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Just got the motor out today. Putting vortec heads, thumper cam, edelbrock 1406 carb. Of course intake and rocker arms etc. I am also doing a Borgeson conversion while the motor is out. Any tips or advice is welcome. This is the first motor upgrade I have ever done.
Why the thumper cam? Why not a cam that will actually make power?
Borgeson is a GREAT upgrade. Be sure to add a lot of caster, and get an alignment to make the most of it. I use SPC adjustable upper control arms.
Good call on the Borgeson. Why are you anti thumper cam. Do you think that with these mild upgrades a roller cam will really make much difference? Just curious what you mean. I am pretty much at the maximum lift with the thumper cam. Rockers are 1.52 ration and I can go up to .500 with these heads.
Good call on the Borgeson. Why are you anti thumper cam. Do you think that with these mild upgrades a roller cam will really make much difference? Just curious what you mean. I am pretty much at the maximum lift with the thumper cam. Rockers are 1.52 ration and I can go up to .500 with these heads.
If you are going through the trouble of changing the cam, put in one that makes power, not just noise. There are plenty of choices that aren't roller cams. There's a specific Lunati cam that is similar to the LT-1/L82 cam that people seem to like. Or start a new thread and ask the Forum! You'll get lots of opinions.
Speaking of which, don't take my word for it on thumper cams.
Originally Posted by lars
Nope. Neither of the above. That "Thumpr" cam is just a heaping pile of bovine excrement. It has no purpose other than to sound "big." It produces no power under the best of conditions. Get rid of it and install a real cam.
If your engine is otherwise stock, with stock exhaust manifolds and exhaust system, the installation of the 279 Thumper is not a good idea. My experience is that the Thumper cams sacrifice performance for the sound, and you can get better performance, with good sound, using a better designed cam. If your car is otherwise stock, you will be much happier with the XE262, which closely resembles the L82 cam with just a tad more area under the curve. At the most, run the XE268, but this cam likes headers and free flowing dual exhaust. Anything more than that and you need to consider other upgrades to make the combination work right for you. The car will not be enjoyable to drive by simply bolting in a Thumper 279 in an otherwise stock platform.
the thumpr is a very tight lobe sep to make it sound like a really radical cam. the thumpr is designed to be idled in front of a bunch of people for the wow factor of the idle sound. as soon as you step on the gas, it sucks!
For the money and effort, I would go with aluminum heads, forget the Vortecs unless you already have them along with a low-rise intake to fit under the hood. I got a set of FREE Vortecs and a manifold. By the time I modified the heads to work with a higher lift cam, and bought another Vortec-specific intake because the free one wouldn't clear my hood, I wish I'd just gone with aluminum. The Vortecs are fine, but nothing spectacular. But they were free and I was on a budget. Still wish I'd gone aluminum.
2020 Corvette of the Year Finalist (performance mods)
2019 C3 of Year Winner (performance mods)
2016 C3 of Year Finalist
IF you are staying below the .500 lift to save money, the Vortecs will save you money, but you will want a cam that will perform. GEt the smallest chambers you can so you can bump up your compression. CHeck the Comp Cams Extreme Energy line...490-/,490 lift with the split duration, More duration on the exhaust to get the gas out. its a hydraulic flat tappet, just make sure you google how to break in a flat tappet, and use good oil, high end filter, I like K&N, never a fram, I had one collapse and almost destroy and engine...kept dropping the oil pressure.
Also, Get big tube headers and 2.5 inch or 3 inch exhaust to help get the gas. Go with a Holley carb. You can make a Edelbrock work but you would want and AVS and it should be 700 to 750 cfm. Like everything they advertise the big number but they are actually smaller and you need 600 plus CFM, no need to choke your engine. They are easy to tune if you understand how they work. THe Holleys are more involved but are a better carb overall and most speed shops all carry Holley parts...not to many carry Edlebrock parts
2020 Corvette of the Year Finalist (performance mods)
2019 C3 of Year Winner (performance mods)
2016 C3 of Year Finalist
If you Dont need to skimp, get some good 185-195 intake volume heads from Brodix, AFR or Trick flow, the chinese stuff wont flow that good out of the box and you will have to spend more to get them flowing close to the brand names. You get what you pay for and you can find them used in good shape for almost 1/2 to 3/4 what they are new, but you have to know what you are looking at. Make sure the valve springs are for hydraulic flat tappets, If you dont know what to look at or how to ask about springs and seat pressures then buy new and talk to the counter person at a speed shop, not an auto parts store. Or call the dealer directly. CompCams will get you into the right cam for the head and compression you have. I would figure out what your compression is and work around that to bump it up as far as you can
I got the XE274 cam to go with flat top pistons and Vortec heads. I had to cut the heads but it was not that big of a deal with an electric drill and the tool borrowed from a kind forum member. Some say Comp Cams are junk now but mine seems to work.
I got the XE274 cam to go with flat top pistons and Vortec heads. I had to cut the heads but it was not that big of a deal with an electric drill and the tool borrowed from a kind forum member. Some say Comp Cams are junk now but mine seems to work.
People that say Comp Cams is junk, work at Crane, Isky, Edelbrock, Howards, etc. if you know what I mean.
Its called propaganda to most. It's called narrow minded bullshit to me. Propaganda is the term used to get people to believe something that is a flat out lie.
Competition Camshafts is the number one selling cam company in the world.
You do not get to that position in business by selling junk. Not going to happen.
The number one reason a new cam fails is: User / Installer Error. Some people are taught from our fathers or mentors during youth, to Never Read the Instructions.
Its unmanly to actually educate yourself on an important product step-by-step guide.
And that is why the high rate of failure regardless of who made the cam.
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Competition Camshafts is the number one selling cam company in the world.
You do not get to that position in business by selling junk. Not going to happen.
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Popularity (and profitability) do not mean the same thing as quality. The OP isn't buying all of the cams, he just needs one. I haven't tried all of their cams, either, so I don't know for certain.
2020 Corvette of the Year Finalist (performance mods)
2019 C3 of Year Winner (performance mods)
2016 C3 of Year Finalist
I think the beehive springs that have come out are what you are referring too. I would have a shop do that work so you can run a larger cam and so you can install screw in studs and they would be straight
Mine already had screw in studs and guide plates. I'm not saying there's anything WRONG with them, just for the money and effort I'd prefer modern aluminum heads.
Fall upgrades
