i was wonderin wut i need to get if i were to get a cam, my car right now is stock, but i was hopin to put on a cam for some pick up. about how much pick up(hp or how many tenths off) do you think i could get from a decent set of cams around $500 or less?
i have a 2002 Camaro Z28 A4

 

ls1's have only 1 cam...and yes u can get a decent cam for less then 500...but all the valve train stuff and programming will cost you extra.

 

Agreed!! Tuning is the most important.Let us know what you decide and if you have any questions just ask us!!

 

For most any cam upgrade you will need new valve springs, but you can reuse your old lifters. Better pushrods, spring retainers, and rocker arms are optional but are very nice to have and will make your valvetrain more reliable. You should be able to knock off 3 to 4 tenths with a good cam and PCM tuning. You will need PCM tuning anyway on a 224 and bigger to address driveability.

 

do the cam kits include all of that and then what would be the best size cam to get? im lookin to keep it streetable too for now

 

There are lots of different kits available; check out Thunder Racing and MTI, click on their logos on the right ===>

The best size to get is highly subjective and is the daily topic of discussion around here, so read, learn, and make up your own mind. IMO, the best street cam is the TR224-114 since that's the biggest that will pass emissions, but just to keep it streetable a TR230 would be the limit for me. Stay below a 570 lift or you will be changing out your valve springs every year.

 

Read jmX's awesome writup on cam basics. Pretty much should answer most of your questions.

http://www.ls1howto.com/index.php?article=23

 

since u have an automatic, the best thing to do is get a good tq converter... it will give u a good half second in the 1/4 with traction... u don't mention what u have so far, but an airlid and cat back exhaust should be 1st on ur list, then the converter, then headers, then cam...