bbjohn97

:rolleyes: I am thinking about upgrading my cam and intake without changing the heads. What would be the differnce in HP with a cam ,intake (ls6) with or without heads. I know there is a differnce in cost!!! What I've seen on the board and heard from friends it's the differnce of about 20 HP?? I am looking to get around 400hp to the rear?? What do you guys think?? My list of mods - FLP (no cats), Borla, Yank 3200, Halteck Tric, Ed Wright Prgm. (315 axle) Thanks for any info!

Nick Williams

I gained close to 40hp and 30 ft. lb. torque with just a cam on my 98.

bbjohn97

Nick what cam did you go with?? What mods do you have?? Did you install it youself??

Nick Williams

It is a comp custom grind. 224/228 568/571 112 lsa. I still have stock heads. Other mods are k&n fipk, flp headers w/o cats, and flowmasters. I will be getting a ls6 intake soon and some tuning done. My car dynoed right after the cam at 361 hp and 367 tq. That was on a different dyno than I had been using though. I did the cam myself. Check out ls1howto.com. There is a lot of good info on there for working on your own car. I am sure the car is making more power now than it did on the dyno. It feels a lot stronger now that I have been driving it a while. A good tune will help some also. If you are plannig on keeping stock heads you may not want that big of a cam. I plan on doing heads soon and a 100 shot and that is what someone at comp cams reccomended for me to try. Good luck and have fun modding your car


[Modified by Nick Williams, 5:41 AM 1/6/2003]

Go_Fast

Great info. I'm looking for the same setup also with my ZO6. :cheers:

CJS

ThunderRacing 220/553/114 works for me on stock 2002 Z06 heads and springs. Go for it! Vettes need cams!

Mitch C

bbjohn97, Contact the Vettedoctors they have a cam that might interest you. Forum member "Redgar" is running this cam, his car is an A4 that is putting down 385 RWHP thru stock cats. He has STOCK HEADS, he is also still running the stock LS1 intake manifold with the stock pulley. He has run back to back 11.6s @ 115 MPH with 3.42 gears. Truely awesome performance IMHO.
It will be VERY difficult if not impossible to get to 400 RWHP with an A4 with stock heads. If you want better performance I would go to 3.42 or better yet 3.73 gears. However your dyno readings will be lower with the bigger gears.

98 A4
Donaldson Blackwing
Cartek Stage 2 Heads
Cartek M Cam
LS6 Inatke
TPIS Headers
Underdrive Pulley
Comp Push Rods
Borla Exhaust
B&M Trans Cooler
ST3500
3.73 Gears
172 t.stat




[Modified by Mitch C, 12:26 PM 1/6/2003]

bbjohn97

:cheers: Thanks guy for the info. So are the heads worth the money???

Mitch C

Stock LS1 heads are very good as stock heads go. Whether ported heads are worth $2000.00+ in some cases for Stage 2 heads depends on what you want to do with your car. If you plan on racing your car alot or you just want to get the last bit of HP out of your engine then they are worth it. But if you can be satisfied with 20-30 less RWHP then maybe they aren't. Judging by "Redgars" performance(11.6s @ 115 MPH) you can have a great running car without them. Check over on the LS1Tech web site alot of the F body guys are running LS1s with stock heads and pulling impressive numbers. You can find alot of very useful info by doing a search or posting over there. Good Luck!!!




[Modified by Mitch C, 1:34 AM 1/7/2003]

SideStep

CJS,

I was looking at the TR224/224 114 for my six speed with the FLP setup, a BlackWing, and the pulley. What do you think???

Thanks
:cheers:


[Modified by SideStep, 4:20 PM 1/7/2003]

REDGAR

Once again Mitch, thanks for the kind words.

I think a set of ported racing heads will net a bit more ET though. I would venture to guess more like .5 in ET reduction (to be conservative).

As to whether or not they are worth it, it really depends on your goals. For me, heads are not worth it right now because I don't see a need to go faster right now. So when I feel a need a .5 increase and can spend the bucks then I will get them.

It will be getting the LS6 intake in a few weeks though and hope that is worth .1 - .13 or so. Why? I want to stay in the 11's even when the weather is hot and humid.

Remeber all , all gains are not the same. I expect that much from the LS6 becasue of what I have already. LS6 alone I don't think will get you .05.

Untouchable00

I have heard great things about only a cam. But if you have the money you mine as well do it...otherwise ~40rwhp is still nice.

RichieRich

So heads is not a must, but how about cam, springs, retainers, etc and a pulley with stock headers. What kind of gains from that? Or are the headers an absolute must? I've heard the 2001+ headers flow really well. Plus, headers are $$$$$.

Any thoughts?

CJS

SideStep, I think that the 224/114 is the best all around cam for the street right now. Other cams will make even more power, but all things considered that is the cam to get.
I did not get it only because I wanted to keep the stock valve springs, because I plan to drive mine 100,000 miles with only routine maintenance.
With the 224/114 cam you will need to use heavier valve springs. Then it is advisable to change the springs out every 20,000 miles or so, to prevent breakage. So you will have a little more maintenance work is all.

SideStep

CJS,

Thanks for the reply! I was looking at the Comp Cams "918" springs with titanium retainers. Do you have an opinion of these???

:cheers:

CJS

SideStep, That is what I would use if I had to choose, it would be the 918's. Make sure they are recent manufacture with a tell tale paint stripe on them to identify them from the older possible bad batches.
I also looked at Manley springs, I would use them just as quick, but the 918's are very well known and available.

SideStep

:cool: Thanks!

:D :D :D

RWE 427

Hi CJS,

I was just wondering if you have any dyno numbers or time slips on your Vette. I'm looking at doing just a cam and pulley and I'm interested in the same cam that you have. Can you hear that the Vette has a cam. Have you passed emissions? I'm like you and I want to be able to go 100K with little or no maintenance. Any info on your cam would be much appriciated. Thanks! :chevy

Mitch C

Sidestep, The 918s are single springs if you break one serious damage to your engine can result. I had 918s and I swapped them for Rev 1116 dual springs, they will give you an extra margin of safety. With these dual springs no machining of the heads is needed.


98 A4
Donaldson Blackwing
Cartek Stage 2 Heads
Cartek M Cam
LS6 Intake
TPIS Headers
Underdrive Pulley
Borla Exhaust
Comp Push Rods
ST3500
3.73 Gears
B&M Trans Cooler
172 t.stat




[Modified by Mitch C, 10:06 AM 1/8/2003]

SideStep

Mitch C,

Thanks for the info. The only reason I was leaning towards the 918s was that I thought you HAD to machine the springs seats on the heads if you used the REV dual springs. What is the skinnny on this??? :confused:

Thanks
:cheers: