Considering putting a cam in my C5, and have a few questions. I am a novice when it comes to anything cam related, so bear with me. I put the exhaust and headers on myself, but will be paying a shop to do the cam install to ensure it’s done right.

Car already has Catless ARH LTs, X-Pipe and a Corsa Extreme axleback. Looking for a cam that has good drivability but also a good chop and that would be okay for boost down the road.

I see a lot of people recommend 243 heads when doing a cam swap, but is it necessary? While I do want more power (and I do want to do things the right way), I am trying to stick to a budget for the year.

With the goals stated above, would a BTR Stage 2 or TSP 228R be a good cam?

Final question, how would I know what valve springs/push rod length to get?

Thank you in advance to anyone that replies, and I hope you all have a Merry Christmas!

 

Have you chosen who will tune the car once you get it all installed? I would include them in the discussion to discuss what you want to do and get their input IMO. There are lots of good choices for the cam and you could just have your stock heads ported. Depending on the cam, you may want to go with updated valve train springs and stuff, your builder can help you with those decisions. One thing I would do, at a minimum, swap out the stock needle bearings in the rockers with something like CHE trunnions. Would suck to get your car all set up and then have an issue with the valve train. I know it adds money, but it also adds a bit of reliability and risk avoidance! Save your money and do it up right the first time! Good luck in your upgrades-

 

I have not found a tuner just yet, but that is solid advice. Appreciate the input!

 

Call a cam company and ask them what would fit your goals, a cam with a 3500 to 7500 rpm power range won't be an improvement if the red line is 6500 rpm limited and the low end would suffer for street driving.

 

Call Brian Tooley Racing. LS masters.

 

BTR did sell to a private equity firm recently. Long term this is usually a negative, hopefully not in this case. Many of his Techs did stay from what I saw.
https://hh-cp.com/burnout-brands-a-p...tooley-racing/

 

Cam selection is the single easiest way to ruin a motor combo, so it's important to plan.
In general, yes a set of ported 243 heads would be a pretty big win for the car, and if you plan to replace the lifters, the heads will have to come off anyways.

Let's talk goals and budget.

 

Plan on $750-ish for a tune and dyno. Well worth it. Cam specs are all over the place, so you need to have your goals and use nailed down. Springs will depend on the cam, and the mechanic will need to measure for the pushrods. If you plan a blower later you don’t need to get cam and heads. Bone stock ls1 with a blower are putting 550hp to the rear tires.

 

You need to talk to your installer/tuner. Cam? Keep it under 5.75, 5.85 lift to be safer on the valvetrain, especially with a blower. Blower? I’m assuming you have a manual. You might be 600 wheel horsepower after all this. Are you going to need a fuel system? Injectors, fuel pump?

These are just my opinions or .02 cents. I don’t have cam or blower. I have headers, gears, converter, auto trans.

 

I have a 6sp and 4.10’s and a mild cam really was the icing on the cake. This cam is not even noticeable under normal driving, but a mini rip 2500 to 5000+ and she’s rocking.

 

Just some ramblings. If you just want a "Chop" sound, just sound, go to a tuner and have them tune it to get that chop sound. Not my cup of tea, but I was told it can be done. If that is all you want... Check with tuners.
When I had my car tuned after I had installed Heads/Cam/Headers. I added a touch of power. I had a few requests. Reliability... 1st and foremost. No max effort pulls, its s street car. No ricer boi 4" fart pipe sounds. No ricer boi, farting and poppin' on decel sounds. Just me, but that is what I want, for my car. As was said by others you really need to figure out a path for what you are going to use the car for. If your going to go blower/FI then just do that, skip the heads/cam. That being said, TSP has a cam sale right now 20% off cams and kits. I have had nothing but good experiences with the people I interacted with at TSP. Oh, BTW there is a LOT of while your there stuff that adds up really fast on Head/cam upgrade. I have over 25k miles on my upgrades now and it still runs great and makes me smile to turn the key, every time. I love the car. I drive it every chance I get. just drove it Saturday. Great car. I wish I'd bought a C5 sooner in life.
https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...-coupe-m6.html
I WAG'ed a kit based on the chop cam you said you wanted. Its low lift, like mine, so easy on valve train. Get an oil pump as Summit brand or Melling. You can add a Melling red spring on the std Summit/Melling pump if you want a bit more pressure on the pump. Everyone sells pushrods in the sizes you will need. TSP LS6 Brawler heads are a no brainer for what they cost and what you get. I'm sure they'd substitute a single Beehive spring if you want. Double springs would be for higher lift cams. Call TSP to see what they say. Summit now sells their brand LS6 style LS heads now as well. I think they are re-branded Trick Flow's. Neither were available when I did my upgrades.

 

When paying for parts (+ markup in some cases) and labor- NA power gets expensive real fast

There are shops on the forum advertising like $6200 blower installs. From a dollar per hp POV, that's a great deal

heads/cam/intake all need to work together. You can kill a great combo with the wrong choice in any of those 3. Too big of any of the above and you kill bottom end. Not enough and you kill top end

TSP cams and Brawler heads are basically the industry standard at this point. 100% suggest an intake manifold too. Whether a BTR aluminum one or an LS6 manifold- you're going to want to feed whatever cam/heads you put on

I still vote you need boost. I think you'll be happier. NA power is $$$

 

Leave the engine stock. Add 8psi and a known safe tuner. Profit.

 

Truer words have never been spoken

 

I went through this last fall. I wanted a power and torque increase everywhere, as my car doesn't live between 5000-6500 rpms constantly. I also autocross the car and need it to not be a limp noodle in the 2500-4000 rpm range. I called BTR and they suggested a Stage 1 or 2. I went with a Stage 2. I paired that with Speed Engineering longtubes and X. My car has no other power mods. Stock airbox with a paper filter. I hopped on my local Dynojet before, had it installed and street tuned and then went back. It gained 50 rwhp and 42 rwtq. The increase is very noticeable and the car is a lot of fun. The choppy idle we all love is present as well. This is the most streetable cam I've ever experienced. It's downright tame to drive from a dead stop. Tell you this, my 18 y/o daughter learned to drive a stick w/this setup if that tells you anything. I would do this again in a heartbeat. On 200 tw tires and concrete, it will hook really well in 1st and will take all of 2nd on every surface I've tried on. It's in a sweet spot at the moment.

 

What's the deets on this wheels? Look good!

 

@RyanG, PM sent.