what cam is right for me
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what cam is right for me hey guys, i bought my camaro with a built 383, little did i know when i bought it one of the lifters was spun to where it wasnt rolling on the cam but riding it, eventually noises came up which led to me tearing down my motor, i cant get ahold of the guy that built this motor (wonder why) but i know i need a new cam and a new lifter, the motor has lt1 heads and 8.5-1 compression ratio. that is ALL i know about this motor so is that enough to decide on a cam, or does it really matter as long as i set my timing and program it right? any help would be greatly appreciated
Last edited by STROKIN ACES; Mar 7, 2013 at 10:10 AM.
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From: Nebraska
That is a rediculously low compression for an N/A LT1. If that's truly what it is I would be pulling that motor apart and redoing it cuz obviously nothing was planned right for that motor unless it was meant for boost. Probably has a junk cast crank in it too..
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ya i am planning on putting a turbo on it since i have lower compression, but a bigger cam wouldnt effect that in a bad way right? more air the better i thought. i'll be going through what papers he gave me when i bought it and see what crank is in it. everything looked very solid except for the lifter and cam lol i just dont want to get the wrong cam and further damage my motor
Your best bet is get ahold of loyd elliot or advanced induction. Tell them your goals and what compression your running.
I believe too big of a lift cam with a turbo or any type of forced induction would require a ton of boost retard, and probably just all around useless.
I believe too big of a lift cam with a turbo or any type of forced induction would require a ton of boost retard, and probably just all around useless.
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8.5:1 is even too low for boost applications on an lt engine. You got ripped off by someone who had no clue what they were doing, REALIZED they had no idea what they were doing, and dumped it off on the first poor sucker.. 10:1 is low enough for pump gas and boost.
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yeaaa some of the info in this thread is as fubar as your current situation lol.......
heres the deal.......8.5:1 is very low, if you are going to run FI then its on the low end of acceptable, as for the lifter issue id be careful if there was any debris (metal) that went through the motor form that problem.......also before just slamming boost at it what were the rings gapped at? whats in it for pistons and rods? theres alot of ?'s to be answered.........as for running a bigger cam, more lift will have 0 to do with the amount of timing reduction the motor woudl have to have due to boost pressure so thats just downright wrong..........whats on the motor for heads also that will dictate your cam choice as well as gear ratio stall size and intended usage.....
heres the deal.......8.5:1 is very low, if you are going to run FI then its on the low end of acceptable, as for the lifter issue id be careful if there was any debris (metal) that went through the motor form that problem.......also before just slamming boost at it what were the rings gapped at? whats in it for pistons and rods? theres alot of ?'s to be answered.........as for running a bigger cam, more lift will have 0 to do with the amount of timing reduction the motor woudl have to have due to boost pressure so thats just downright wrong..........whats on the motor for heads also that will dictate your cam choice as well as gear ratio stall size and intended usage.....
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If you plan on boosting that motor, You need to find a cam that works with boost. Something with a 112+ LSA for sure. You can't grab just any of the shelf cam for boost. I mean you could but it won't bring your setup to its potential. Like said, call up AI or LE and tell them what you're doing and get a custom grind.
yeaaa some of the info in this thread is as fubar as your current situation lol.......
heres the deal.......8.5:1 is very low, if you are going to run FI then its on the low end of acceptable, as for the lifter issue id be careful if there was any debris (metal) that went through the motor form that problem.......also before just slamming boost at it what were the rings gapped at? whats in it for pistons and rods? theres alot of ?'s to be answered.........as for running a bigger cam, more lift will have 0 to do with the amount of timing reduction the motor woudl have to have due to boost pressure so thats just downright wrong..........whats on the motor for heads also that will dictate your cam choice as well as gear ratio stall size and intended usage.....
heres the deal.......8.5:1 is very low, if you are going to run FI then its on the low end of acceptable, as for the lifter issue id be careful if there was any debris (metal) that went through the motor form that problem.......also before just slamming boost at it what were the rings gapped at? whats in it for pistons and rods? theres alot of ?'s to be answered.........as for running a bigger cam, more lift will have 0 to do with the amount of timing reduction the motor woudl have to have due to boost pressure so thats just downright wrong..........whats on the motor for heads also that will dictate your cam choice as well as gear ratio stall size and intended usage.....
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all good points... i should probably take it completely apart and start from scratch, thing is i have no idea where i want to go with this motor, yes lesson learned on buying a (built car) from someone i dont know. he said his original plan was to do the rear mounted twin turbo set up, i bought it for 5 grand so i was seeing on doing that fairly quick but i started having issues and now i dont feel like putting 5 more into the car, until i get my savings back where it was im limited on what i can do so if i can throw a decent cam in there until i save enough in the car fund to pull her back out and build it myself that would be great
what does compression have to do with turbo lag? thats more of selecting the proper compressor for your application.........the reason for the compression being up around 10:1 is on smaller motors theyve got NO nuts before they get into boost with low CR.....the lt/sbc's dont really have that issue
