First off what exactly does changing the cam do? It seems like a lot of people talk about it but no one really does it. Is it one of those things that doesn't help an LS1 or LT1 that much, or only with a bunch of other mods to see the real gains. Last if it does help how hard is it to do on an LS1, if at all possible?

 

A mild cam is a nice addition but a "radical" cam doesn't do much unless you get your heads and intake/exhaust to flow. There are lots of factors you have to look at. What RMP range you want to drive in, what tranny you have (auto or manual) and what you want to use it for. There are three main parts of a cam, duration (how long it'll hold the valve open), lift (how high it'll lift the valve) and lobe sep (dagree of separation between the intake and exhaust valve). Like for example you're cam "specs" are .448/.472 lift, 260*/270* duration @ .05 and a 114* lobe sep. The first numbers are generally the intake side while the second number is the exhaust side. So you're intake valve will open .448 inches and it'll take 260* of the cam to fully open and close the valve. Then your exhaust will open .472 inches and it'll take 270* of the cam to fully open and close the valve. Then, the cam will turn 114* between the exhaust valve closing and intake valve opening. The longer the duration and less lobe sep the higher RPM range you'll have. When you start getting into 110* lobe sep you get out of the "computer compatable" unless you want to have your computer tuned to it. Also, the lower lobe sep the less vaccume you have off of the intake and things like your brakes need an extra vaccume booster for it. Also, the lift they give you will be for the "stock" ratio rockers so that will change if you go to a bigger rocker. Your duration will not change though. If you get a cam with a big duration and lift you also start looking a "lopey" idle thus not the best for street use. Also, when you get into that is when you need to get a stall converter and such unless you're driving a manual transmission. You can look at the difference between hydrolic, hydrolic roller, solid roller, mechanical roller and solid lift cams too. Hydrolic lifters will generally "float" at or near 5800 rpm meaning that while the cam is going up the lifter plungeris getting pushed into the lifter and not lifting the valve. The rest usually have a higher PRM they can hit because they don't rely on the oil to keep them "pumped up." You also have to look at your valve springs. You can have single, double or triple springs all for different reasons and you have different seat and open tentions on them as well. It gets a bit complicated. But yes, the right cam for your application will give noticable power and fun. Hope this helped a little bit?

 

Kinda. So basically it takes a lot of research and I would need to change other things at the same time correct? What types of gains are we talking about here and what about price?

 

It is important not to overcam if you have an otherwise basically stock motor.

 

It all depends on what you want. You don't have to change anything but the cam if you don't want to but you may have a nice story to tell. To tell you the truth I'm so new at the Chevy thing I can't tell you if you have a 6er, z28 or ss. It mainly has everything to do with what you want. If you want to make a big hp jump then yeah, get a set nice heads or have yours ported good and port match your intake. Also, get a nice set of long tube headers (that's another one of thoes "personal" things). Add a nice set of free flowing 2 and 1/4 or 2 and 1/2 true duals and a decent throttlebody with a nice CAI system. Upgrade your fuel injectors and your pump as well. If you're looking to get a little more power then do one of the performance packages that a place like summit or jegs sells and if you're not looking to go all out like that then get a "mild" cam and while you're at it you want to get new lifters if the cam doesn't come with it and I would recomend having your springs checked for proper clearance and seat pressure. Don't let it scare you, it took my almost 6 months to decide on a cam I wanted for my 357 (Ford 351 bored .030 over). Got it narrowed down to two and one would "get here" in a month and the other in two day's so that decision was easy. Also, it's not really a "hey budy, lets put this cam in my car" kind of a deal. Either the engine has to come out or the front of the car has to be dissasymbled. If you're looking at getting a little more than what you have I would go with a slightly bigger throttle body and a nice set of headers and exhaust. But if you're like me

 

Bidi, you can get a cam into a Camaro without pulling the engine or completely disassembling the front. You have to pull out the radiator and the A/C condenser, but it's possible.

qumracer: Do you have a whole header back exhaust system, or just the cat-back? If you don't have headers yet you need to do those before you do a cam, preferably long tube headers and a good 3" Y-pipe. It is my recommendation to do heads, cam and valve train all at the same time, that way you know all your components are matched to each other so you can make the best HP/TQ numbers. Check out http://www.eportworks.com/ Lloyd Elliot does some great work, you can also check out www.dragonrace.com they're a shop that's local to me and I believe that you can order their head/cam sets, they make some great numbers and they really know what they're doing. Good luck modding!

 

ls1 heads are capable of flowing for cam lifts of around .640, so its not as important to swap heads at the time of the cam swap as its harder to overcam them.

also bidi, were u quoting cam specs? ur numbers sound like total duration, not @.05"lift. a low lift duration like you listed would be almost 360 degree total duration [&:]

 

Maybe I did, I'm at work and maybe got it messed up a little. Thanks for that though...

 

i just realized my questions a little weird. it was supposed to say "were u quoting cam specs or just making some up for the sake of explanation?" [&:]

 

It's almost the exact cam I'm running in my 357 in my Bronco. Didn't have the specs infront of me. I know the lift is right and the lobe sep is and the duration is correct on one side weather it be .05 or not? I'll look into it and get back with ya though.