LT1 Cam Selection?

[Virtue]

B the guy who did joels heads machined my block he does excellent work tell him russ sent you and he'll hook you up, he should be doing some Block work for me this winter shhh

248-778-8133 his name is Dave like joel said

imo if your gonna cam this you might wanna get a lil bigger stall so its not a complete dog, not saying it will be for anyone wanting to jump on my case

with milling the heads your looking at new pushrods needed, prolly valve springs depending on the cam, and your choice for rocker arms

custom pushrods are cheap like 100 bucks threw smith bros the rest is up to you

[1fstss]

dont even waste your time with the lt4 hotcam brian, its an under powered crappy excuse for a cam. if you want to make the car bump just with either a custom grind, or the cc503, the 503 had a great sound to it and it performs great! you can buy a nice used 503 cheap, like 150.00 cheap in some cases, and you can get a set of 1.6RR for under 200. pushrods are about 70 bucks, use your stock lifters, with the 503 your stock springs will work, recomended to change them but they will work. and the gasket kit is realy cheap.
but trust me on this and comming from an LT1 guy who has been inside and out of several cars, you will regret it if you go to the small LT4 hot cam!

[JoeliusZ28]

with the 503 your stock springs will work, recomended to change them but they will work.

No! No! No! No! NO! Stock springs are junk!!! Theyre known to valve float even on the small-lift stock cam (.447/.459) and are also known to break when you push them farther. A cc503 has .544/.544 lift .... thats more than a 20% increase in lift, and Id say thatd be the easiest way to blow a motor up by cutting corners. Stock springs dont belong on higher lift cams, they arent even preferred on the stock cam.

PS brian here is a good writeup for cams - check it out:
http://ls1tech.com/forums/showthread.php?t=836200

Don I agree entirely that the 503 is the better entry-level cam for power, but properly setup its gonna cost more unless you buy used parts. My 503 parts list would have costed me more than my AI cam kit ($1200) edit: actually i had parts factored in that i had to buy anyway so, i take that back... it would still be quite a bit more than the $5xx hotcam kit though.

[s.reef]

Great link Joel! I was trying to remember where I saw that. If your doin a camswap you might as well spend the $150 and get some nice springs to match your cam

[c0ncEpT]

He cant go with a super big cam guys seeing as he will be running a stock stall.

[1fstss]

why a stock stall? you can get a used tci converter for very cheap! now i wish i would have brought home my old 2800 out of my Z28 instead of giving it away, i would have given to brian!

[Boost Addict]

Nothing wrong with the LT4 Hotcam. Deffinatley not a huge cam by anymeans but it worked well in my car. It's a good cam if you don't want to sped a lot of money on it, and also if you don't plan on twisting your motor that high (5800).

[meissen]

He cant go with a super big cam guys seeing as he will be running a stock stall.

Says who?

[JoeliusZ28]

[Superman09]

Mike makes a good point, are you planning to do a converter as well Brian? If so, Mike Ridings can build you a nice one for a good price. This will play a big role also in your cam choice. Without a converter, you won't be in your power range when you hit WOT. You want to match up a cam to a converter. A big cam will require a bigger converter in most cases, because they usually like higher RPMs. If i were you, on a budget, i would do the LT4 hotcam kit or maybe something custom a tad more aggressive. I'm not sure what all needs to be done on LT1s but maybe have your heads cleaned up, valvesprings, pushrods, oil pump spring, timing chain, and an average converter (3000 ish) and you should have a quick set-up while being very streetable and loping nice at stoplights

[LS1Formulation]

A few years back, I had an LT1 Caprice that I wanted to make fast on a budget. My total budget aside from the purchase of the car was $3500. I bought a pair of stock aluminum LT1 heads (Caprices came stock with iron) and ported them at home. They started out at 208/145 CFM stock, but after porting I had them flowing 243/188 CFM. I bought a Comp CC503 cam, Pro Magnum roller rockers, and a set of Comp 981 springs. With the correct spring seats, those will fit on the stock heads. In addition to that, I bought a 2500 stall converter from Roadrunner converters and a set of 3.73 gears. Also purchased a mail order tune from PCMforless. After installing all of those things, my ET dropped from a 14.82@95 MPH in cool spring weather to a 13.42@104 MPH in 80 degree August weather on street tires. This is in a car that weighed 4770 lbs. with me in it! Your car probably weighs 1100-1200 lbs. less, so you'd be in the mid 12's for sure. Don't even mess with the LT4 hotcam... it's an old tech cam and the Comp CC503 would be just as drivable. I had NO issues with vacuum for my brakes and had an 850 RPM idle.

[JoeliusZ28]

for what its worth guys... the cc503 also old tech when you compare it to other options that are availible now. So many people think of it as "the" cam for a mild build.... and thats not true at all, its just the most common.

[meissen]

Just for giggles, what would be a "new tech" comparison for the cc503? After reading some of the LS1tech stuff (I only made it through 1st post then got torn away) it looks like the cc503 is what I might want if I can afford it.

[LS1Formulation]

Granted, the CC503 isn't the newest cam out there, but if you're wanting valvetrain longevity (which I am sure Brian is), it's going to be easier on parts than a newer design. The reason it's so popular is because it works. That's why I have a TR 224 cam in my LS1 - this was my first foray into the LS1 world and I wanted a proven cam in my engine to see how it would run. I've been VERY happy with it.

[JoeliusZ28]

Just for giggles, what would be a "new tech" comparison for the cc503? After reading some of the LS1tech stuff (I only made it through 1st post then got torn away) it looks like the cc503 is what I might want if I can afford it.

advanced induction cams are the newest "shelf" grinds on the market (they call them custom though). Then there are always custom grinds.

I have a 226/234 from them which has just a little wilder duration/lift/LSA than a 503.