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Concerned with road racing a large cam

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Old Apr 11, 2006 | 07:18 AM
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Default Concerned with road racing a large cam

I couldn't find any info on this in search but i'm sure many have asked the same question. I run a fairly large cam for the street/strip but will be running a open track day next month. I'm concerned with my valvetrain over the course of the day. We are running 15 min sessions all day. Cam is roughly 23x/23x .59x/.60x in size, running Texas Speed Gold valve springs with inner dampners. Chromoly pushrods, stock lifters, stock rocker arms. Stock 18k mile longblock. Will run M1 5w30 synthetic unless otherwise suggested.

I will probably keep the rpm's under 6k but i'm still worried about the valvetrain.

Any input?
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Old Apr 11, 2006 | 11:57 AM
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You will be fine. Verdict is still out in regards to camshaft ramp rates and valve train longetivity in road racing applications. Looks like you have the valve springs to handle your cam that don’t have excessively high miles you should be fine.
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Old Apr 11, 2006 | 05:29 PM
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I have AFR 205's, long tubes, TSP 233/239 .600/.603" 112LSA cam, LS6 intake/ported TB and shift normally at about 6600rpm and go all the way to 7100rpm if I have to pass someone.

I started with a 23K mile shortblock and have put 20K miles on it in this config without ANY parts failure and have around 6+ hours worth of WOT road race time on the setup as well.
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Old Apr 11, 2006 | 06:56 PM
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M1 5w30 might be a bit thin for road racing, its a bit thin for normal street driving.

I would suggest at least mobil 1 0w40, someone care to comment with more RR experience?
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Old Apr 11, 2006 | 11:59 PM
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Originally Posted by gnx7
I have AFR 205's, long tubes, TSP 233/239 .600/.603" 112LSA cam, LS6 intake/ported TB and shift normally at about 6600rpm and go all the way to 7100rpm if I have to pass someone.

I started with a 23K mile shortblock and have put 20K miles on it in this config without ANY parts failure and have around 6+ hours worth of WOT road race time on the setup as well.
Holy cow 7k! Well that definitely makes me feel better.

Originally Posted by rushman
M1 5w30 might be a bit thin for road racing, its a bit thin for normal street driving.

I would suggest at least mobil 1 0w40, someone care to comment with more RR experience?
I'd like to know more about this aswell. What do you guys with stock bottom ls1's run for oil? Any difference in oil pressure over a sustained period of time with different weights? Any drop in oil pressure over time? Just wondering what to expect.
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Old Apr 12, 2006 | 06:24 AM
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If you do a LOT of road course miles, you will eventually fatigue the valve springs. I've seen a few broken springs at road courses.

LSx motors will uncover the oil pick-up tube in long, sweeping left hand turns with high (5K+) RPM. It doesn't take long to wipe a bearing.

I used 7quarts of 10W40 M1 in my open track LS1 motor with a stock pan. The oil level on the dipstick was at the "P" on "OPERATING" that was stenciled into the dipstick.

The motor would burn some oil at that level. But it wouldn't oil starve the pump. Lessor of 2 evils ....
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Old Apr 12, 2006 | 09:56 AM
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I think your springs will be fine but you may want to keep an eye on them if you ORR frequently. What I mean is that for aftermarket springs some people recomend checking them @ 20k and replacing them if necesary. You may want to keep an eye on them earlier. The again gnx7 seem to to be doing ok so it is a matter of preference. I would hate to pay $300+ to participate on a HPDE and miss it because of a broken spring not to mention the cost of fixing the problem, just because I wasn't pro-active enough to check them before an event if they are getting up there in miles. My .02
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Old Apr 15, 2006 | 07:29 PM
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Forgot to mention I have Katech rod bolts and always run 7 quarts in my F-body pan.

I plan on replacing my valveprings in about 10K more miles.
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