I'm looking for words on people/places everyone has used for custom cam grinds....I pulled the trigger and started my N2O 396 build. I'm going solid roller setup to complement my 24x conversion. Otherwise the build looks like this...

3.875" Forged Eagle crank
6" Callies Compstar forged rods
14cc dish SRP forged pistons
AFR 195 heads
Edelbrock AirGap intake
AS&M 58mm tb
Pacesetter LT headers
Nitrous Outlet plate kit @200hp
24x conversion
splayed 4 bolt conversion

Anyway, who has used who with success?

 

Those are some small heads for a 396, solid roller, 24x setup. Hope they are ported!

LE spec'd my cam - I sent him my flow bench numbers, car weight, stall size, gearing, and RPM range to be used and he sent me a pretty billet SR.

Engine dyno software shows that it should make what I wanted and then some, but it just sits in my porch for decoration till I finish some other projects.

 

Yea Puck, I know the AFRs are on the small side for the 396, we beat that horse beyond death in my last thread, but they are what they are, as I said before I own them! Based on flow numbers alone, they match the LE3's spot on both sides, use 2.05"/1.60" valves, and are CNC ported so they cant be too terribly bad out of the box....

THAT BEING SAID, another vote for Lloyd....and thanks again for the 24x kit Puck! Anyone like AI? Anyone like anyone else?

 

Enjoy it! It's a killer setup.

The problem with AI is that they want control over your whole build (not that that's a bad thing), and would rather you buy a complete topend kit from them then just spec a cam for you.

 

Wow.....I don't have that impression of them. I do know that Phil is brutally honest in pointing out that the heads will make or break the build and the cam does not. He'll gladly spec and sell you a cam; he just won't promise any grand result when he doesn't know what you're going to pair it with.
Anybody that is relying on some magic cam specs to compensate for shortcomings elsewhere in the build is always going to come up short of a build that is done right.

 

You act like he is going to buy the small heads and over cam it for the fun of it.

Sounds like he has the heads and wants a custom cam to make the best use of them.

LE gets my vote.

 

It wasn't an impression, it was from experience. I have never told this story since I don't want to sound like I am bashing a sponsor, and I am thankful for all the info AI have shared with the community and how long they stuck with and developed for the LT1 platform. Based on my personal experience though, I just do not feel their customer service is up to par.

AI was one of three companies I asked when I wanted a cam spec'd for my combo. I was personally told in a short, blunt reply that I should sell my Craig Gallant hand ported AFRs and matching hand ported Supervic, and buy their much smaller 200cc stock castings, intake, and cam as a package since they don't do work with AFR. Not even sure my email was read besides the first sentence that I had AFR heads, since I stated my goals and what parts I was using and that it was not a street car. I had no clue why I was suggested their 200cc ported stockers and not at least the TFS 215s for a high RPM stroker that doesn't see street duty. My two paragraph inquiry was met with a two sentence reply to basically start from scratch.

I told him exactly what heads I have - chamber size, runner CC, and flow numbers. There should have been no worry on whether they would work or not. They will easily make 600 NA. Hell, with a "real" cam and intake I could do close to 700 with some RPMs...why would I sell that and get some ported stockers is beyond me . These heads have seen more HP then 99% of the LT1s in the world, I just had them milled down, flowed, and setup for NA use.

The same day, LE sent me a nice long email asking everything about my car - my head flow numbers, spring pressures, weight, stall, gearing, ect...EVERYTHING about my combo, then gave me two different cams and the pro's and con's of each, and also quickly answered my questions about lifters and springs.

He also didn't try to sell me his heads when I was just looking for a cam.

 

How high of rpm do you want to be able to run the engine to? Then the heads & cam need to be thought about so that you can reach your goals.

 

VERY MUCH CORRECT SIR! and another +1 for LE to my tally...(that is so far +all for LE and roughly 0 elsewhere)

 

How do you come up with "0 elsewhere"? just by the tally of nuthuggers in this thread?
I just wanted to go fast leaving as few variables as possible in question; that's why I went with AI. The personality of the guy on the other end of the phone wasn't a factor.
I like LE too; IMO it's your second best choice in the world for a slam dunk simple high performance LT1 H/C package. For those who pride themselves in cooking by their own recipe, it can be their best choice.

 

I would prefer loyal customer, over nuthugger. We aren't talking about capricemanaagegegr.

 

Polar opposite experience I had with them. When building my 396 I called them and talked in detail of what I was trying to do. Not once did they (unsure who I talked to) try and sell me off on one of their combos. They spec'd a pair of heads and sent me an invoice. Unfortunately it was not in my price range, therefore, much like the OP, I stuck with my already owned and smallish ported LT4's. Why didn't you let Craig spec you a cam?

Don't be mad.

 

^^^^^^^^ basically same treatment I got. LE is the best! IMO. He also gave me two cam to choose from and listed the pros and cons of each. All other vendors seem to want to make a quick buck instead of addressing the real issue. LE will steer you right way even if you buy from him or you dont. The only advantage I see with AI is the fact of the CNC machine which flows slightly better compared to hand porting.

But this is a cam issue so I would call or email Lloyd he will give you your options and I would ask "What would you do in my situation with the setup I have?"

Given, whatever the use of the car may be(Street/Strip/DD).

 

Maybe I should have called instead of email, maybe it was some random shop receptionist scrub that replied, or maybe he thought it was my first build and I was just randomly picking parts from random forums.

I don't know the reasoning, I just know why I made the decisions I did. If I'm not happy with how it runs or just decide to go even more aggressive down the road, maybe I will have Craig suggest a ~260/270 duration race grind.

 

I am going to disagree with you on this one Puck. I emailed AI with all the mods I had and the specs on the heads I was going to run. Phil emailed me back with 2 cam choices and described each ones advantage over the other. Never once was any head package pushed on me, let alone even mentioned.

 

Decided to go with LE. After a few insightful conversations we decided on a billet solid roller setup, cam specs of 263/271 .688/.688 108 LSA, and the full compliment from lifters to retainers. Lloyd is also getting my 195s to perform some magic on them as well to relieve what he referred to as sonic choke. Not cheap by any means but I'm sure I'll be happy!

 

That is quite a cam! You must have some pretty lofty goals.

Sonic choke is just a fancy word for too small cylinder head .

 

AI really hates to deal with AFR. Why I don't know. I wanted him to open up my 180cc heads and he said doesn't deal with them.. My opinion is that AFR is so good out the box porters can't really do much with them.. I could be wrong. I don't know..

 

People think I'm crazy cause I said the same thing. It's actually the opposite of what you think though, the larger 210+ AFRs have a huge casting and tons of potential for porting. There are not many bolt-on (non converted) heads that can compare potential wise without digging into the larger valve SBC race stuff that we have a hard time running with our small bores. Insane power potential after porting from a 23* head that doesn't need trick custom pistons or special headers.

I don't hold anything against their killer packages, and am not making stuff up just to stir the pot. Just sharing my experience...and apparently a few others have had similar responses. I think it may be because they are a TFS dealer and don't want to screw up any deals they get through them by carrying their biggest competitor.

 

During my phone call about heads to AI they were giving me the option of AFR or Trick Flow. They gave several reasons why they were switching of which none of them I can remember specifically, but what it sounded like is Trick Flow was better all around to work and deal with.