, however i believe it was due to a defect, not simply the fact that I was running a cam.

 

I've decided to put in a TORQUER 2 cam on a 113 lsa in my soon to be full bolt on car. I drive a few days a week so is changing the valve springs necessary?? oil pump?

 

You will definitely need some springs for the Torquer 2 cam... atleast some Comp 918's, but I would probably go with the 921's just because I like to play it safe. I like the PRC springs myself, because they're great and cheap.

 

PRC dual set up here and so far I love them!! check page 5 of my website for all the photos you could ever want to see about what I got and what it took for the cam swap

 

You will have to change the valve springs to run that cam..I have been running the torquer 1 cam on a 112 LSA and using the PRC platinum dual springs and kit for about 29,000 miles now no problems with it..that cam likes for you to run 4.10 gears if your a six speed car..it makes good power from 3600 rpms to 6800 rpms..I like the dual springs better than the 918's...the 921 (very expensive)springs are a good spring but probably over kill on a street car like yours..the PRC dual spring kit from TSP is hard to beat..that is what I'd run if I were you with that choice of cam..the oil pump needs to be changed on a 98 LS1..get a new pump or a ported new pump and run the LS2 timing chain with it and you will be good to go..