SS RRR

iTrader: (2)

No you didn't. That's crazy talk. Get out of this thread! The new member has something to prove!11111

Evil Opti

I appreciate the replies. Right at this moment my eyes are set for a Cam (CC503, CC306, or a mild version of a GM847) with the supporting mods & a 6-speed. Eventually I want to get down to a heads/intake or a stroker able to compete with newer sports cars. Like mentioned earlier for now my car is going to be a street warrior and maybe spray it. Dont really have any interest in drag racing or making the quickest passes. I know at some point ill be interested in drag and seeing what times im capable of. It is my daily driver and plan on collecting the car and rebuilding it from top to bottom totally demonizing it. an LT version of the LS7 is something ill be working towards

One last question; Should I go cam or swap a T56 with 3.73 gears? What’ll net me quickness easier? The car has stock 2.73’s and is god slow even with my LT’s and exhaust. $1500 needs to be spent on either cam swap or tranny/gears swap. Currently im already working on the interior with suede headliner, new visors, and found the dash pad from 6LE.

fex77k

iTrader: (2)

Do the the drivetrain first, then go after the motor. Gears will be a must. Please look at a different cam when I hear "CC503, CC306, or a mild version of a GM847" my eyes glase over. This isn't 1999 anymore.

HellTeeOne

You'll need to get rid of the 2.73s. Whether or not you go manual or auto is not particularly germaine to the questions you asked about power output.

If you're trying to do anything that will be considered even resembling exceptional these days, you can forget those off-the-shelf cams you named in that post. They're not 'bad', but you can do MUCH better these days.

Many head/cam LT1s have made right at or very near 500 flywheel, and even a mild stroker can easily make at least 530 flywheel.
Spend the big money on the heads and intake, and get a custom cam spec'd by someone who knows what they are doing and you're 90% there. The rest consists of not cutting corners on assembly and tuning.

Evil Opti

Thanks fex. Those grinds were just an area of thought. Custom grinds make more sense because too many guys hear that someone made a certain amount of power on their grind then try to copy that grind and expect the same results. Doesnt work that way. On stock heads bigger isnt always better. Ill call a few places and see what cam they think will best fit my goals.

But Ill definitely do gears and tranny next on my list before the motor. Stock long block can prove a lot with proper gearing.

fex77k

iTrader: (2)

Cam cores have gone up in the last few years, if you can find a deal on a known one then pick it up. If you are buying new, get what you want.

KW Baraka

iTrader: (7)

I don't agree.

So......why don't you lay it out for me and the rest of us. Prove that you know what you're talking about.

KW

bufmatmuslepants

iTrader: (3)

500 flywheel, -20% drivetrain loss for an auto is 400rwhp. 95ramairTA DDs his 383 AI 200cc 12.7:1 car that makes 455rwhp through a 60e and a 9", that's way over 500 flywheel. There are plenty of guys on here putting over 400 to the tires through an auto with a 383 or 396, he'll some are doing it with stock cubes.

Evil Opti

Since you believe its crazy talk, how much did you make with your impala?

SS RRR

iTrader: (2)

First there's RamAir.
https://ls1tech.com/forums/member.php?u=39751
According to his dyno numbers he's over 500hp. Pushing 124mph through the traps is also a good indicator as such. Then there's some dolt named speed_demon24 who, on a stock block is going through the traps at 120 at full weight and the wrong gearing. I think he dynoed somewhere in the 420 range on a M6. Both indicate just shy of 500. Best I've ran with my hodge podge combo is 122.8 in a 3700lb car which also indicated right around 500rwhp. Dynoed 440rwhp on a Mustang dyno. I don't really count mine because it's on a mild solid roller. It's as streetable as stock, but because springs have to be changed out about every 20K miles I don't consider that a practical street application, however the other two mentioned could easily be used daily.
From what I understand he has a 396 that runs high 11's and is convinced anything faster is unpossible to live on the street.

speed_demon24

iTrader: (6)

My springs don't last any longer than yours.

SS RRR

iTrader: (2)

Put some better ones in besides that beehive bullshit and they'd LIVE longer, dolt.

96capricemgr

iTrader: (1)

IMO if daily driving a modded car a $170 set of springs ever other year isn't such a big deal. If you want 400rwhp and 100K mile tuneups then buy something new with warranty, not that there is much to choose from. If the backseat were bigger I would love a CTS-V

Evil Opti

Personally I wouldnt run the beehives. Some of the best springs other then the over used beehives would be Manly Nextek, Isky 295’s, or good name brand double springs. Those are some I would run on a 396 street build. Ive heard too many failures on the street with 918’s which push me away from them. But there are plenty running 918’s on street/strip with mild grinds; no problems.


I honestly wouldn't mind if the springs last more then over a year before change, but hoping if I spent the money on better springs, I can extend the life of the springs. Even with the right geometry, oiling, quality rockers, and lifters.

96capricemgr

iTrader: (1)

there are a lot of beehives out there besides 918s, hell I believe Manley NexTex are available as beehive.

SS RRR

iTrader: (2)

I run these:

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/man-221443-16

as suggested from my builder. Kinda sucks replacing them, but since I only drive my pile about three times a year... when it's off jackstands...

Evil Opti

Im no spring expert but what really is the definition of a beehive valve springs? A single spring? lol



Could the spring life be shortened because of the lack of driving? I know driving my stock LT1 once in a blue moon puts some overall wear on the engine. Kinda like sleeping for 2 days straight then getting up and trying to run a marathon..

bufmatmuslepants

iTrader: (3)

I think KW is just kinda trolling as he is on LS1LT1 and doesn't normally say dumb **** there, kinda like shownomercy has a turbo 383 in the works on that site but comes on here just to **** with people. Although his 396 has a huge custom speced cam from Comp with kinda weak rwhp numbers, and from what I've seen comp sucks at specing cams for lt1s so his driveability probably sucks too.

SS RRR

iTrader: (2)

No. Even though the cam profile is fairly similar to some of the latest hyd. grinds the ramp rates are still a bit more aggressive and shift points are a few hundred RPM higher.

quik95lt1

iTrader: (7)

500FWHP is not a crazy hard thing to do.......I had a little 355 a while back in mine with TFS heads and a stout AI HR cam....car was 3450lbs and ran 11.5@119-120 all day long I estimated it in the 485hp range to run like it did........I street drove the **** outta that thing it ran great and wasn't horrible on fuel long as you didn't have ur foot on the mat all the time......

as for the valvespring thing.......the right cam the right valvetrain geometry and a GOOD spring will not devour springs like people say.....I run a high end PSI spring on my 383....It was on the motor for 4 years had hundreds of passes about 5000 miles of street driving and about 100 dyno pulls on them all running up in the 8000rpm range and the only reason I changed them was age....there was ZERO wrong with them......buy a good spring do your work correctly and you can run SR's on the street with no problems


and to answer your last question OP a beehive spring is literally the shape of the spring....it tapers to a smaller OD at the top of the spring idea being they are lighter than regular springs and they offer a more variable spring rate to seat the valve down easier.......I run a set of psi 1511 beehives on my DD GTO with a 226/234 .600 112LSA cam, ive got about 7k miles on it so far it spins 6800 and ive had ZERO issues...