ls6 head cam combo?

**bpopham22** · 05-02-2010, 04:54 PM

ok i would like to get some ls6 243 heads by the end of the summer but the whole "CAM" thing really confuses me. Im not gonna lie i dont really like the lope sound that they give off. That sound has always been associated with a problem with the vehicle in the past for me even though i know that a cam on a muscle car is like a religion. So my question is what is the smallest cam i can get that will still give me decent numbers over stock with the new heads. Ive seen some numbers and it looks like 224 is pretty low,but then again i know nothing about cams so i could be wrong. Goal for the car is 400-450 RWHP maybe a little more cuz ill be adding my long tubes and fast 92/92 combo here shortly.

**Speed_kills_WS6** · 05-02-2010, 08:03 PM

The LSA of the cam is the deciding factor when it comes to sound. Some are made with a choppy idle, or you can get one with a smoother idle. Don't get a small cam wanting to make big power because you think the sound of it will be more suttle. LOL Lots of people run a 228. I'm sure you can get it with a smooth idle.

**c5z28** · 05-02-2010, 08:14 PM

That lsa is a major player in how soon the hp kicks in and how fat that torque curve gets. They do have cheatr cams and blower cams that can have a near stock idle which the lowest lsa you would probably want would be a 115. Texas speed or comp cams etc would all be able to do a custom grind tailoring to your wants. Maybe look into the worked 5.3's to squeeze out more power.

**garygnu65** · 05-03-2010, 06:15 AM

ask more questions ,do more research and you will understand cams better.you have a ls6 intake on your car ,that intake can support 450 hp.if you get ls6 heads have the bowls cleaned up ,and a valve job. a 228 cam mite make 400hp,a custom cam will.whats you budget?A4 or M6?the cam is the last thing you buy after you get all the other pieces.

**bpopham22** · 05-03-2010, 02:14 PM

its an a4 and the budget isnt the problem. I want anywhere between 400-450 and to be very dependable. The car is only a weekend warrior but i dont want to worry about it dying because the cam is so large, ive mainly seen that happen in older cars so it might not be the cam. And im gonna have all supporting bolt ons,lid,LT's,catback,and im getting the 92/92 combo no matter what. All of that will be installed in about a month thats why im researching heads and cams now. Ive been to txspeed's site and saw the 243 stage one head and cam package thats why i asked about a smooth cam. I want roughly 40-60 rwhp from the head and cam swap. Nothing too crazy just a lil more power under the hood, but it want it to be dependable. Like i said the budget is basically whatever heads and cam i want

**c5z28** · 05-03-2010, 02:22 PM

Originally Posted by bpopham22

its an a4 and the budget isnt the problem. I want anywhere between 400-450 and to be very dependable. The car is only a weekend warrior but i dont want to worry about it dying because the cam is so large, ive mainly seen that happen in older cars so it might not be the cam. And im gonna have all supporting bolt ons,lid,LT's,catback,and im getting the 92/92 combo no matter what. All of that will be installed in about a month thats why im researching heads and cams now. Ive been to txspeed's site and saw the 243 stage one head and cam package thats why i asked about a smooth cam. I want roughly 40-60 rwhp from the head and cam swap. Nothing too crazy just a lil more power under the hood, but it want it to be dependable. Like i said the budget is basically whatever heads and cam i want

For most cams you will require a stall. Our cars run some big cams and have no idle problems that's the beauty of new technology. There are a few who run small cams w/o a stall and maintain a streetable setup. Although most will say you leave a lot on the table w/o a stall which drastically improves launches (also locks-up on the highway so highway mileage stays intact). With a stall hp # will be weaker but track times will be way faster.

**shady milkman** · 05-03-2010, 02:26 PM

Originally Posted by bpopham22

its an a4 and the budget isnt the problem. I want anywhere between 400-450 and to be very dependable. The car is only a weekend warrior but i dont want to worry about it dying because the cam is so large, ive mainly seen that happen in older cars so it might not be the cam. And im gonna have all supporting bolt ons,lid,LT's,catback,and im getting the 92/92 combo no matter what. All of that will be installed in about a month thats why im researching heads and cams now. Ive been to txspeed's site and saw the 243 stage one head and cam package thats why i asked about a smooth cam. I want roughly 40-60 rwhp from the head and cam swap. Nothing too crazy just a lil more power under the hood, but it want it to be dependable. Like i said the budget is basically whatever heads and cam i want

First off...cars dieing due to large cams is really a thing of the past....your goals for ur car through a a4 is not the easiest...especially with a baby cam. How the cam idles and behaves is all in the tune. On top of that...your not ready for h/c yet as you are still running stock stall. You will need a higher stall....to give you a idea...all I have left to do before I am truely ready for a cam is a stall,torque arm,new rear end.

**shady milkman** · 05-03-2010, 02:29 PM

Oh I have rims and drag radials on the way too. So yeah..study up on cams and such and then call comp...don't walk in clueless

**bpopham22** · 05-03-2010, 03:01 PM

hmm yea a stall is out of the question, i dont wanna have to get my rpms up to 3000 to cross an intersection. what kind of power increase am i looking at with installing 243's and one of those 228 cams?

**c5z28** · 05-03-2010, 09:52 PM

Originally Posted by bpopham22

hmm yea a stall is out of the question, i dont wanna have to get my rpms up to 3000 to cross an intersection. what kind of power increase am i looking at with installing 243's and one of those 228 cams?

You aren't going to street a stock stall w/ a 228 cam. If you are dead set on keeping the stock stall you need to talk to a cam company about cheatr/blower cams. There are also people who do custom grinds that I have seen work w/ stock stalls.

**shady milkman** · 05-04-2010, 04:56 AM

Originally Posted by bpopham22

hmm yea a stall is out of the question, i dont wanna have to get my rpms up to 3000 to cross an intersection. what kind of power increase am i looking at with installing 243's and one of those 228 cams?

why ? this car isnt a DD..and even then ...your gas mileage (if that is what you are worried about) isnt going to be heavily effected...stalls lock up at 45.
If you are just chasing dyno numbers dont worry about a stall and race on the internet ...the stall is one of the most misunderstood, beneficial, needed mod you can do. get a nice yank 3600 stall and i guarantee you that after driving it for a week ...you will never want to go back to a unstalled automatic

**garygnu65** · 05-04-2010, 06:54 AM

the rpm you see toque converters rated at is the rpm the motor will flash to if mash the gas pedal.read the stickies on torque converters and you will be more comfortable with a 3500 stall. a really good tuner can make most big cams really streetable.

**qwk93ta** · 05-04-2010, 07:48 AM

I have a torquer 2 cam with a 3600 stall and the combo is very streetable. If i remember correctly the cam #s are 232/234 .595/.598 114 lsa. This setup with full bolt-ons should give me 400 RWHP once it is dyno-tuned.

**Firebirdjones** · 05-04-2010, 09:01 AM

If it's a smooth idle you are wanting, it might be best to call Comp and have something custom done to fit your combo specifically.

MTI used to do Stealth cams ( 224-220 and .581 lift on a 116 lsa) that idled smooth and topped 400 rwhp, but they are no longer around from what I understand.

The Cheater cams are designed more for stock exhaust manifolds and exhaust systems, so the I/E split is huge to compensate. If you plan headers and such, these cams wouldn't be my first choice.

**KC&97TA** · 05-09-2010, 06:45 PM

I'll give you a simple no research answer to the high end of your goal.

Trick Flow 515 hp package, you'll need supporting mods; Pacesetter LTs, ORY, Yank SS 3600, FAST 92/92, lid, stock 10 bolt 3.23's and a good tune. Like I said, Simple 442 RWHP on a local car, very street able. $3200 for the heads, cam, all gaskets and bolts, you just have to wrench and tune.

I would go that simple way, but I messed up...

As for Cam and Head combos and trying to realize your goal, you can pick them out of a catalog, read all kinds of shit on the interent and maybe you'll get it right? I have the same goal, I jumped on a pair of LS2 heads with PRC .65 lift springs a several months ago, tried to sell them for the $600 I paid and they haven't sold, so my plan is below.

My new plan

The combo that I think I'm going to go with, TEA Stage 2 heads, 228r Texas Speed Cam, 114 lobe, with LS6 intake, Shanner S3 ported TB, SLP lid, Pacesetter LT's, ORY, 25% underdrive pulley and Yank SS 3600, seen dyno sheet on it putting down 426 RWHP through a Moser 9" with 3.73's. Put a full weight SS into the mid 11's with MT ET's on the back and ZR1's up front. I have a 9" with 3.75's so I might be a horse under that

There's a Kink to the plan, a matched cam to the heads will make more power and custom cam's aren't that much more expensive than an off the shelf, it's not really a custom cam, the LS engines have been around for 13 years now.

I'm really leaning towards either TEA or Flow Tech Induction to match a cam to the heads after they are CNC'd, I'll gamble that it would make more than 426 RWHP I've seen.

Some one else all ready said it, "the cam is the last thing you buy". There are more heads out there than we could talk about and the internet is covered with more opinions than www's. LS2/LS6 heads aren't the greatest for the money, Texas Speed Stage 1 heads aren't the best for what you want. If you want LS6 style heads, you'll need to step up to around what most are calling stage 2 or 2.5. The problem with my combo is I want to stay with the LS6 intake, a FAST would put me up there a bit more, but that's $1000 more for a few more horses, and the Trick Flow combo would be up there about $1000 more than I'm set to pay for a few more horses, 425 RWHP is good for me.

I want to eventually build a dedicated race car so the $2,000 I'm saveing on my SS will buy a clapped out 98-02 Firebird, then the fun will begin with a 1000 HP turbo engine... but that's another thread.

Don't be afraid of the stall and the stall has to be matched to the cam too, 3200 to 3600 is safe for stop and go traffic which is were a 224 to 230 cam would fit in. Remember it's not like the dam car revs to 3600 RPM's before moveing, it's just a little sloppy, like up to 1800 instead of your stock 750 RPM, driveing a car with out a stall is killing me, I only had a 2800 in my TA and now I'm driveing around with a stock torque converter in my SS it's insane how much more fun the difference of 1000 RPM's makes and LS1's have less low end torque than LT1's so it's really noticeable. Along with matching a cam to the stall, Larger Cams like a MS4 will need a larger stall as in a Yank SS 4000. There are plenty of guys Daily Driveing 4k stalls in traffic.

Start looking for a Tuner in your area. All these numbers and figures I've posted were with good tunes.

So the really short of the long explaination. Pick your heads, then the cam gets matched to the heads, then the stall gets matched to the cam... have fun, google the fawk out of it, but look at the sponsors, see what they're getting and what customers like you have gotten from them, that's what I've done

dam this took me 30 min to type out, I hope someone is getting $0.02 worth out of it

**garygnu65** · 05-10-2010, 01:53 PM

well worth it.

**PFM** · 05-12-2010, 09:08 AM

Throw you a Procharger kit on your car and be done with it. You run your same non lopeing cam, won't have to change the convertor or your intake setup. And they actually like the stock gears. Should make 450rwhp easy.

**shady milkman** · 05-12-2010, 09:12 AM

Originally Posted by PFM

Throw you a Procharger kit on your car and be done with it. You run your same non lopeing cam, won't have to change the convertor or your intake setup. And they actually like the stock gears. Should make 450rwhp easy.

im pretty sure they highly suggest you run a converter..at that FI converters tend to be more expensive due to the upgraded parts..all that torque hits early and hard

**Firebirdjones** · 05-12-2010, 05:31 PM

Originally Posted by PFM

Throw you a Procharger kit on your car and be done with it. You run your same non lopeing cam, won't have to change the convertor or your intake setup. And they actually like the stock gears. Should make 450rwhp easy.

That's the easy way to do it, albiet expensive. And you keep the EPA happy too if that's a concern for you.
I've seen the prochargers on an otherwise bone stock 4th gen LS1 make roughly 425-450 rwhp on a safe tune.

When money allows later, you can upgrade things for more power and/or more boost.