I ran the 211/219 for years, but I'm going the opposite then everyone else and say if I had to do it again I'd have tried to go bigger. I bought the cam mostly to pass emmisions in PA and stay leagal. Back in 96 everyone was running the hot cam, I wanted to be different and wasn't sure the 305 would pass the sniffer. This is how I decided on the 211/219 cam.

I had Mac shorty headers, stock cat back, GTP stage II heads, 211/219 cam 52MM Tb and Ed Wright mail order chip ( 93 were still chips ). M6 with 3:42 gears

I made 327 RWHP, 330 torque on a portable dyno peaking at 5600RPMs. I had to leave the line soft and ran consistent 13.0-13.1 at 109MPH of street tires. Car passed emmisions far cleaner then stock!

The 211/219 is a torque monter of a cam from 2000 RPMs to around 5600RPMs it pulled increadable hard. I could walk LS1 and LT1 cars with the hotcam with no effort. But as you get into the upper RPMs the cam deffinitely fell off. The cam just didnt have enough duration to move enough air in the upper RPMs.

For a pure street car the cam is killer, Cam has a slight chop at idle, little more lope then a HotCam, but nothing radical. Just enough to give a hint there is something going on.

My .02

John

 

That's very descriptive John, thanks! Sounds like something i'm after. I want a cam that's not too radical but delivers good power. The lpe 211/219 is something i will consider then. The only question i have is that you were saying it falls apart on the top end? My concern is that, I do play around with a few LS1 friends from time to time. Will this cam not be good starting from a role? Or is there another step up from the 211/219, yet will still be good for weekend driving (it's not a dd).

 

Give the LPE 211/219 some ported heads and I bet it continues to pull better at higher rpms. More than one way to skin a cat.

 

What about the other ones?
how does the 219/219 compare to the 211/219

or the 215/220

Im looking for a cam slightly smaller than 230 on the intake side and maybe a little more on exhaust and cant find a good one.

 

The 219/219 I think was intended for the cars that got the superram. As a general rule a single pattern is not going to be quite right unless the heads are ported more aggressively on the exhaust side than intake.

Most gen 1 and Gen 2 smallblock Chevy heads flow relatively well on the intake side compared to the exhaust so the extra exhaust duration and sometimes lift you see is done as a bandaid.

Maybe you should consider the 846, not a lingenfelter but is a solid midsized choice.

 

The 846 actually slowed my car down in the 1/4 over my old crane 227.

 

Sorry, I know I tend to run on, I just seem to have allot to say and I also want you to know what I used in addition to the cam. I noticed SS RRR and I had a close set-up by he was dyno tuned and had a free flowing exhaust, I was just mail order tuned. So who knows how much might have been left in my combo?

My point about the cam falling off is just that. If you're thinking of spinning up around 6200-6400 to run with the LS1 then I really don't think this is the right cam for you. The thing is that the trend seems to be the big 847 and 306 cams in stock bottom ends and then people spin up to or above 6,500RPMs. I personally think that is going a bit high. With my 211/219 I hit peak HP at 5,600 so I set my shift light to 5,800 (so by the time I shifted I was around 6,000, Rev limiter set at 6200) so I went just a bit past peak, not spinning for no reason and when I shifted I didn't drop out of the power band. I installed the mods with just over 30K on it and pulled the engine at 80K and the internals looked perfect for those miles. I contribute allot of it to the fact I didn't spin the engine too high.

So I think the 211/219 is a good cam. Right now if I built another N/A engine I would actually like to see how the GM846 222/230 542/563(1.6 rockers) would run, but not sure it could pass the sniffer? This seems to be the next step up from the 211/219 with just slightly more lift and duration and I think it would still have good street manners and not require the engine spun too high (maybe push peak up 300-400 RPMs?).

Either way the 211/219 was a nice cam on the street and with my car was it seemed to match very well with the 3:42 gears. ( remember I have a 93 so I have different gear ratios in my trans, the 3:42s are close to 3:73 in 1-2 gears ). this made for a nice combination of street car that ran very consistent at the track. I know I wasn't as fast as some of the other guys with this cam either.

 

yeah i wish i had ported my heads instead of jyust leaving them stock but oh well..theres an excuse to change my cam now to a bigger one lol

 

I run a custom grind very similar to ABA's Joe O grind on a 110 LSA. I am stock cubes though so it isn't as mild mannered(and without any emissions or cats it couldn't pass for its life!) but I love it. With ported heads it peaks under 6k, and is a joy to drive on the street. The curve is very nice so I dont need huge gears or a gigantic stall - with a 3200 it drives great and pulls consistant 11.7s on motor(not the best, but not bad for a high mileage DD).

When I rebuild I am going 383, and assuming all my tolerances are within spec and my shop gives me the go ahead I will reuse the same cam. Ported heads with a high lift and mid-to-low duration cam is the way to go for a DD or car that sees more street then strip IMO.

My tuner is also very pleased I didnt jump on the "huge cam and 6500+rpm" bandwagon . Not saying a 24x duration beast with a 4400 stall and 4.10s wouldnt be a blast at the track, but I wouldn't want to drive one to work every day

 

That cam will work great in a 383...I think I've proven that with the right combo you don't need or want a big cam...These motors love smaller duration with bigger lifts to about .570" on Ported stock casting LT1 heads...I can't tell you how many compliments I get on the 950 rpm choppy idle, too. My car drives terrific everywhere..and is even fine with the new addition of 4.10s, a spool, and 28" M/T radials (275 60 R15s)...We are testing the gear, spool tire combo along with the new QA1 R series stuff we just added to try to whittle away at the 11.36 the car has already ran with 3.73s, 26s and stock springs/shocks...Plus I somehow managed to shave off 30 lbs from the car since last year...New official raceweight is 3570 and it ain't because I lost any weight (its been a good year at the plate for me...)

A huge cam isn't always better, even with a 383...

--Alan

 

A friend is helping me build a 383 right now and we are stepping up my cam. He claims that my HP bottleneck would be my 211/219 cam. Keep in mind we are not worried about passing a sniffer test! I ran the 211/219 Lingenfelter cam with thier modified heads on my 94 Z28 and achieved a best of 12.8 @111. I can't say that I have been displeased with it, but I think I would have done better going bigger. Their shop in Decatur, IN is only about 10 min. away from me and one of their big sales pitches is that they remain 50 state emissions legal. Anyway, the cam is for sale and I have the original receipt. If anyone is interested please pm me.

 

First of all, all cams are different and fit different peoples needs

Of course a huge donkey dick cam isnt good for a daily driver, so the smaller or better drivable cams are good for a daily car..