PRC stage 2.5 5.3L heads...suggestions on a cam choice
#23
I bought the AFR Mamo cam 224/228 to go with my AFR heads. I knew they work well together after research and following Tony's build so there was no need to guess what the results was gonna be. LOL
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Yeah, Ive been doing some research the last few days, and that is the conclusion Ive come to as well. Id like a tight lsa like 110 or 111, but if an off the shelf cam like the TR224/112 has 4 degrees of advance, giving it an ICL of 108, then that should bring the powerband down a bit, making up for the wider lsa.
#27
I run the TR224 with a 112lsa .563 lift. I really like this cam and I am thinking real hard about the same thing as you. I am going to be going with the PRC stg 2.5 5.3 heads and I want to make sure it's a good cam to stick with. I'm running it cam only right now and I really like it. I know I could get the heads milled to 59cc and squeeze out some more power, but then I would be limited if I decided to go with a bigger cam.
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Magic stick cam! 237/242 I love how people say being its for street driven cars so for smaller, but yet if drag racing then go bigger. Well why are you building a 500+hp car, to have nice street manners? Or to race? Its just always been my opinion to go big or go home, I win my races at high rpm. I bought my engine as it was in my sig, I wouldnt go smaller for a cam.
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Yeah, Ive been doing some research the last few days, and that is the conclusion Ive come to as well. Id like a tight lsa like 110 or 111, but if an off the shelf cam like the TR224/112 has 4 degrees of advance, giving it an ICL of 108, then that should bring the powerband down a bit, making up for the wider lsa.
why not just go with the TR 230 cam? its a proven kick *** street cam. its a 230/224 on a 111 lsa.. sounds mean as hell too.. look it up.. everybody that has ran a reverse split cam love it for a daily driver and street car.
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Magic stick cam! 237/242 I love how people say being its for street driven cars so for smaller, but yet if drag racing then go bigger. Well why are you building a 500+hp car, to have nice street manners? Or to race? Its just always been my opinion to go big or go home, I win my races at high rpm. I bought my engine as it was in my sig, I wouldnt go smaller for a cam.
In this day and age, to have a hot rod putting out 425-450hp with a/c and still getting over 15mpg city/over 25mpg hwy is pretty amazing in itself. Its even more amazing to have the same car that wont buck and surge and die on you at a stop light. Its also nice when you dont have to spin your motor to the moon to feel any torque. Not to mention that once you are finally in your power band, you can almost watch your fuel guage drop.
My point is this: If your car is strictly for the track, or a weekend car looking for trouble from stoplight to stoplight, then buy a big *** cam, cuz your motor isnt gonna see below 5000 rpms anyway. For the street, Id like a smaller cammed car that would hand that car its *** under the curve where it counts...and still be fun to drive throughout the entire rpm band.
My argument is strictly based on a stock cube 346 LS1. When running a larger bottom end, like a 402 or 408, of course...it would be stupid not to run a bigger cam. Its just like intake ports on aftermarket heads. People who run heads with 225cc intake ports on a stock bottom end are giving up some good low to mid range torque, because of a lack of port velocity with the big ports, which only shine at higher rpms. The 205cc intake ports seem to work much better on stock cubes, because you maintain a higher port velocity, making the low to mid range much more fun to play in. This is why the AFR 205cc heads are kickin *** with small cams like Tony Mamo's 224/228.
Ive done countless hours of research and here is what Ive come up with:
PRC Stage 2.5 5.3L heads unmilled
.040" gaskets to bump compression to 11:1
TR224/112 cam
Had I bought the heads straight from TSP, I wouldve had them milled at no charge, but I bought these new from a private seller. Since they are unmilled, I had to resort to the thinner gasket.
Im pretty confident that this will make one hell of a street setup, with gobs of low to midrange power, showing a nice flat torque curve, and still climbing strong to 6300-6400 which is about where I want to shift anyway.
Comments welcome
#31
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I have had the TR230 cam on stock heads and it was a great cam. Im not sure about matching it with the 5.3 heads though. Does anyone have any experience with the TR230 paired with a set of aftermarket heads?
#32
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I'm running the TSP TQv2 with those heads and it's fine for racing. Daily driving not so much. I feel like my old TR 224 cam pulled a lot harder and had more low end torque. The rwhp and tq numbers weren't as far apart either. Now with this cam my tq is 50 less than my hp.....All top end unfortunately. someday I'll go back to a 224 or equivalent cam just to get that street feeling back.
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Well, I havent seen any good dyno graphs of this cam that show the torque curve I want....especially with a set of 5.3 heads. I saw a few disappointing graphs when matched with 5.3 heads. Please show me if theyre out there
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my friend ran those same heads, and made 417/395 with over 370ftlb at like 3500 or something along those lines...he has a graph up somewhere on this site let me see if i can find it
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here ya go
Hello I just recently put this combo on my 2000 SS and thought I would post since I havent seen this before on LS1tech. This was done on a Mustang Dyno. Pulled 42X hp and 38X ft/lbs. LMK what you all think.
Mods:
PRC 5.3 2.5's
TR230 230/224 .575/.563 111 LSA
LS6 intake
85 mm TB
Lid
Pacesetter LT's
TSP ORY
Borla
9 inch 4.10 gears
etc.
I eventually plan on getting the .40 head gaskets and also have a underdrive pulley on its way.
Mods:
PRC 5.3 2.5's
TR230 230/224 .575/.563 111 LSA
LS6 intake
85 mm TB
Lid
Pacesetter LT's
TSP ORY
Borla
9 inch 4.10 gears
etc.
I eventually plan on getting the .40 head gaskets and also have a underdrive pulley on its way.