DCbojangles

If I am wrong someone correct me but the 98-00 cam is slightly bigger than later years? I'm wanting to know if it'd be worth it to swap an 98-00 cam in an 02 car? I'm not wantin to spend a lot of money and what would power gains be if any? All answers are greatly appreciated

ds98formula

iTrader: (3)

No gain will be seen doing this.

S8ER95Z

iTrader: (3)

Might as well go after an ls6 cam... Cheap and you will see some gain. I doubt you would see much of anything from the older ls1 cam.

As most will say though... If you are going to do it make sure you get what you want so you dot regret it later. I spent a little over 200.00 to swap my cam and I'm happy with my results so far.

02CamZ28

iTrader: (30)

Ya you wouldn't see anything. Ls6 wouldn't be bad like state above and they cheap. On the other hand I got a torquer 2 and am very well pleased

RPM WS6

iTrader: (3)

The old cam would probably be worth a slight gain in an '01+ engine, but the gain would be so small that it wouldn't justify the cost. As suggested above, if you want to do a cam swap, go with an LS6 cam at the very least.

Here are the stock cam specs:

98-00 LS1:

Duration@.050 198.86 intake 209.25 exhaust
Lift .498 intake .497 exhaust
LSA 119.45

01-02 LS1:

Duration@.050 196.37 intake 208.72 exhaust
Lift .464 intake .479 exhaust
LSA 115.92

ULTIMATEORANGESS

iTrader: (4)

i wouldnt go with a mild cam never mind a stock one. youll be sorry you did and want something better.

justin hover

Your sig says bone stock...get other supporting mods first....

homerz28

if you wouldnt see any gain, then why did GM swap them out to begin with?

justin hover

Doesn't matter though...you might see a gain on a graph, you'd never feel the difference. It's not worth the time installing it. If your gonna get a cam, then save the money and get a cam. Do it right...don't settle for stupid **** cause your impatient...

homerz28

justin, you did not in any way answer my question.

MeentSS02

iTrader: (11)

They got rid of EGR in '01 when they swapped to the LS6 intake manifold. The smaller cam helped reduce emissions so they could do this and still be okay with the EPA.

S8ER95Z

iTrader: (3)

This.. they bumped ratings but dyno results will show them making about what the previous years made already. You might pick up 5rwhp if you are lucky.

If you are after nice gains though plenty of cams exist that will give you great drivability and power increases.

TransAmWS.6

Exactly, I don't understand the point of swapping one stock cam for another. Most cams out there are not very expensive, I would just do a little more research on the various grinds that are available through the aftermarket and buy one that will actually be worthwhile.

homerz28

I guess for the same reason why some people swap their stock camaro rims for stock corvette rims..

S8ER95Z

iTrader: (3)

I will be honest..the only reason I did it was I thought I had a bad lifter.. the engine was making an odd rattle. So I started researching and pricing lifters. I found my cam, springs, lifters and pushrods for 200 shipped. The price of lifters would have been close to that so I went for it. It was only after getting everything that I realized 'derp, heads have to come off'.. so I just did the cam swap and checked the stock cam for signs of wear. I figured if the stock cam had problems I would pull the heads otherwise I would save myself the headache. Entire swap ran me a tick over 200 as I did the work myself and the stock cam looked perfect so I avoided pulling the heads.

TransAmWS.6

Well, that's a little different.

I gotcha, your situation was a bit different though, I'd say. If you're not doing it for repair purposes and you just want some good gains, I don't think going from a stock LS1 cam to another stock LS cam is worth it when you have such a wide selection of good streetable aftermarket cams that are specifically designed to yield decent gains, while still maintaining good driveability.

S8ER95Z

iTrader: (3)

If I had a grand at the time I may have considered a bigger cam.. running on stock tune was a plus for me and saved a ton of money in the short run. The end results are not 'great' by any means and if someone has any kind of budget I would certainly recommend a bigger cam.

The only 'plus' I have found to my swap is a slight gain in MPG... I am guessing this has to do with the cam profile and the Z06 having much steeper gearing than I do... but so far I have a bump of 2mpg average and I'm not going to complain about it. lol

MeentSS02

iTrader: (11)

There's nothing wrong with the LS6 cam...I had one in my Camaro that I just sold. My stock timing cover had a small crack around where the crankshaft snout seal was, so I had to replace it. I figured if that was off, a cam swap wouldn't be too hard, but I didn't want to mess with a larger cam at that time. Plus, the parts were WAY cheaper to do this, so I figured why not.

I'd do it again if I had the chance, and would probably add some nice 243s or other aftermarket heads for a very nice performing car with absolutely stock driving characteristics.

RPM WS6

iTrader: (3)

Not the same.

There is a very noticeable visual difference between Corvette wheels and Camaro wheels, as well as a significant handling difference that you can actually feel between 16" and 17/18" wheels. Not to mention, the only work involved is 20 lug nuts and a floor jack.

The cam swap you are suggesting would net such a small gain that you won't feel it, and the amount of work involved is exponentially higher than doing a wheel swap.

I understand the idea of wanting to use as many stock parts as possibile for most stock-like driveability, and as such the LS6 cam would be a great choice. It's still a stock part, came from a Corvette (just like the wheels you have suggested), and the gains will actually be noticeable. Anything smaller than this cam just won't be worth the time or money to do all that work.

MeentSS02

iTrader: (11)

And it was barely worth it even for the LS6 cam IMO. I noticed an improvement at first, but I got used to it VERY quickly.