Hey all
Anyone with any recommendations on cam Upgrade on a 1996 CE LT4 ? 15k on drive train. Have long tubes , exhaust , cat delete , 3.45 gears. And intake / filter upgrade. Is the Hot cam worth the effort? Not worried about keeping stock at all . Just want to hear from guys that actually have the LT4 . Never had an LT4 that's why I ask what works and what guys are using. Don't want undrivable and total crap mileage. I have a race car for that.
Thanks !!
Duff

 

Reach out to Lloyd Elliott in Texas. Tell him what you have and he can custom grind a cam for your application

 

Thanks !!

 

You do realize you are walking into the needing to tune the ECM territory don't you ? You do know the '96's (like mine) AND yours are a 1 year only interface and that you will need a Jet DST to tune it, or send your ECM to PCMFORLESS in Stow Ohio to have it updated. Right now their website has been hacked but you can call them at 724-349-4431 to get an
idea of the cost. You also want to make sure that you aren't exceeding the stock injector's capability.

 

Yup Fully aware. I want to see what guys are using and do they like what they have. I know cams are subject to a ton of things. Just never owned an LT4 .

 

The HOT cam is pretty decent as far as performance goes. It uses milder ramps than most aftermarket cams, which means good reliability and long valve spring life. Has a slightly enhanced idle, just enough so the gear heads will look at you and ask, "Is that cam stock?" but the rest of the folks won't really notice. It was popular with the impala ss crowd. If you have an automatic, you will need to put an aftermarket torque converter in the car. 2200 stall or higher.

 

I just spoke to the guy at PCMFORLESS. He said to give him a call if you want. He said he does a ton of LT1'/LT4's. So he knows what lots of his customers are running.

He said he got hacked hard. Been down for a week. He is on the other side of town from me, so I knew of him from here on the forum as well as him being kinda local to me.

I am going with a LT4 Hot Cam. I got behind this summer due to health issues, so in the spring I will be putting in the LT4 Hot Cam that I have, ARH long tubes, Trickflow Heads and 1.6:1 full rollers, in essence making it (my LT1) a LT4 kinda sorta. The only difference is that I won't have the fillets on the crank journals that the real LT4 engine has, the rest of the parts sitting in the closet are either actual LT4 or better, down to the timing chain, etc. I am even going to go with bigger injectors.

The LT4 Hot Cams are pretty decent, here are the results with a set of heads that are pretty close to LT1 heads, notice he made 417 HP. You would be looking at 425+

The LT4 engine already has the 1.6:1 rockers the LT4 HC was designed for. It would really wake that engine up.

Of course LLoyd Elliot also is an expert, so either one of his or the HC would make a fun, still easy to drive car.

https://www.eecis.udel.edu/~davis/z28/buildup/cam/

https://www.camaroz28.com/forums/lt1...eaders-334049/

https://www.motortrend.com/how-to/13...-motor-part-2/

 

Here is his website that I fetched from the Wayback Machine, ie: the Internet Archive. This is a snapshot from Feb 16th, 2020.

https://web.archive.org/web/20200216...cmforless.net/

Lawyer disclaimer, I have read good and bad reviews about them. Maybe some of the other folks here that have used them can chime in.

 

LT4 hotcam is a good tried and true upgrade, basically any cam change needs the custom tune.

You can go a bit bigger, and Lloyd Elliott packages have been around forever for these cars, they work well.

One thing you should think seriously about is 4.10 gears over the stock 3.45s. It will get the car into the power quicker.

 

So I did the Lloyd Elliott cam with my LT4 a few years ago and I am pretty happy. Lloyd is a great guy and he tolerated and answered all my questions.
I was going to use the Hot Cam which would have been cheaper. But Lloyd Elliott's cam makes a bit more power and is still very streetable. He will have a few options for you.
I chose the 219/227 @0.050 and .541" intake and .565" exhaust lift with an LSA of 112.
My Lloyd cam came from Lunati as a custom grind.
I used Lunati springs, retainers, valve seals, VooDoo 1.6 roller rocker arms.
And new pushrods from Trickflow. You do have to check the valvetrain measurements as it is not a total bolt it in and run it.
If you go this route measure everything so you don't have any issues. I required different valve stem keepers and thinner retainer to get proper spring height. Also check pushrod length to make sure the roller tip is centered on the top, middle of the valve stem.
Note: The Hot Cam is a bolt in, a lot of people just bolt it in without any measurements and it runs fine. This and cost is the big advantage of the Hot Cam!
You won't need a tune immediately but you should get one to get the most power out of the setup.
I recommend full length headers (I used ARH stainless 1 3/4" with 3" X-pipe and cats.
4.10 gears would be great but I have not done that yet, I'll wait till I have rear end issues. It is very drivable even with 3.45 stock gears.
My clutch did go south but that is another story.
Have fun!!

 

Thanks Thanks !!!! I got the 96 CE out of a field . Was there for a while. Found an LT4 and 6 speed with 15k from a wrecked car. Since engine out it's time to do the work. I'm in the middle of 2 more C4s as well. All this info is great and I appreciate the responses. I've tried to upload some pics but I get an error message about a security token. Any suggestions??