Blue Angel

SO... I just discovered that a bad ticking noise in my '02Z engine is because of a bad cam lobe taking out a lifter (or vice-versa). I was already planning to do lifters and a few other things as a result of this noise, but now it looks like a new cam needs to be added to that list.

My car is an '02 Z with a Halltech Stinger intake, LG Pro Longtube Headers with Cats, and the stock Ti exhaust. How much of a cam can I put in there without affecting any of the fantastic drivability of this car?

My car is a daily driver - #1 priority. I love the way this car screams all the way to 6500+RPM, but I also love how I can throw it into 6th gear and putt along with slow traffic at 1100 RPM, even accelerate reasonably from that engine speed, too. Oh, and I really like how it gets great fuel economy, well, at least when I'm not having fun anyway.

I was looking at the SDPC website and saw this cam:

Z+221 SDPC LSX Camshaft 221/226 .565/.560 114 LSA

Would a cam like this give the car more power without robbing it of its daily drivabiliity? Are there other cams I should be looking at?

vettenuts

Are you currently running the stock cam? Sounds like are very happy with it if you are, have you considered another new stock cam so you won't have to custom tune the car?

Blue Angel

Yes, stock cam up until this past Saturday when I decided to investigate the engine noise. I'm worried that if I put a used LS6 cam back in I could end up having the same failure. If I buy a new LS6 cam, well, for a few bucks more I could get an aftermarket cam.

I'm not looking for a big increase, just wondering since I'm into doing a cam anyway, is there another cam that offers a little more than what I've got now without having to sacrifice the nice bottom end?

AU N EGL

That is a change but not much

maybe a 224 / 228 .581 / .588 113+0

Pac 1218 or Comp 918 springs

New push rods, ( stock ones may be too long )
New timing chain

Blue Angel

^ I have PAC 1518's installed already (from when a stock spring broke), and a new timing chain is on its way already. Just need to make my mind up on the cam now.

Sargevette

Vengeance Racing VRX3. Had it in my 06 GTO. Great all around drivabilty and awesome torque curve. Any cam beyond close to stock will require a tune.

01_torch_red_vette

224/228 wouldn't ruin the manners, but you will need a tune. I have no trouble with cruising in 6th gear at low rpms with my setup.

tlove32

Another good daily driver cam is 228/232 .588/.595 115LSA

Blue Angel

So I'm looking into a new cam and these look very promising:

SDPD: Z+221 Camshaft 221/226 .565/.560 114 LSA

Vengeance Racing: VRX1 Camshaft-220/220 .581/.581 114 LSA

And I'm not sure about this one:

Lingenfelter: LS1-GT11 215 / 231 .631" / .644" 1.7 ratio 118

Any thoughts?

Can I expect the car to run OK without a tune? This is important since I would not be able to get the car tuned right away but would have to drive it. I wouldn't be expecting any performance from the car until I got it properly tuned, I would just have to use it for getting to work and back.

printmanjackson

anytime you change the amount of air pumping through the engine you are going to have to tune for it. Why go through all the work and expense of a cam and not consider a tune as part of the upgrade?

Blue Angel

I will DEFINITELY get the car tuned, there's no question about that, but I will need to drive it for a week or two before that can happen (lack of good tuners in Ottawa). All I need is for it to run well enough that I can drive it before tuning.

dankhts

The SDPD cam seems a bit light, if you're going to change it, get 1 you'll be happy with - I have the Vengence VRX1, (could've/should've gone bigger) with ported Lingenfelter stage 2 heads, etc, put down 435/405 with that combo, with any cam that you've listed you'll need a tune regardless, so you may as well get a cam that'll keep you happy for a while...the 224/228's in the area of 580 ish lift will also work well with your stock heads....going much higher in lift is a waste since the stock heads don't flow up there...
also, re waiting a week or so for a tune, your car will run like crap big time, you'd be way better off getting even a mail order type tune till you have time to get a proper one....

chevylad

If you had a lobe failure, I would seriously think about changing the lifters out or at least taking a good look at them.

dankhts

it's likely a lifter failure, takes out the cam lobe...the little roller will stick from time to time for whatever reason, marking up the cam.... happened to mine and a few of my friends' too - actually mine didn't take out the can lobe but since I had to pull the cam to inspect it, I didn't want to put the stock cam back in.... so along with a bigger cam came the heads, then may as well do the long tubes, and intake, etc etc, then gears and a TC, etc etc, about 7 g's later, we're all good again!

printmanjackson

I wouldn't count on it running "good enough" for anything without some adjustment. I'm sure it won't idle and with a cam pumping more air into an engine it will be running lean. Good luck

chevylad

This is where it starts to get expensive for me. Hmmmm....I'll have to change head gaskets, so maybe I should change the heads out at the same time.

AU N EGL

any time you open the engine it gets expensive

Blue Angel

This is the most accurate thing I've ever read! ONE little lifter is costing me a fortune!

Well, I just pulled the trigger on the LPE GT11 Cam. Lingenfelter includes this as part of a 500hp LS2 kit and warranties it for three years so it can't be that hard on valvesprings - I hope!

I can't believe it. Most people will laugh at that but this is my daily driver and it's been 100% internally stock since I bought it over SEVEN years ago... LG headers and Halltech intake, that's it, reliable daily driver that just happens to run 11's.

Between the cam, lifters, rocker bearings, oil pump, timing set, crank balancer, pinning kit, studs, lube, gaskets and fluids I'm going to be out over $1800... and I already had the valvesprings installed last year!

Oh, and let's not forget about the custom tune! This will be the better part of $2500 when it's all said and done. Maybe I should be buying HP Tuners and learn tuning as well...

At least I will be able to sleep at night knowing the top of the engine is built reliably and I have a top notch oil pump keeping all my bits and pieces happy.

Now how about those heads...

Bluefire

I went with a 224/230 .581/.588 113. It makes great power (Mustang dyno'ed 416 rwhp 392 rwtq). The 113 LSA gives it a mighty sweet sounding lope.

AU N EGL

Which Valve springs? will they work with the cam lift you have chosen ?