Cam only package
Thread Starter
Safety Car
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 4,088
Likes: 1
From: Pennsylvania
Cam only package
What is a ballpark price of a cam only package? I don't know if I even need heads. Maybe the cam will be enough boost? I was thinking a small cam, maybe 375rwhp, with my CAI, LT, in an A4 with 342s, 3000 stall. Is this possible, and smart? Right now, I'm pretty satisfied with the performance, and I'm not too excited about spending money. Should I just wait and do the heads and cam when the funds build up?
Le Mans Master
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 5,130
Likes: 3
From: Winter Park FL
Well if y ou are not to excited about spending money but want to eventually do heads anda cam it would probably save you some labor and tuning money if you do both at the same time. You can probably do a cam only and get around 370ish rwhp. Price I'm sure will depend on what else you get with it I'd say from $2200-3000 depending on the supporting parts you get. When I did mine I did it with the heads/gears/clutch and a bunch of other stuff so I don't know what the cam alone cost me.
Race Director
Joined: Aug 2004
Posts: 14,639
Likes: 39
From: Winston-Salem North Carolina
St. Jude Donor '08-'09
At 3k-3.5k having a shop do it is right around ball park. Cam, timing chain, new belts, oil pump, retainers, springs, underdrive pulley, t-stat, and tuning. I already had long tubes and hiflow cats, from my cam only I gained 70rwhp. Next year I might do heads.
Thread Starter
Safety Car
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 4,088
Likes: 1
From: Pennsylvania
Thanks.
I really want to put on the 5.3 heads also, but I just blew my reserve cash on gears, TC, and LTs. Those numbers give me a good goal.
I'll probably save up and do the heads also early next year, instead of the cam only at the end of summer. I'm a cash only guy. I have to have it, to spend it.
Maybe I'm wrong, but I guess the cost of installing the heads is kinda cheap, like 300? So I'm guessing adding heads would be like 1500, for 25 more HP? That would be a good bang for the buck.
I really want to put on the 5.3 heads also, but I just blew my reserve cash on gears, TC, and LTs. Those numbers give me a good goal.
I'll probably save up and do the heads also early next year, instead of the cam only at the end of summer. I'm a cash only guy. I have to have it, to spend it.
Maybe I'm wrong, but I guess the cost of installing the heads is kinda cheap, like 300? So I'm guessing adding heads would be like 1500, for 25 more HP? That would be a good bang for the buck.
Burning Brakes
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 885
Likes: 0
From: The Woodlands Texas
When you do the heads you also need to replace hydraulic lifters, oil pump, water pump and a host of other stuff. I would go with a Rollmaster double timing chain as well. When I did my H/C pacakge I spent just short of $5,000 just on the parts. If you go in make sure you go in all the way and do it right. A lot of guys do a H/C package and try to go cheap and wind up doing the job a second time with full rebuild at a cost of around $10K.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Jul 1999
Posts: 5,005
Likes: 38
From: jackson nj
You may find that a 268 Comp Cam will do the job for you, but if you have to farm out the install labor, you may want to wait. My buddy did the ZO-6 upgrade from Scoggin Dickey (stock heads, cam, gaskets) on his 98 and he is making 378 rwhp with 3.73's. On my car when I had the Cartek Stage 2-X H/C and long tubes the car ran 11.30 @ 120.19 and was streetable and got 27 mpg on the highway. I currently detuned my car a bit by putting almost all the stock exhaust and it currently runs 11.80 @ 115 (which should be about 380 rwhp). Others with the early C-5 automatics are using Patriot heads and small cam and running the same ET's on drag radials, so the choice is yours but you may not like just a cam with the stock LS-1 heads.
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