I know, I know, I should change the rear axle ratio to something lower, but I want to maintain my highway cruising RPM, and especially for stop-and-go traffic, I don't want my car lunging forward too fast with all that low end torque I am trying to get out of it with the set-up I have in mind.

She doesn't need to accelerate like a bat out of hell, but she does need to give me some more SOTP feel than what I currently get. Again, I am seeking the fun of an L98 with instant low end torque on up through the mid-range. I am willing to spend the extra dollars to make it happen while keeping my stock rear axle ratio.

 

I'll see if I can dig up a dyno sheet.

 

Talking about gears, im disappointed with my 342 gears at the strip with my m6. 1st gear is a turd off the line. 2.1 60fts are the best we could get. 1st gear bogs off the line. Im thinking 390 gears might be a good all around choice??? 410s are weak and can break easily, and 373's arent worth putting in due to already having 342's?

 

What's your complete setup all the way to tire size?

 

SSRRR, complete set-up- 215/224 112lsa cam with stock heads. 1.6rr's, ewp. 1 5/8 mac mids, no cats and magnaflow catback.

Stock clutch, m6 trans, 342 gears "10 bolt", UMI lca's, relo brackets panhard bar, bilstein shocks.

M/T 255 45 16 drag radials on salad shooters.
Crossing traps in 3rd gear at 6200rpm "real tach" at around 107mph.

I like the 342 gears on the street but its a turd of the line at the strip. Im thinking 390 motives, forged axles. I cant afford a 2k 12 bolt.

O.P. this is good info because you gotta think about gears when you build your motor up.

 

Has the car been dynoed/do you know where your HP peak is?

 

True, but the main purpose of my car is daily driving so if your 3.42 is perfectly fine for street driving then there we go!

 

SSRRR, cam supp peaks at 5800rpm. Really didnt like holding 6200rpm through traps either on the 100k stock shortblock. Car hasnt been dynoed, but it should trap 108-110 in cool air.
I figure its making "hotcam" horsepower #'s with the .533 lift and XE comp cams lobes that are more aggressive than the old hotcam lobes, i just have less duration.

 

I've had the greatest luck with being as close to my power peak as possible when crossing the traps in the 1/4mi. In your situation performance wise you may be better off going with a 4.10 gear which will get you close to your power peak crossing the traps moreso than a 3.73. As far as durability goes, totally understood. Not much to say about that other than upgrade to a 9" or 12-bolt.
Here's a gear/mph calculator for you to mess with:

https://www.andysautosport.com/learn...r/calculators/

 

@SS RRR

You recommended the LPE 211/219 before. What are your thoughts on me having the stock cam in the engine advanced 4 or even 6 degrees in tandem with 1.6 or even 1.7 roller rockers with the geometry reworked for less strain on the valve-train? According to GrumpyVette's website, since I am not focused on high rev performance, I stand to benefit from higher ratio roller rockers and it will help boost my low end torque. Also, since I want more off-idle torque down low in the RPM band, advancing my stock cam would help shift my torque curve to almost match a B-body cam, which is what I am looking for. What do you think?

 

I do not think it would be as much of a benefit, but that's just my opinion. If it's still out there, there's a program called Desktop Dyno where you can plug this kind of info in and see what kind of power differences there would be. Not saying it should be used to make up your mind, but would be interesting to see what kind of results would be generated.

 

I am not trying to disrespect or insult your opinion, even though I can be stubborn and thick headed at times. Looking up the story behind the LPE 211/219, I am happy that it was tested on both the LT1 and L98 engines which makes it very attractive to me given the controversial intake manifold swap I want to have done to my engine. I am just trying to explore any other options at my disposal since my performance goals limit me to my stock cam or a "baby cam". I suppose I would be happy with my stock cam if it provided me more torque off-idle which is something that irritates me when driving her each day, and to help offset the marginal loss of torque from using the other intake manifold. However, I may be talked into the LPE 211/219 simply because it will be an improvement versus the guessing game with the stock cam. I don't have that program you mentioned and naturally if I don't know what exactly to input to produce the simulated performance results then what good is it. It is clearly obvious that I am not a mechanic/automotive technician. Just a backyard do-it-yourself-er who can perform basic maintenance. I would love to know what the program would yield and how it compares to the LPE 211/219, but I realize I am giving up some more obvious performance with the stock cam proposal.

I am trying to go with a budget build and I figured perhaps advancing the cam and increasing the rocker ratio, even adjusting the lash, could give me what I want. The engine is going to need to be torn down and inspected anyways, I may need new piston rings which I was referred to Total Seal zero gap rings on ecomodder, plus I want a bump in compression, and to have ceramic coating on the piston heads and combustion chambers for better thermal efficiency, and to have the engine parts coated in MicroBlue to help reduce internal friction for better performance and fuel economy. Pretty much using racing technology for a daily driver but they are already doing this stuff on the newer engines anyways to squeeze out more performance and fuel economy, so why not pay more to have the same on my LT1? All of this without porting the heads and the intake manifold I wish to use. I figure there is no need for it given my requirements and the intake manifold won't require it anyways, as far as I know.

 

I will just throw it out there if anyone wishes to comment. Assuming advancing my stock camshaft would be a waste of time and money, that leaves me with the option of going for 1.7 roller rockers and having the valvetrain adjusted accordingly, springs and possibly a taller cover, and geometry rework, and all. Or, if the goal here is to put more air into the cylinder using the stock cam formula, shouldn't I just use an aftermarket cam with a lobe separation of 117 with the most lift that it can be given and to spec it so that valve overlap is kept at an absolute minimum?! This should, in my mind, help give me what I seek, an improved version of my stock camshaft, with the same power behavior as my stock camshaft, a broad torque curve to help benefit the intake manifold I will be using while giving me more airflow at lower RPM to help bump up my low end torque. Is my logic correct here?

 

Phoenix

the LPE 211/219 is a good mild cam.

The XFI 465 210/218
Lloyd Elliott's 212/222 "Sleeper Cam" may be the ticket for you

 

BTW, with LPE ported heads, 211 cam, Hooker LT's, ORY, 1.6 rockers and all supporting bolt-ons including 3.73 gears in a Strange 12-bolt, resulting in 370rwhp and 355rwtq with an Ed Wright dyno tune, running 12.2's to 12.0's at 114 to 115mph, I was maintaining stock MPG ratings. Just FYI.

 

Yes, SS RRR, you have stressed your fuel economy with your set-up in past comments and I will take you at your word. I keep fighting myself on whether I really need a cam like the LPE 211/219 or even the Lloyd Elliott "sleeper cam". I have to keep reminding myself that I don't want my engine built like a race car and what I REALLY WANT is not a matter of having a really fast 12 second car, but rather to address issues that bother me about the stock performance, most notably wanting more torque down low. I need more air to achieve this but I am not looking to have a stroker kit put on my car!

The torque I am expecting is what I get stock at 2000 RPM, but I want to bring it down to 1000-1500 RPM, which is why I was looking at advancing my stock camshaft and having 1.7 roller rockers put on the heads. Then I realized, why the hell not have a custom cam that uses the same lobe separation as my stock cam yet has a significantly higher lift to bring in that additional air to help the engine make more power down low and bump up my torque. Perhaps the cam can be ground to work with 1.7 roller rockers, although I need to remember my stock heads will only flow so much air and I don't know if this set-up would supersede this at a certain RPM.

I like how my car drives with it's stock camshaft and this is why I am thinking that I should not stray too far from the stock set-up, only to focus on how much lift can be given to a custom cam at 117 or even 118 lobe separation. I am not asking for massive amounts of torque to get my car moving like a bat out of hell, this is supposed to be a street car and driven conservatively most of the time so why do I need such a camshaft if I won't ever use that power production on the street. I also don't have the urge to show off and race others, so again, why am I getting a "sleeper cam" when I really want a revamped cam to the specs of my stock cam, having great vacuum production, a smooth idle, and a broad torque curve to work with the intake manifold I will be using which will give my torque curve a peak and which has been known to work well with my stock cam, so why not keep the specs the same except increase the lift? Also, I shouldn't have to worry about fuel economy since my low RPM power production will only be slightly more than what it was when stock with the caveat that I can now keep the car between 1000 RPM and 2000 RPM for city cruising and highway driving without instances where I might end up lugging the engine.

This is my logic for the matter...

 

383 with a 211/219 cam on stock heads... You'll have diesel/brodozer, Nebraska Oak tree stump pulling in the middle of January torque up until about 3500rpm.

 

Phoenix

Sounds like you want a "RV" cam. They make great low end TQ....because their purpose is for towing, not high RPM power.

The Crane 227 was what many heavier B-body ran with stock heads

or contact Lloyd to discuss a high TQ low rpm cam...if its other than what he refers his "sleeper cam" to

advancing your stock cam would not yield much

 

350

4:10's would be ideal in terms of ratio with the M6 but yeah are a little "fragile" in a 7.5". You would have to be sensitive to higher RPM clutch dumps with a tire but otherwise they would be fine though. Certainly normal driving would not be a stress on them.

You very likely would need a better balanced DS with the 3:90 or 4:10's though

 

I am not looking for those kind of torque numbers. I was given all the wisdom I could receive by a member on Corvette Forum who is big on stroker engines, but I pissed him off to say the least. Yes, in all likelihood I will have all the torque I can crave from a stroker kit, even using my stock camshaft. The mileage may improve on the highway owed to keeping the RPMs quite low without lugging the engine thanks to all the torque that the stroker will give me but I stand to lose city mileage by a point or two and this may be further reduced during the frigid cold winter. I drive mostly city and I have spent an hour just trying to get off the highway or down a street due to bad weather and car accidents, so city mileage must not take a hit from this build I am researching. This effectively rules out the stroker kit.

Yes, I want more torque off idle, but my notion of "more torque" and other members' notions of MORE TORQUE are worlds apart! I am talking about shifting my torque level at 2000 RPM down to 1500 or preferably 1000 RPM, a laughably mild increase from stock but if it is any indication, I am looking more and more at a stock kind of cam with very wide lobe separation and as much lift as can be given with, perhaps, 1.7 rocker rollers. I will need to talk to Lloyd, or even the engine builder in my area can grind cams and he does both street cars and dedicated race cars along with his own dynotunes and emissions compliant tunes.


The very start of my quest to learn about camshafts and power upgrades to my LT1 started with asking about "RV/Tow cams" and has brought me to this point. I have had members suggest using the L31 camshaft for my LT1 which is basically the B-body LT1 camshaft. I run into problems with performance given the fact that I WILL NOT BE USING THE STOCK LT1 INTAKE for this build. I know that the other intake has a pretty horrible torque curve with the L31 spec camshaft yet has a better torque curve with camshafts that have specs similar to my LT1, so this opens the door to using a wide lobe custom grind with as much lift as possible and even if necessary to work with 1.7 roller rockers. I have questions about whether or not my stock and unported heads will cause problems due to their flow rate but I assume the engine will have too much air and won't be able to use it.

While I was interested in the Crane 227 and LPE 211/219, I forget, I am not using the stock LT1 intake and the effects of these cams with the other intake manifold may yield undesired results. This is why I am inclined to stick with what I have learned works well with this stock intake manifold and spread out the torque curve with the cam I choose.


I am happy with my factory rear gear ratio. With the intake I plan to use on my engine, I won't require higher numerical gear ratios, especially when you combine a bump in compression and thermodynamic efficiency in the combustion chamber. This is merely about improving upon what I have and I think my journey has now lead me to this point...