JakeSS/Z28

for starts motor is 383 ci LT1
11:1 compression
heads will be hand ported with 52cc chambers 2.02 1.6 valves
thinking of these 3 cams
lunati 60122
lunati 60123
gm 847

any opinions appreciated

tonskiguy

iTrader: (3)

Call AI or LE and talk with them. They will get you a proper custom grind specific to your engine and expectations.

tbag_skywalker

I'm running the 60122 and love it. Horsepower peaks at 5900RPM's, and still has good mid range torque, too. Little bit of surge down low, when driving slow in lower gears, but not bad and still very streetable.

I'm no cam expert, but with 383 cubic inches and some well ported heads, you'd probably make great power with the 60123.

Dave357LT1

Cant spec a cam untill we know well the heads flow. Is it bubba in the back yard with a dremel? Or is it a quality porter and if so how far they gonna take them? Example L.E. 1's vs. L.E 3's

Rob94hawk

iTrader: (1)

52cc with a 3.75" stroke and only 11:1 CR? Dished pistons?

JakeSS/Z28

13cc dish forged srp pistons
professional porter taking them out to around 190cc intake, flowing somewhere around 275 cfm at .600 lift

Iam pretty set on the 847 cam

lt1slowz28

this... custom cams are usually about the same price as off the shelf, and can be suited to your needs a lot better.


don't settle for something you think might sound good... sound doesn't equate to a well tuned engine.

Dave357LT1

Unless ur getting it for free I'd get a custom cam. L.E. is only $300. He may give you several options go with. Personally if its mainly a street car get a smallish cam to make gobs of tourq and would be a blast to drive!

96capricemgr

iTrader: (1)

If your "professional" wants to put 2.02/1.6 valves in then only open them up to 190cc and didn't tell you the dished pistons are a mistake than just go ahead and throw the stock cam in it,

Saves you money so you can do it right next time.

Those valve sizes need new seats which is wasted money with a port too small to use a larger valve effectively.

Then you pretend to ask about cams but admit you have already decided????

Just do like so many others, put it together your way then ask us to help you fix it maybe then you will listen.

robsquikz28

iTrader: (246)

xfi 280 sounds good. I know someone selling one <------

JakeSS/Z28

i just wanted to say thanks to all who contributed, its going to be awhile before all the parts to come together but i will try to put up the dyno numbers from my "worthless professionaly" ported heads on my "giant mistake" dished piston bottom end.

lt1slowz28

im sure it will not be worthwhile with a bunch of unknowns and trying to get a good combo. rolling the dice, so to speak

94blackz

I feel you buddy apparently no off the shelf cam or any unpro engine setup works.lol.its been my experiance if you arnt an idiot or unlucky you can make most any combo run very nice.some people take this **** too serious. Good luck hope it turned out the way you wanted it.

myltwon

iTrader: (1)

Nothing wrong with off the shelf parts, but often off-the-shelf parts setups are an indicator of someone building a combo from a Summit catalog just by what ever part name or description sounds the coolest, not what works best. Also there is those who take advice from Joe Blow shop owner who doesn't know about particular engines outside of his realm of experience. Again not saying either is the scenario, but honestly with the small price gap between an AI or LE grind that is spec'd to your setup is better than "settling" for a cam grind that could be 10-20 years old.

Plenty of people have done great with vanilla, off the shelf, setups. Some have even set records. Difference is these tend to be more of the minority. More people have proven times and results from either AI or LE than those who run the "cookie-cutter" setups.

Also ontop of all of this is finding a GOOD tuner, not just a guy who happens to have the software, but someone who knows what LT1s and more specifically your engine will react best to. I can't count the number of people who have chased a phantom trying to figure out why their setup underperforms, when at the heart it's a bad tune holding back a setup of good parts.

F0x Slaughter

Only question I have is why 11.1:1 CP?

Guys run 12.5:1 on a good tune with 93.

Are you planning on a big hit of nitrous or something also?

Catmaigne

iTrader: (6)

This thread is crusty.

Anyway, custom cams are fine and dandy if your setup is out of the ordinary but if you're building just another hot street LT1 then a shelf cam will do 99% of the time. There's an eclectic selection of used shelf cams in the classifieds that you can pick up for sub $150 and run just fine.

myltwon

iTrader: (1)

Nothing wrong with doing some budget shopping and scoring a used cam for cheap. That's what I did on my old cam-only setup.

Problem is people buying them new, an off-the-shelf cam runs around $280 new, LE custom is $300~ and AI custom is $350 IIRC. When you're going through all the money and time associated with just doing a cam swap, let alone a full build, the signifigance of the $20-70 saved will be long forgotten by the time you start wondering if there's anything else left in your in setup, maybe something would've drove nicer, made more useable power/torque, etc.

Remember if you decide somewhere down the road you wished you would've went custom you'll be out ATLEAST another $800-1000 just for gaskets, fluids, cam, and tune, assuming nothing else is changed. This of course isn't including what a shop will charge you or at the very least what you believe your time is worth.