I bought my old 02 Z28 back.

[farmington]

Doing any work with the motor so far under the cowl sucks. After I did my cam swap I swore I would never do it again.
Cheap torque converters tend to slip a lot more Back in the day, a 3600 stall converter slipped so much in normal driving that it wasn?t fun. With the Yank 3600, you hardly noticed any slippage in light throttle driving. Plus when in high gear they are also more efficient (less slippage). But then they cost almost $900 too.

[farmington]

I reused my factory flexplate and sold the aftermarket one.

[mcalus]

So I think I?m going to start tearing into it.

I really didn?t want to pull the heads but I?m sure my 138k mile lifters have seen better days.

I have been back and forth in wanting to originally doing the stall and motor mounts at a buddy?s house first and then doing the cam but a) I didn?t want to wait until spring because then I would be doing the cam either in the summer or fall of next year and If my wife gets her way she will be very pregnant and cranky around then lol.
b) I didn?t want to do the stall now because I would have to trailer the car there because I don?t have insurance on it (which I didn?t want to pick back on for a few days) and I?m not about to be driving it in these salt covered roads.

So I think I?m going to do the cam/supporting mods, longtubes, mm now and have it done by spring then take it to my friends for the stall.

So some things I need-
Cam kit- thinking btr 3 or 4. I sent btr and email and told them my mods and goals. Comes with btr platinum springs good to .660 lift. Steel retainers (heard they are preferred if I?m not trying to break records). Hardened pushrods. $615 shipped

Lifters- $100
Trunion upgrade for rockers- $115
Oil pump- $85-$160 (not sure what?s recommended) gotta look into that.
LS2 timing set- $110
Plugs & wires- $80
Mail order tune (will eventually be dyno tunes) $200
Gaskets, bolts, misc- $200.
Longtubes- $240

So I?m looking around $1200-1600 to get the cam swap done.

I?m sure there is something I?m missing.

I need to organize my garage a bit yet. There is quite a bit of stuff behind the car so I should be able to gain about 5? in front of the car. Also I scored on a nice extra tool box for $25!









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[farmington]

I just used a ls6 pump (I believe it?s the standard replacement) and had great pressure from it. If your oil pressure is fine now, I?d go with that. Higher pressure pumps just waste HP.

[mcalus]

I just used a ls6 pump (I believe it?s the standard replacement) and had great pressure from it. If your oil pressure is fine now, I?d go with that. Higher pressure pumps just waste HP.

Glad to hear.

I might end up going with a Tick Performance sns stage 3 cam. They are running a sale that?s hard to beat and it has pretty darn close to the same specs as the btr3. $564 shipped for springs, retainers, locks, and pushrods.


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[JoeliusZ28]

Love it! I haven't looked up the specs of the cams you mentioned but I would try to keep cam lift around .600 if possible. Going above that starts to get exponentially harder on valvesprings.

Also i can't help but notice the lack of a T56 swap.

Personally I'd want either a T56 or go straight to a TH400 with just a shift kit & stall. Overdrive be damned, slap shift 400s are just 100x more fun to drive than an indecisive sloppy 60e. Even for a stock LS1. The 60e's in my pickup trucks always feel like they are barely hanging on to stock 350 / 5.3 power levels.

[mcalus]

Hopefully the 6 speed swap will come next winter it?s definitely on the list but the price 6 speeds are going for now a days plus everything I was going to need for the swap I?ll be well under that with the cam swap and stall.

The cam is officially ordered! 235/243 | .630"/.610" | LSA111+2

I broke it to the wife today ?I may or may not have bought a cam today? she took it well lol.


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[MP81]

I usually just frame it as if it were an accident.

[farmington]

Big camshaft. It will love that SS4000

[mcalus]

I usually just frame it as if it were an accident.

I?ll have to try that next time


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[mcalus]

I also need to figure out what I?m going to do for gears. I thought about picking up a 3.42 rear but I think I want some 3.73s. These 2.73s definitely won?t cut it.


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[farmington]

Def a 3.42 or 3.73. Mine had 3.73, SS3600 and a 224r camshaft. Drove like a stock car till you hit the gas. Embarrassed a lot of 392 challengers.

[JoeliusZ28]

I also need to figure out what I?m going to do for gears. I thought about picking up a 3.42 rear but I think I want some 3.73s. These 2.73s definitely won?t cut it.


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3.42 would work good for whatever transmission you use. I actually think a 3.73 might slow my car down on a road course / auto-x.

[landstuhltaylor]

If it was a manual or you really do plant to swap it II would say at least a 3.73. No point to a 3.42 especially with the extra RPM the cam will want. I do remember the 4.10 being annoying on the street as I was always shifting and first gear was basically useless.

[JoeliusZ28]

Just to counter point you Devin a 3.42 is stronger gearset than a 3.73 which is relevant on a 10 bolt, and also the 4000 stall is going to keep it in the happy rpms no matter what the gear. Not that you want to boil the converter with a 2.73 though...