What's up guys, I just bought a 97 Trans Am with a T-56 and 80K miles. I just ordered Stainless Works headers and o/r y-pipe along with Corsa exhaust. I also have a cold air intake on the car along with a crank pulley and short throw. I was wondering what a good budget heads & cam package would be. I was looking at the Lloyd Elliot LE2 kit and Advance Induction. Are there any budget options? What kind of number could I make with just a cam and tune?

Thanks,
Caleb

 

Just complete boltons can get you up say a little over 300rwhp and you need all that before you go considering a cam.

The pulley is a strong suggestion of a clueless previous owner good luck with whatever else you find.

With the T56 you really want 4.10s in there BUT you also need to decide how serious you are about power and how you want to use that power and consider an axle upgrade rather than just gears.

 

I agree. For a cam you will need some supporting mods to max its potential. CAI is a good start. A pulley really doesn't do much for you and is a filler mod...it helps fill the mod list in your signature lol. You will not need more than a 52mm Throttle Body.

For a cam you will also need to upgrade your springs, rockers and pushrods. Also consider upgrading your Rocker Studs and getting guideplates for some NSA rockers. Possible some LS7 Lifters as well.

If you are going to consider heads, forget about a "budget". LE has a great product and it is a good price, but make sure you research what you want first. AI has a great product as well as TEA and a few other companies. With that said, you need to make sure you have the money for a proper build. If you are on a budget, take care of the little things first, or save for the whole shebang and do it right. If you get a cam without heads, then when you get your heads, you will need a NEW cam because your old one will be improper for the heads, so that money will be wasted.

IMO, get your basic bolt ons out of the way...all of the supporting mods...Intake, Headers, Exhaust, TB and a few other basic mods. Once those are out of the way, figure out what exactly YOU want the car to do...track only, daily driver, street destroyer, what do YOU want. Once you have decided what you want your HP to be and what you want the car to do, then you need to research the best head/cam package to accommodate your goals. This should not be a decision based off of money, but a decision based off of what you WANT. Heads, Cam, Rockers, Studs, Bolts, Springs, Gaskets, Pushrods and Lifters all need to be considered as well as compression ratio. Make sure your springs and your cam are going to play nice together.

The moral of the story is, if you build on a budget, you may end up unhappy with the final results...if you set a goal and match the car to that then you will be happy for a while...till you decide you want something else lol. Remember though...high HP numbers does NOT mean a fast car...you could have 500 RWHP but if the car is built poorly then you may run 13's. Or you can have a 400 RWHP car that runs 11's. It all depends on the research you do and how you spend your money.

Also, for rear end gears, again consider the cars man purpose...if you do a lot of highway driving and wanna conserve gas, 3.73's are a good middle ground...maybe even 3.90's. If you want to lower the 60ft and get your track tiems down but it doesnt see much highway, 4.10's are perfect. I will be using 4.10's in my street driven 383 Camaro. Remember though, the more power you build, the more likely that stock rear end is going to grenade itself...the more gear you add, the more likely it is to break...put the two together and you are almost guaranteed a bad day at the track. I split a carrier in half the first time it broke, then the second time I shredded a set of 4.10 gears, and I shredded a set of 3.42 gears...The 10-bolt will only go so far even if you upgrade it...same goes for the tranny. Eventually you will need to upgrade to a steel 3-4 shift fork and a few other upgrades in the tranny...keep all of this in mind when planning a build. Also, suspension needs to be considered if you ever want it to hook.

Building a car is NOT cheap...and if you try and make it cheap then you will end up paying MORE in the end as the cheap parts begin to break or wear out. Do it right the first time and save the cash for areas that actually will need it.

 

The car has a cold air intake. I forgot to mention that. I will have full exhaust as well and will be getting the car properly tuned. It's not my daily so I'm not worried about losing a bit of driveability. What would be the best cam to run with stock heads? I already have a set of 1.6 Harland Sharp rockers. I do have the money to do the swap right as well. What other parts (part numbers would be nice) do I need to complete the swap?

Thanks,
Caleb

 

I also know someone with a set of 4.10 gears I can buy from them.