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C5 Cam Change Good Or Bad???

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Old Aug 7, 2022 | 12:47 PM
  #41  
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Either put the old cam back in, or get a big cam with a tighter centerline. The centerline will have a major role in dictating the power curve. For example a tighter centerline like 108, will result in more bottom end, while the 115 favors the top end.

The other side of this coin is that the 108 will have a choppier idle and be a bit less forgiving from a start, whereas the 115 will idle better and be more forgiving around town.

Everything is a trade off, and the differences are shades of gray. I don’t know the specs on your previous cam, but you would be well served to chat with some cam guys. I recently bought a Cam Motion cam, and after detailing the driving characteristics I wanted, they built a custom cam for me. I suggest you talk to more than one outfit to get some perspective. For sure you’ll want something in the 220’s duration area, but exactly where depends on your performance target.

In any event swap those gears! That will help your current cam behave in normal driving, and only enhance the performance of the previous cam. Gears make a huge difference. Maybe do that first before swapping cams?
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Old Aug 7, 2022 | 03:14 PM
  #42  
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It sounds like going back to a smaller cam may be the best choice for you. Better heads will help you take advantage of the big cam and make the top end difference even more noticeable, but it’s still gonna drive like a car with a big cam. It sounds like you and your tuner werent on the same page when picking that cam

with the intake tb and headers you might be able to get 440-450 out of a smaller cam. I’d call around to cam motion/texas speed/etc… they’ll be able to recommend a cam that better suits what you want from the car
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Old Aug 8, 2022 | 01:04 AM
  #43  
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Thanks for all the the help guys I appreciate it. So with my current set up 477rwhp and 435 tq would gear's make the car more fun again. I was thiking 390 or 410? Would this make the car more streetable and fun to drive. Same build with stock gears vrs same care with 390's or 410's who wins, lol. I just want the 475 HP to be more streetable, if that makes sense? Thanks
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Old Aug 8, 2022 | 08:37 AM
  #44  
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Originally Posted by Bryce720
Thanks for all the the help guys I appreciate it. So with my current set up 477rwhp and 435 tq would gear's make the car more fun again. I was thiking 390 or 410? Would this make the car more streetable and fun to drive. Same build with stock gears vrs same care with 390's or 410's who wins, lol. I just want the 475 HP to be more streetable, if that makes sense? Thanks
The 3.90s or 4.10s are VERY enjoyable and sreetable. I will NEVER own another naturally aspirated H/C/I car without doing a 3.90 or a 4.10. The 4.10 being my preferred gear.

Typically anyone that speaks ill of a 4.10 gear never owned, drove or rode in a 4.10 swapped C5. It's a great gear in an M6 C5. And a must with a big cam if you want your car to perform well all around.

I say do the diff and screw going backwards on the cam. You also need that tune dialed in so it doesn't hang, which I still think is from that ported TB..
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Old Aug 8, 2022 | 04:32 PM
  #45  
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Hey guys here is the apples to apples comparison.

Red is old build with tune

Blue is adding (mamo ported fast 92, mamo ported LS2 throttle body, 1 7/8 headers, x pipe no cats). Dynod twice by 2 different tuners after the last build. 1 got 477/435. The other got 467/435.

Hopefully this clears up all the confusing dyno worksheets, lol.

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Old Aug 8, 2022 | 09:44 PM
  #46  
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This is the cam that came out of the car!
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Old Aug 10, 2022 | 12:57 PM
  #47  
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Got some good news we finally figured out the hanging idle. There was loose screw, one of the screws for the blade on the throttle body. Since that screw was tightened, it has not hung RPM's at all. Tuner also went through the timing table and added a little more timing. We were able to get to 30 degrees in the upper RPM range with no knock. Settled at 29 degrees just to be safe. Had to add a little more fuel in the upper as well. Keep in mind we're 5,300 feet elevation. Car runs fantastic right now, the tune is dialed, definitely making more power. Thanks for all your help. I will keep you guys posted, still might do gears, also going to call and talk to Tony about heads. Thanks again
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Old Aug 10, 2022 | 01:51 PM
  #48  
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Great news! Restores faith in your tuner. Enjoy!
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Old Aug 11, 2022 | 08:34 AM
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If this were my car I would for sure get better heads. An aftermarket casting with a smaller port size (215-225cc) will be more efficient at ALL RPM and make more power. You would certainly make back a lot of low end torque to make the car fun again, and make more power at the peak. Everything needs to work well together and the ported 241 heads are a big choke on that engine with the bigger cam. I dont think the cam is too big for that engine, but the heads are definitely too small.
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Old Aug 11, 2022 | 07:18 PM
  #50  
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Originally Posted by Kubs
If this were my car I would for sure get better heads. An aftermarket casting with a smaller port size (215-225cc) will be more efficient at ALL RPM and make more power. You would certainly make back a lot of low end torque to make the car fun again, and make more power at the peak. Everything needs to work well together and the ported 241 heads are a big choke on that engine with the bigger cam. I dont think the cam is too big for that engine, but the heads are definitely too small.
I once had a set of CNC ported by AFR 225s on a Darton sleeved 427. Talk about midrange power......when the car, an A4 C5, shifted to 2nd gear around 65mph, it was like I hit an oil slick!!! The rear tires broke loose, easily, and the car got 24mpg on the highway, too. Not shabby for a 427!! 225s might be a tad large on a 350 motor, but if the OP is running an M6 6 speed, he should be OK. Either AFR 225s, or if Trick Flow still makes their 220cc LS1 heads, those would work well, too. My .02.....
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Old Aug 12, 2022 | 09:01 AM
  #51  
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Glad you got it worked out , bud! That's great news.
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Old Sep 1, 2022 | 11:52 PM
  #52  
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Well I'm thinking of putting the old cam back in? What do you guys think. I just can't stop wondering how it would have done with the upgrades (mamo ported fast 92, mamo ported LS2, 85mm MAF and 1 7/8 headers). I miss the low end, car used to pull from about 3000ish rpm, now it pulls about 4? Feels like I have to push the car much harder or higher in the rpm range to get the power? The red is the car with old cam WITHOUT mamo ported fast 92, mamo ported LS2, 85mm MAF and 1 7/8 headers. I have to think the old cam would do even better with these mods? I don't want to do gears or heads right now. If anything I will do and a&a or ecs kit next. I'm guessing old cam would make 440 to 450ish? Am I the only guy in corvette history that wants to go down a little in power to make the car seen faster in the street, lol? Thanks guys

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Old Sep 2, 2022 | 12:18 AM
  #53  
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If you’re thinking blower, your first call should the blower guys.
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Old Sep 2, 2022 | 12:33 AM
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Maybe blower in the future... right now NA. Thanks
....
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Old Sep 2, 2022 | 02:44 PM
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A blower combined with the big cam on a street car would be a disaster. I think that a blower was for sure the correct answer for you BEFORE you did all this work. If you go back to your old cam, and add the supercharger, You'll likely be at 600+ HP. You'll also get plenty of low end. Just a warning, if you go that route it is unlikely that you'll actually be able to use all that power on the street. You'll go from not enough low end, to blowing the tires off.
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Old Sep 2, 2022 | 03:52 PM
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“ Am I the only guy in corvette history that wants to go down a little in power to make the car seen faster in the street, lol?”

Choosing what to mod on a car can be complex and expensive, ha that’s why my car is still stock.

However I’ve thought about it a lot and decided I want the power increased from take off up to say maybe 100 mph tops, that way it’s something that can always be used for how I drive, do not want any loss in power down low to make more power up top.

At 17 bought my first vehicle that I chose, 1965 C10 shortbed, 327 with Weiand single plane intake, big ISKY racing cam, Holley 650 double pumper, headers, thought it was fast, and it was for old pickup.

I didn’t have a tachometer but finally figured out the cam and single plane intake made it slow taking off and it didn’t wake up until I’m guessing 2500-3000 rpm, another guy in a 1970s Riviera kept beating me from each red light, but also found out that car had a 455, I didn’t feel bad then.
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Old Sep 2, 2022 | 04:04 PM
  #57  
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LOL. That's hilarious and true. A friend of a friend has a C7 with over 1500 HP. My response to that is what in the world do you with 1500 hp, LOL. I think the only thing you do with that is tell other people you have 1500hp, lol.
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Old Sep 2, 2022 | 08:19 PM
  #58  
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If you are going to pull it apart to put the old cam back in, spend an extra $400 and buy a modern custom cam spec'd by someone you trust. The right cam will keep or increase your mid range and improve the top end. Your current cam grind is a 20 year old design. I would suggest calling BTR or having someone like Tony Mamo spec a cam for you.
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Old Sep 2, 2022 | 09:39 PM
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Originally Posted by XLR8-R
If you are going to pull it apart to put the old cam back in, spend an extra $400 and buy a modern custom cam spec'd by someone you trust. The right cam will keep or increase your mid range and improve the top end. Your current cam grind is a 20 year old design. I would suggest calling BTR or having someone like Tony Mamo spec a cam for you.

I agree.

I would also make sure you have
the same understanding as the person designing it for you , in terms of driveability
expectations
and where the power band will be.

Otherwise, you could end up with another
cam which is too big.

Nobody ever looks into part throttle response.
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Old Sep 2, 2022 | 11:22 PM
  #60  
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I talked to Texas Speed today for a while... They recommended a torquer v4 cam.. which I believe is a 231/234 111. They said this should bring back my low end and give me a much more streetable power band? They said the can I have world probably work well if it has a 111 or 112 LSA , that would bring the power band down. Thoughts?
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