flaming-ford

iTrader: (7)

so guys lately i've been looking in to doing cheap cam swaps a lot but, theres a lot of choices and specs are hard to find on the various styles + honestly i havent found exactly what i want yet for the price i want to pay. So basically after being irriatated thoroughly with searching about all the various stuff i figured i would help make a thread comprising all of the most popular cheaper production camshafts.

ok first of all i think it should be noted that stock heads are only good for .450 to .480in of lift before clearence becomes an issue. So you need to either cut your valve guides down or there are some other tricks which i dont fully understand yet but, should yeild you around .050 in of clearence extra (chime in here guys i know you need to shim some stuff and certain valve seals but, i'm not crystal clear).

heres the specs of the later most popular tpi production camshafts

#1 lb9 ho camshaft (manuals all had it).415 intake .430 exhaust 207/213* 117lsa huge improvement over the standard lb9 but, still junk imo.

#2 lb9 auto, duration 179/194 @ .050, .350/.385*, on a 109*LSA (basically biggest paper weight around).

#3 l98 G92 cam, .413intake .428 exhaust 202 207* 114.5lsa (can't find the standard l98 cam but, i thought it was indentical or damn close to the lb9 ho cam) either way its obvious that this is also tiny and pretty damn close to the lb9 ho cam.


so heres the top 3 most popular swaps that i know of and what i know about them.

#1 LT-1 camshaft
specs: .447/.459, 201/208*, LSA 117/w 1.5 rockers, or with 1.6s its .477/.490

information: most popular, cheapest, and mild. (i beleive this lt1 cam is the 1 for later model cars)

highlights: Best bang for your buck easiest to tune and will run on stock tuning

if anyone knows how many different cams lt1 f-bodys had and what theres specs were and what year they came in please post up!

#2 lt4 producthion camshaft

specs: 203/210* .446/.449 115* LSA based on use of 1.5 rockers (came with a 1.6:1 rocker from the factory, bumping lift to .476/.479).

information: a tiny bit more agressive in some ways than the lt1 camshaft but, basically same thing (not to be confused with the hotcam). pricier and harder to find but, still cheap and a nice investment.

highlights: good bang for your buck, easy to tune and runs on stock tuning.

#3 lt4 hotcam camshaft 218/228* .492/..492 112 lsa /w 1.6 rockers, with factory 1.6s it's .525/.525

highlights: huge gains, very wild and a good value but, way to big to be of much use on a stock styled setup (realy needs heads, a lot of intake work, and a lot of valvetrain work to use to it's full effectiveness), plus it's duration is realy wild for any speed density system, so lots of tuning is needed, also vaccuum for power brakes starts to become an issue.

theres also the zz4 and zz9 camshafts but, i'm guessing that the price you would pay for these would be substantial enough for me to go the aftermarket route just my opinion

i'm currently leaning on the lt4/lt1 production camswap in my current lb9 ho camed car (not sure if it's worth the time yet though). maybe a zz4 cam is the ticket but, i don't know the specs on it off hand.

any other info pertaining to cheap cams would be great.

also if you find any of the info is misleading or wrong let me know.

86 IROC

iTrader: (3)

The LT4 (non HOT) cam looks great for most mild builds. But, the LT1 cam is so close in specs, and very abundant. (Hell, I have two stock LT1 camshafts in my garage at the moment) My vote would be for the LT1 cam - as you can find one for next to nothing, and do the work yourself to swap it over.

Just my

Burnout91

I had been running a ZZ3 (GM cam,same as ZZ4) cam in my '91 L98 (recently swapped it out for XFI268). The specs are 208*in. / 221* ex. duration @ .050", .474" in. .510" ex. lift, with 1.5:1 rocker arms. The ZZ9 cam is marketed by TPiS. You can check their website for specs.
My used ZZ3 cam is posted for sale in the Parts Wanted forum.
Bill

scuzz

I got a couple great LT4 cams from corvetteforum cheap.
One guy gave me one, and another for 20.00. The LT4 engine didn't have to have egr because of the cam grind I understand. I don't know if that is good or bad, but it seems like a plus and they were cheap.
Ron

bigarmzz

how much ya want for one?....(sorry to jack the post and all)

flaming-ford

iTrader: (7)

sounds like the zz3 is a little to much duration for me but, thank you for letting me know.

my tpi setup is fully stock just going to get another 1 to put on it and mildly port out when i do the cam so, i doubt i'll want a cam with that much duration. I'm thinking i'll stay with under 210 intake side and 220exhaust side.

anyways i'd like to get this to the point that it's mildly informative so others looking to do cheap cam swaps can use it in the future

so heres a question i'd like to add to the post

1.) what is the cheapest easiest method to gain mild clearance on your heads while not having them machined?

vipershark11

iTrader: (6)

easiest and cheapest way to gain clearance i would say is to buy good 1.250" springs and then get a matching retainer or locks that are +.050 together theyll run you about 140ish.

Orr89RocZ

iTrader: (20)

to get clearance you need .050" offset locks and get .050" of shims. i know comp cams has a shim kit that summit racing sells for 30 bucks. but they come in .015, .030, and .060 sizes. so closest you'll get is .045 which when combined with the .050 offset locks, that will raise your installed heigh .005 which isnt a big deal...just takes out abit of spring pressure but for mild cams like that, its not big deal. doing this will give you an extra .045" to play with over stock limits which is said to be around .480. So do the math, you have now increased your limit to .525" which is PERFECT for an LT1 cam with 1.6 rockers

just get fresh springs for your cam swap. comp 981's work good, so do manley 22410's. those manleys will work good for larger cams like the HOTcam and CC305

I think ti would be best to have screw in studs for safety. dont want those push in studs pulling out with high lift cams and fresh springs. If you machine the heads for those, might as well grind down the guide boss

I think the right LT1 cam (there was some different versions) with 1.6 or even better 1.65 rockers will wake up a stock L98. I think i gained something with 1.6 rockers on my stock L98 cam but i'll be track testing tomorrow hopefully to see. It sure feels stronger.

also tho you can get used cams for cheap. cams like the hotcam, cc305 and those likes can be found for 100 bucks. they are bit big tho for stock TPI. what would be nice tho is a lingenfelter 211/219 cam .496/.525 but that would be pushing the limits with shimmed springs. good TPI cam tho

flaming-ford

iTrader: (7)

great info guys much appreciated!

i think this will be pretty informative for others to use down the road since it's all compacted in to 1 thread, it's a real p.i.t.a. to find all the info when they are all in different sources.

as for that lingenfilter cam u posted 211/219, yah in my book that would be pretty much the perfect camshaft to put in here but, i'm not sure if i'd be willing to pay the price for it for only a mild gain.

thanks again guys, any1 with personal experiences of doing these cam swaps who want to chime in and say if they think it was worth it or not plz do so!

91z28blue

iTrader: (2)

has any one tryed the lt1 cam in a 1991 l98 block and still had not problems with passing a emission test?

Hawk92z-TDZ

They will pass the Ontario Emission tests with flying colours, so if ours are simular to yours then ya.

For the 92Z28 the limits here were
HC ppm 55 ASM 2525 & 200 Curb Idle
CO% .31 ASM 2525 & 1.00 Curb Idle
NO ppm 1284 ASM 2525 & N/A Curb Idle

Hawk92z-TDZ

double post

Mkos1980

iTrader: (8)

Orr89 has a good post... All the cams listed above are junk except the Hotcam mentioned. L98 cam and 1.6 rockers will give you more duration and same lift an an lt1 cam. If you are going to be doing a swap, make it worth something and get yourself something like the powermax (compucam) 2032, LPE216 cam

Orr89 , I've run that LPE216 cam in my bonestock low compression 8.3.1 350 tpi and had good dyno results. We even kept the lift low with the 1.5's Something around 470/480 lift. We built the motor with low compression for the blower. The best before blower run was 247RWHP and 342 RWTQ. I think thats pretty good with 083 heads and fully stock tpi unit and stock 89 chip.

BTW You guys have to start running pretty radical cams for it not to pass emmisions. I've run numerous cams in the 355 and the 383 and everyone passed.

scuzz

Sorry, used one each in two L31 engines.
Got one more off vette forum for 25.00 and it's going in a LB9.
ROn