Ok guys.....Just wanted to touch base with everyone and see if I couldn't get a little bit of help from some people with strokers in their f-body's? I just bought a 95+(has a vented opti but not sure how to tell what year exactly) LT1 engine from a friend for $130 yesterday. Well I took it to a guy who builds motors for alot of people here in Indy. He mostly does shortblocks and can do a longblock if needed but I'm taking care of the heads/cam situation on my own. Well before I make the mistake of putting a big cam in the thing that won't match my setup I was wanting to ask what you guys think I should do for the top end??? Here is what I'm going with so far....
383 stroker LT1 with Forged Eagle/Scat crank, forged H-Beam 6.0" rods, Forged flat-top pistons, Chromeoly rings, ARP bolts, going to be 11-11.5 to 1 compression, and I bought a set of good 95 LT1 heads from a guy for $175 and I'll have them redone from Lloyd Elliot to put on the short block. Now my question is what size cam should I use for my setup....Should I use the cc306, gm847, LE3, or a custom grind, or what???? I will also have a 58mm TB, Pacesetter Ceramic Coated LT's & 3" ory. Hooker Catback, 36# Injectors, Built 4l60E with a Vigilante 3000 stall, I have 3.42 gears and would like to stay with them or go to 3.73's at best., CAI, and a MSD Ignition Sytem (box,coil,wires) NGK TR55 Plugs, I would like to run as fast as possible w/o Nitrous for the time being......I do plan to upgrade the suspension as well....hell without that I won't get very far or fast huh Well if anyone has any suggestions or comments please let me know......I'd appreciate any help and I just want a good combo thats works well together.....I've been looking into this build for a long time and trying to research it as much as possible. I just don't want to make the mistake of building a motor that does'nt perform. I need help bad b/c I just dropped off the block to the guy today for my machine work to be done. My bottom end is getting built in the next few weeks and I want to get this done so I'll have a good winter project to look forward to.
Thanks for any input......JAMES

BTW it will be a weekend car mostly and I will be looking for 400-500+ RWHP LMK

 

personally I would tell lloyd the specs of your motor and let him design the cam based around the head flow specs.

 

Or just go for the matching cam. LE3 heads/LE3 or LE4 cam.

 

I've thought about that too....just wanted to see what everyone else thought about it first to kinda weigh my options. I really want this car to be powerful and I really want to make this car a street/strip car. I'm not too concerned with drivability, but I do want it to run good, and not beat me to death at stop lights.....although that is the fun part sometimes. If anyone has a combo with dyno/track times I'd like to see them if possible. Thanks. I'm gonna talk with LE and see what he thinks and I guess just take it from there with the cam, but what do you guys think about the other stuff I mentioned? Will it all work together or any other suggestions.

 

LE4 cam and you're thinking way too small on the stall converter. It's gonna suck/bog off the line at the track.

Think Yank 3600 at the minimum.

 

yeah, I got a 3800 edge converter and LOVE it. its pretty tight for daily style driving, but REALLY works at the track. I pulled a 1.56 last year in fall, but all 60's are in low 1.6's. even after I switched to 3:42's this year. which is another thing, only do 3:42's if freeway driving and fuel mileage are major factors. otherwise, the acceleration diff. from the 3:73's is WAY worth it. you can see my specs in my forsale website if you wanted to. my car is full wieight, and mostly stock suspension still, and performs pretty well all things considered. it should run 11.5's this year when I run it in fall/cool air. I got 20RWHP this summer on a dyno and it ran 11.7-11.8x last year in cool air. lloyd's heads will not have a problem outperforming my port job. so Id expect something similar to javier's times above. and for the record, I think my cam is too small for a 383 if performance is your main priority. only reason I got it is I just bought it when my eng. bearings finaly let go. I would have gone with upper 23x and lower 24x for durations. oh, my power peak with the 233/239 cam is at 6K even. thats why Id recomend a couple steps longer duration.

chris

 

Thanks for the suggestions I'll look into a bigger converter and I'm gonna try to stay with the 3.42's for now (at least till I grenade the rearend) Then I'll do the 12 bolt w/3.73's. Also the LE4 cam you mentioned what kind of streetability should I expect with that cam? I was wondering about the specs but it looks like he doen't give any details on his cams just what stage LE1, LE2, LE3, LE4.....etc.... I do plan on driving it on the street often (mostly weekends). And the 3600 stall...does it start to move the car at 3600rpms or does it move a little sonner? I've never had a stall before so I don't know exactly what to expect. So I was just wondering since this will be my first stroker motor and motor over 350hp. My 86 Iroc is pretty powerful, but I have a stock converter in it so I'm not sure what it feels like when driving a car with a stall. LMK Thanks (James)

 

Definitely something custom on the cam, you're leaving power on the table going with pretty much any standard cam on a stroker.

 

Yeah thats what I was afraid of....Thats why I asked this question first. I've heard that a custom grind cam would take advantage of other areas in the powerband that shelf cams wouldn't.
Thats why I'm confused on the cam....I want the most power without sacrificing streetability. I don't care if it lobes like crazy, but I'd like to take it out on the weekends and pick on some mustangs, and Grand Nationals and some other cars that live in my area. I'm tired of my 13 second LT1 getting left in other peoples exhaust fumes So next year, I'll have something for their a$$e$ Help me out guys....BTW Nice cars Javier and IrocSS85. Hope I can turn those type of numbers with my combo.

 

Up to a certain point (which most people never reach) streetability has more to do with how good your tuner is than what cam you select.

 

Your cam kina selects your heads, as said above, get a "package" that you know has research and is dyno tested.

 

Never really thought about that. I guess you do have a point though. I'm getting it tuned at a shop locally. A buddy of mine knows of a good dyno shop where he got his done and he dyno'd 431RWHP and 408FTLBS of TQ. So I may end up at that shop b/c they did an excellent job on his car. I hope to run mid to low 11's when it's all said and done. I'm not gonna push for 10's for now b/c I need a little time behind the wheel. A 10 second street car is a little much for me. But with do time, I'll be there 1 of these days.

 

Nothing a bottle cannot fix...

 

I agree, especially since the bottom end will be able to handle at least a 150-200 shot.

 

this is very true.

and its usually more how much time the tuner is willling to put in it. some querks are harder to work out then others. and some tuners will just try and pass those off as normal for that cam to the unsuspecting/unaware.


as for the custom cam/vs shelf cam, the only thing to recognize here is, the custom cam spec'r has to be RIGHT to get all the HP out of a given combo. the great thing about shelf cams is, you know pretty close what you should get goin in. know what Im saying? thats why Im giving you my .02 with my experience and my regrets cause it sounds like you pretty much want same thing I wish I could have gotten, if money wasnt a concern, or I knew up front I was goin to rebuild/stroke my engine before I bought a complete valvetrain. on a stock cube engine, my cam would have been more riding the edge I think of max power/streetability. atleast it felt like it for the whole 500 miles I got to drive it 350cid before the bearings wore out. lol.

and, thanks.

 

Good points everyone.....I just sent Lloyd Elliot a e-mail in hopes of him telling me his oppinion as well. I'm really wanting to run mid-low 11's. Thanks everyone for the info so far.....

 

Thanks for the compliment.

In regards to forward motion with a big stall.. with my Yank PT4000 I still get forward creep with my foot off the brake. The car will "move" well before 4k rpm, it's not like an on/off switch

My car does well cruising along in traffic taking it to about 2800 rpm on leisurely shifts...

 

Thanks Javier that helps me alot.....Everyone I talked to said it allows you to rev up to the stall speed before the car will move. But thats why I was concerned with going over a 3000 stall because with a 383 they make exceptional torque along with power. I was just concerned that a higher stall would keep me from my powerband and thus I'd lose power by not launching where my car would make the most torque....which I'd say would be around 3K rpms. But if I had to rev my engine up to say 3800rpm (3800 stall) that wouldn't be very street friendly either you know. And if that was how it was than I would be launching everytime I go to drive it.....thus tearing off the tires, and I've already got 1 ticket for (UNSAFE START) and thats some BS if u ask me....
But anyways enough blabbering I think I'll use a 3600-3800 stall. What brand should I use also. I heard Vigilante is great along with Edge, and Yank....??? LMK

 

my edge cost $550 I believe shipped. it'll take low-mid 10's in a car just like ours, 383 street car that he shoots 175 shot I think I remember. same exact convertor. street edge 3800 stall. forgot his name, but I believe he's the owner of edge. Id recomend them to anyone. however yank and vigilante are next in line. thats my order of recomendation. edge, yank, vigi.
my 3800 street manors are very nice. the stall conv. slips right through all the low rpms only under hard acceleration. light acceleration, like parking lot and side street stuff feels almost normal. but medium acceleration like pulling away from a light is where you notice the extra rpms over a stock torque convertor. not bad, you will get used to in in a couple weeks. but at first it'll feel really weird. like the trans is slipping almost. but, I see usually around 2400rpm under medium acceleration just cruising around. however, soon as you stop accelerating and hold cruise speeds, it will settle back down. I can cruise 45mph at like 1700 rpm I think it is. so its not like you gotta reach 3800 rpm before the car will drive forward. the above situation I just desrcibed is exactly opposite compared to 3:73 gears. it'll cruise at a couple hundred rpm higher then now, but medium acceleration doesnt raise as high with the 3:73's cause the gears help the car move with less throttle. now what I mean? also they'll make the car feel alot more responsive.

 

LE4 will be streetable in a 383 after talking to Lloyd when I was buying. It should act like a le3 does in a 355. (I expect it to drive well after good tune)

The stock castings have a limiting flow factor on the 383. You can get good HP out of stock castings though. I am trying to touch 10's with my setup in the future.

I think good tuning is the secret, along with making sure everything is working right.