Cam alone
Thread Starter
Pro
Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 689
Likes: 0
From: West Jordan Utah
Cam alone
Have a cold air intake, full cat back with hi-flow cats, 3:42 gears and now considering a cam. Still do not want headers, (personal reasons). What cam should I choose since this will be my last mod? Anyone do just a cam change? What kind of increase did you notice?
Race Director
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 19,459
Likes: 48
From: Schaumburg IL
CI 7-8-9-11 Veteran
St. Jude Donor '06-'10, '13
There are 100 different choices of cams you could choose. It depends on how much power you are looking for, what the car is used for..daily driver, track car..both? Cam will greatly affect the way the car behaves.
I will tell you, whatever cam you choose, you will be leaving a fair amount of HP on the table by not using headers.
I will tell you, whatever cam you choose, you will be leaving a fair amount of HP on the table by not using headers.
Instructor
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 243
Likes: 26
From: Virginia Beach
I have a similar question... I have a cold air intake and a corsa x pipe and am looking for a couple more mods. Ultimately I want to get gears, cam, headers and a good tune, but first I was looking at getting the cam. My car is a daily driver. Any recommendations on just getting the cam by itself first? How much power will it give me? Pricing? Will I have to change anything else or can I do the cam by itself?
Le Mans Master
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 8,375
Likes: 97
From: Somewhere in the Mid 9's TX
I have a similar question... I have a cold air intake and a corsa x pipe and am looking for a couple more mods. Ultimately I want to get gears, cam, headers and a good tune, but first I was looking at getting the cam. My car is a daily driver. Any recommendations on just getting the cam by itself first? How much power will it give me? Pricing? Will I have to change anything else or can I do the cam by itself?
Melting Slicks
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 2,866
Likes: 45
From: Tampa Bay, Go BUCS!!!Go Rays!!!Go Lightning!!!
St. Jude Donor '12-'13-'14
I am not the ultimate expert but you really (both of you) need to rethink this.
A cam is used to get more fuel/air into the engine. If you don't do someting to get the resulting exhaust back out, you are wasting much of your effort and most of your money.
Don't get all wadded up about this robertlthomson but "personal reasons" usually means its too loud. I hear you but it is a necessity. You actually could go back to stock cat-back, still get the benefit of the headers and keep it pretty quiet.
If you only have the $$ for one mod right now, I'd highly recommend the headers. I really think if you go cam and no headers you'll end up feeling like you got ripped off (HP/$$).
Give this some more thought.
A cam is used to get more fuel/air into the engine. If you don't do someting to get the resulting exhaust back out, you are wasting much of your effort and most of your money.
Don't get all wadded up about this robertlthomson but "personal reasons" usually means its too loud. I hear you but it is a necessity. You actually could go back to stock cat-back, still get the benefit of the headers and keep it pretty quiet.
If you only have the $$ for one mod right now, I'd highly recommend the headers. I really think if you go cam and no headers you'll end up feeling like you got ripped off (HP/$$).
Give this some more thought.
Instructor
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 243
Likes: 26
From: Virginia Beach
How much HP would you get for headers alone and what price would they run for? I don't have a huge preference on which one to get first. What brand of headers do you recommend?
Other than my cold air intake I just have a stock LS1 engine...
Other than my cold air intake I just have a stock LS1 engine...
Race Director
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 19,459
Likes: 48
From: Schaumburg IL
CI 7-8-9-11 Veteran
St. Jude Donor '06-'10, '13
The best advice I can give you is to also contact some local vette shops in your area and talk to a tuner, they are the experts and can help you determine cam size that suits your needs.
I picked up 100 RWHP with my heads/cam and headers with vararam intake. I have AFR205 heads.. cam is 228/232 .588 .590 113 LSA My cam really wakes up the car about 3k RPMs
LS1 Tech website, and also the tech page on this forum also have a lot of information. Also becareful with getting a very large cam as you will loose some bottom end power.
Race Director
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 11,405
Likes: 26
From: Whippany NJ
CI 6-7-8-9 Veteran
St. Jude Donor '08-'09
NCM Sinkhole Donor
Thunder racing made a cam grind that is designed for stock manifolds that made solid gains. Its called Cheater Cam. Mainly for guys who need to pass a visual state inspection like Cali
Just curious as to why you dont want headers? bad nightmare?
Just curious as to why you dont want headers? bad nightmare?
Last edited by Ikester; Aug 28, 2009 at 04:13 PM.
Corvette Stories
The Best of Corvette for Corvette Enthusiasts
8 Coolest Corvette Pace Cars (and Replicas) of All Time
Verdad Gallardo
Top 10 Corvette Engines RANKED by Peak Torque (70+ Years of Muscle!)
Joe Kucinski
Corvette ZR1X Will Be Pacing the Indy 500, And Could Probably Race, Too!
Verdad Gallardo
Top 10 Corvettes Coming to Mecum Indy 2026!
Brett Foote
Top 10 C9 Corvette MUST-HAVES to Fix These C8 Generation Flaws!
Michael S. Palmer
10 Revolutionary 'Corvette Firsts' Most People Don't Know
Joe Kucinski
5 Reasons to Upgrade to an LS6-Powered Corvette; 5 Reasons to Stay LT2
Michael S. Palmer
2027 Corvette vs The World: Every C8 vs Its Closest Competitor
Joe Kucinski
10 Most Common Corvette Problems of the Last 20 Years!
Joe Kucinski
Drifting
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 1,495
Likes: 0
From: Homer Glen IL
