Iron Maiden Fan

I currently have what most consider a "baby cam" 220/220 .550 114lsa. I like the flat torque curve, but don't like the idle quality and want more punch up top. Is there such thing as a 117lsa cam with 224/228 or so duration that will give a smooth, stock sounding/feeling ide, or are these things mutually exclusive? Do the "cheater" cams have a stock idle and good gains?

YO-EL

Whats wrong w/ your idle?
Maybe you need to get some long tube headers & an aftermarket exhaust..

That cam on a 114 sould sound quite stock like..

TLKSCHP

Just started up a cheater cam last night on stock exhaust, heads I mean cam only and I was surprised how stock it sounded. really smooth. he also had the mail order tune from thunder with it. We haven't gave it a srive yet.

Iron Maiden Fan

Does anybody make a 117lsa cam with good duration (223ish) and lift (550ish)? And would that have a stock idle quality?

Tsab

You can have a cam custom ground to your specifications, how it would work is another story. You may want to consult some engine builders for an opinion.

ksett

Do a Google search for Vinci High Performance. They have an off the shelf 224\228 116 LSA cam and specailize in the smaller cams. Give them a call with your criteria, they should be able to help you choose a cam.

Hardtop01

If you have a good tune with that 220 duration cam,and still don't like the idle, you might as well go back to stock. A B1 cam, which has about the same specs as yours, has just a light lope to it. You may want to try an 02-04 Z06 cam. Good luck.

Bruce

Iron Maiden Fan

It's not the lope that bothers me, it's really hard to even hear the lope. I have the idle set at 850rpm. It's the non-rythmic shaking that pisses me off. I had 21st Century Muscle Cars do the dyno tune and they said it was as good as they could get it. That's what got me to thinking about a different (bigger) lsa cam. I can live with a lope----acutally I love a good lope---but the shakey idle is not desirable.

Maybe a larger cam would give better idle, but sound more "lopey"?

vettenuts

Shakey idle on a 114 at 850 RPM almost sounds like other issues. It should be pretty darn smooth. Have you checked plugs/wires etc. to ensure there are not other issues?

TLKSCHP

I have a 224/228 581/588 112 and I wouldn't call it shaky at all, I even had the idle at 750 with no problems. Are you sure the environmental vacuum line in the back of the intake got plugged back in, or a bad plug wire against a header or something.

vetpet

Before chasing around for cams make sure that you have no mechanical problems. Have a cylinder balance test done as this will pinpoint a bad or poor functioning cylinder that could cause rough idle. You may also want to perform a compression test to see if you have any weak cylinders. Much bigger cams than yours can be made to idle smoothly so that shouldn't be the problem. It just requires a step by step process to eliminate any mechanical issues first. Keep us informed.

Iron Maiden Fan

That's great advice! Actually it's in the shop getting the rearend rebuilt. Perfect time to do some tests like that.

I did find a cam that I wish I'd known about before I did my current one: MTI Stealth II. 224/220 .581 116LSA. If I do heads later, I'm going to do that cam.

tblu92

I have a TPIS 220 cam .567 at 114---It idles so smooth at 800 and shake free I actually set it back down to 675 to make it sound meaner---I agree-- also sounds like other issues--I am in Calif with smog police is why i chose the 220--passed easily.No matter which cam you choose it is going to take some tuning espcially with an A4 to get the idle and surging issues ironed out--I had them as well but fixed it easily (I am an EFILIVE workshop tuner) I would do a Crank re-learn--LTFT relearn-- Also I added 4* timing in P/N and in gear--added more air in desired airflow file--adjusted the throttle follower--
PS also sounds alot like a vacuum leak----

yankeevetteconvert

The Stealth II has the same overlap (-10*) as your cam and you should get the same Idle.The GT2-3 cam (207/220,.571/.578, 118.5 LSA )will give you a better than stock Idle (-23* overlap) It's a small cam but it will give you 25/30 hp over the stock LS1 cam. It's slightly bigger than the LS6 cam and will give you about 10 hp over that cam. You will not find a cam with a smoother idle.