LT1-LT4 Modifications 1993-97 Gen II Small Block V8

What cam to go with.

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Old Dec 3, 2010 | 09:42 PM
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Default What cam to go with.

First off i know theres a sticky for this situation, ive looked through it several
times, and i have a general idea of what id like to get. But id like to get opinions from people.

I want to keep the car a daily driver, the bottom end will remain stock, its not burning oil, oil pressures good, so why fix what isnt broken, right? Ill be working on a budget of around 1200 so im still debating whether i should port the heads or not, right now, its a no. Im trying to get opinions of what cam i should go with, the car wont see the strip a whole lot either. And id like to have an aggressive idle, also im not worried about emissions..
Opinions?
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Old Dec 3, 2010 | 09:49 PM
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I have a set of le1 heads you can get from me, since your local. ALso the cam can be any from Le or AI. YOu can find them used or even get a cc503 cam or comparable. Or just get a cam only with stall, tune. For your setup and still have money to play with.
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Old Dec 3, 2010 | 10:18 PM
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Originally Posted by robsquikz28
I have a set of le1 heads you can get from me, since your local. ALso the cam can be any from Le or AI. YOu can find them used or even get a cc503 cam or comparable. Or just get a cam only with stall, tune. For your setup and still have money to play with.
says in sig M6. No stall needed.
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Old Dec 3, 2010 | 10:29 PM
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$1200 will get you a cam install, but not heads/cam...
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Old Dec 3, 2010 | 10:47 PM
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Im running a 226/234 565/565 on 111. Its by LE, AI makes the same grind tho.

I was going to go with a 228/236 and wanted to tone it a little after I heard the idle from another memeber on here. So thats how i ended up with it.
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Old Dec 3, 2010 | 11:18 PM
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Email Phil and Ron at Advanced Induction. Their work and product is top notch.
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Old Dec 3, 2010 | 11:32 PM
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Does Lloyd Elliot have an email option as well? Ive only heard great things about him. And yes ramair95 i didnt think id be able to get away with heads on the budget. Im fine by it, they were recently freshened up anyways.
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Old Dec 3, 2010 | 11:41 PM
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Nevermind i emailed him.
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Old Dec 4, 2010 | 09:49 PM
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Another question for you guys. I talked to Lloyd Elliot and he said i will most deffinetly need new pushrods for almost any aftermarket cam. Now im trying to avoid having to pull the heads off. Is there anyone that runs stock pushrods with an aftermarket cam? Also do you guys think that i should go with his custom ground cam or just an out-of-the-box one (cc503, etc)?
This is what he said via email:

"We can do a 224/230 .565/.544 110 LSA and it will have a pretty choppy idle and have a power band of 2000-6100 RPM with stock heads. $300 for a custom cam.

We can use this cam with a set of Howards 98215 single springs from Competition Products ($100). These will work with stock retainers and stock locks. Just remove the flat damper wire and they drop right in.

We can do a set of LE1 budget heads with full port job, valve job, mill, clean and assemble with stock valves and these Howards springs along with a custom cam for $1000.

We will also need a set of Pro Form 66915 rockers and Trick Flow 21407100 pushrods from Summit Racing.

We will need tuning from PCMforless.com for the car to run well also.

If you have the heads off, get some of the GM 12553160 "Impala" head gaskets and bump compression to make some free HP/TQ.

Lloyd Elliott
972-617-5671
Elliottsportworks.com"

Just so you guys know, im not getting my heads ported, i just wanted a quote.
Thanks
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Old Dec 4, 2010 | 10:17 PM
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good info on the springs, never knew that and im in the midst of it all.

No need to remove the heads to change push rods.

That cam sounds like a CC503 on steriods, power band is a little lower. Deffinetly a good cam by the sounds of it.

You should get new 1.6 rockers if you dont have them. not a must have but just something that will help with power.

Pushrods and lifters, valve springs, deffinetly need those. Also need a plethera of new gaskets. A cam swap can be as expensive as you want it to be, or as budget friendly as you want it to be. Used camshafts normally have no issues, and can be had for ALOT cheaper then new. Same with roller rockers. Lifters and pushrods are so cheap, no reason not to go new with them. and 100$ for valve springs is a very nice price.
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Old Dec 4, 2010 | 10:18 PM
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Doing pushrods doesn't require pulling the heads....unless your putting heads on it, everything can be done berfore pulling them off.....
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Old Dec 4, 2010 | 10:30 PM
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wouldn't you need to pull the heads off for the lifters... and who wouldn't put new lifters in when you put a new cam in (how would that even work? the lifters would fall down)
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Old Dec 4, 2010 | 10:39 PM
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intake manifold comes off to do the lifters. If you get far enough to take the heads off, and dont see the lifters, and remove the heads, all you get to stair at is 8 pistons lol
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Old Dec 5, 2010 | 12:21 AM
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Yeah i already have a guy that wants to sell me a set of slightly used roller lifters and pushrods. Might be a dumb question to some, but how will i get the pushrods out without removing the head? From what i remember from a few years ago when i swapped a 355 into a camaro, the heads need to come off. But im not sure, is there another way to get them?
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Old Dec 5, 2010 | 12:50 AM
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Neither the heads nor the intake manifold need to come out to remove the pushrods. Only the valve covers and rocker arms, then the pushrods pull right out. And pushrods are cheap, so just buy new ones. Besides, you'll have to measure for correct length anyway.
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Old Dec 5, 2010 | 11:29 AM
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Originally Posted by RamAir95TA
Neither the heads nor the intake manifold need to come out to remove the pushrods. Only the valve covers and rocker arms, then the pushrods pull right out. And pushrods are cheap, so just buy new ones. Besides, you'll have to measure for correct length anyway.
Do you know the length for a 95 LT1 head? I would like to be able to get away without having to take them to a machine shop to get ground down.
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Old Dec 5, 2010 | 12:01 PM
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I'm not sure what you're asking here...but OEM pushrods are 7.20" long. More importantly, DO NOT ASSUME THAT YOU NEED 7.20" PUSHRODS! YOU MUST MEASURE!

And you don't grind pushrods down, you order them in the length you need. Hooboy!
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Old Dec 5, 2010 | 01:08 PM
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Now, I'm the guy that says if you replace the lifters with stock replacement (LS7's) and all you do is swap the cam, your pushrod length will not change doue to the fact that you haven't pulled the heads. Pushrod length comes into play when you mill the heads, or even change to a thinner head gasket. Aside from that you're not changing anything that would require you to change pushrod length. Personally I'd get a set of LS7 lifter (they're cheap, but not necessary, since rollers can be changed from cam to cam due to the roller wheel), and a set of hardened pushrods in stock length with some 1.6 rockers and go with the cam of your choice. Then put it all back together and run it. If you feel the need go ahead and change the timing chain, again not necessary if it's a low mile engine.

Again this is just my personal opinion as is what everyone else tells you. I could give you a full list of things to replace, but it would most definitely surpass your $1200 budget. You can easily do a cam swap for under that with the tune included...
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Old Dec 5, 2010 | 02:17 PM
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IIRC the LS7 lifter have a lower pushrod seat than the oem LT1 lifter do. At least this is what o was told during my cam swap.
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Old Dec 5, 2010 | 02:40 PM
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I was going to run that LE cam he was mentioning in a 383 but ended up doing a 355 and used his 223/230 112lsa cam. I need to pass emissions and going reason i went with slightly smaller cam and on a 112 vs the 110. IMO you will have very well rounded dd cam with the extra lope at ldle with the 110lsa. If you cant afford a set of ported heads and are going to pull them i would atleast do a valve job and a small milling would bump the compression to few more ponies.

Cam
Hardened pushrods
Good Spring kit
New stock timing chain
1.6 7/16 NSA roller rockers (if you plan to go bigger later or SA will work if you dont)
Guideplates if going with NSA rockers
ARP Rocker Studs
LS7 Lifters (Stockers should be fine but if they no good use the LS7s)
Gaskets
30lb Injectors (Might be close but im sure your stockers will be close to being maxxed out)
Tune!
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