Ok so i have my stock 99 SS and im thinking ok 320hp is plenty for me well after a few months i realized ITS NOT so i was thinking just doing nothing but put a performance cam in it. My question is, is it safe to just put a cam in and do no other modifications to the engine like springs and what not? and will i really feel a difference in just putting a cam in? and what kind of cam do you camaro owners recommend i personally was thinking MS3 or 4

 

Hmm.. I could be wrong.. but I think that as long as you take a mild one. It can't be one of the aggressive ones, because they will have too much lift and duration and end up breaking something.

As for notice, yes you will notice a difference, but it's not going to be a huge one like an aggressive cam or anything like that would be. Still, it'll be a good bit of extra horsepower

 

Safe depends on how radical of a cam you put in.

But before you do anything like a cam swap, you have to do the basic bolt-ons. CAI, and full exhaust including headers. This can very easily cost you 1000 dollars, so make sure to plan this into your budget.

After these bolt-ons, you can get a cam that will put you in the 380-400 horse range. If you eventually do heads also, then you'll see an even larger increase.

 

I have a 2001 Z28, I have gone ahead as mentioned above and put Pacesetter Long tube headers, a Borla Catback Exhaust, (NO CATS) and had the compression ratio tuned. The HP gains from this 1600 dollars of mods is impressive as is the noise but I do want to be able to compete at a higher level while still being able to drive it half of the week. I want to put a Cam in but am not savvy with them. Im thinking mid lift cam and polish the heads? I can have the heads polished for much less than the Cam, If I do this will I see HP gain w/o the cam? If I do do the Cam I was told that i dont need to put bigger Fuel injectors (46lb) and dual spark coils in. I was under the impression that I would see much larger gains if I replaced fuel injectors before the Cam. Am I safe to just polish the heads and or replace the cam without prepping the fuel injection and ignition (if done right with pushrods and valve spring replacements)? I want to see some noticeable gains while not ripping my car apart. She is at 89K miles now and running smooth. Also would it be a more worthwhile investment to go with a bigger throttle body and MAF sensors instead?

 

do the cam and heads first. add the tb, coils and injectors latter.

 

Thanks for the input, will I see noticeable gains without shredding my motor if I do Heads, then Cam about a month later? ie, will it be driveable?

 

yes. polishing the head make the motor more effeciant at moving air so u should see an increase in power. be sure to upgrade the valvetrain parts like the springs, rockers, retainers etc.... the main part in all this is the cam. it needs to be made to match the addons and upgrades.