ErikwithAK01

I found a guy that has a set of low miles AFR 210cc heads for real cheap, and I'm about to jump on um! So, I guess my cam kit will wait

That being said, if I get these, I will be running the stock cam for a year or so before I have the money to do a cam and all the peripherals with it. Since these are AFR heads, and they have bronze valve guides, I know I will have to run roller rockers. From my research, I have found the favored rocker setup is the Yella Terra Ultralight's, but my concern is for the rest of the valvetrain since I know this will add weight/instability.

With the standard AFR 8017 dual springs, with YT rockers....

What do you suggest for pushrods? 11/32 Manton maybe? Or overkill?
What's the longevity of the stock AFR spring? Long life on a stock cam?
Will that much spring be too hard on the stock LS1 timing chain and/or cam?
Is this an OK/safe spring to run on the stock cam with proper VT geometry?

I also plan on using Morel 6504 lifters FYI.

The setup needs to be reliable for the next year or possibly more until I can afford the bottom end work. Also, it will get new pushrods, and valve springs regardless of mileage when the new cam goes in, so all I think I need is stout enough stuff to handle AFR heads on a stock cam and a tuned rev limit no higher than 6300 to 6500.

Thoughts? Insight? Suggestions? Any owners out there with similar setups? Any good articles to share pertaining to AFR heads, or setting up valvetrain for them?

Thank you in advance guru's

93Polo

I would decide on your cam and then go from there.

Mantons are very nice but if you are not running HPDEs which make the oil restricted option a nice feature and are running standard travel lifter a standard 3/8" such as a Tick pushrod if it fits would be a more cost effective reliable option.

ErikwithAK01

I am gonna do a Street Sweeper HT cam...buuut I can't pass up an almost new set of AFR heads for $1K off It will also be at least till next summer before I do the rest, so I won't need my hi-po stuff yet, unless THAT much spring dictates it.

I wonder If I would need to drill out the aftermarket castings to fit 3/8" pushrods. Are 3/8 really tjat much cheaper?

93Polo

Tick 3/8" are $105

http://www.tickperformance.com/1998-...o-firebird-14/

neutron82

have you considered hanging onto the heads until you get the rest of the parts together and do it all at once?

93Polo

Also, I would have the heads CC'd to find out the chamber volume so that you will know if they have been decked and the compression ratio they will produce.

ErikwithAK01

The guy says they were used in dyno comparisons for a bottom end combo his company was developing, and they were left stock outta the box, so I know they aren't modified. They are 64cc chambers, std AFR deck, no additional milling. He had 5 sets of different CNC big name heads, but these were the best value IMO.

I would love to do it all together, but I think I'm gonna have to buy the wife a new dining set or something expensive and sparkly before I buy the stuff for a cam That is SERIOUSLY going to put my next major mods out at least a year On top of that, I am spending MORE having to add YT shaft rockers to these high dollar heads then I would my whole cam swap...so the cam is gonna wait.

I don't really mind getting tuned twice (touch up tunes at my tuner only cost $200), I will make more power in the interim, and it will be a bit more of a sleeper heads only until I can afford to go all out on peripherals with a new cam. Plus, if I do the top end now, I will be able to put a new set of lifters in, and then NOT have to remove my heads when I do the cam, which will save me a bunch of time and effort.

ErikwithAK01

The search for the perfect street setup continues...Now I am looking at different cams, and am having a hard time determining which ones are more aggressive than others. I want something in the 228-232 sort of duration; these are what I am considering...

LG G5x1
Vengeance VRx4
Street Sweeper HT

Which one is the least aggressive on the valvetrain? I am having a heck of a time finding lift numbers on these cams @ 0.005 and 0.050

Also, does someone sill carry/produce the AFR 6016 cam??? Having a hard time finding that one online...

DetroitPlac

Take a look at the Brian Tooley Racing Stage 2 Cam

227/234 .614"/.576" 113+2

Lift isn't too crazy, which is what you want to be gentle on the valvetrain. It's got great top end, which would really shine with those heads, but still plenty of power all around.

https://www.briantooleyracing.com/ls...ge-ii-cam.html

ErikwithAK01

More research it is I really like that cam the more I look into it.

93Polo

Easy on valvetrain? I still say EPS or CamMotion Titan 4.

I would not go Comp XE-R lobes which I believe the G5X1 was ground on. LG may have changed it since I last researched that cam many years ago. My research selecting a cam last year was the XE-R is a decent lobe but there are lobe profiles which are more stable and make better power now both from Comp and other manufacturers.

Googling ls1tech using the Comp lobe series (LXL, XFI, HUC, XE-R) for example search "lsk lobes site:ls1tech.com" will return loads of information
https://ls1tech.com/forums/generatio...lsk-lobes.html

Whatsa347

^ EPS (which is Cam Motion) and Cam Motion themselves make some great camshafts. Since your heads flow so well, a smaller split is pretty ideal, maybe Futral F13 as well. The Streetsweeper HT is the easiest on the valvetrain compared to the G5X1 or VRX4 (they used to be on XE-R lobes, don't know if they are anymore) For rockers, contact TSP about their new rocker's, much stronger and lighter and have CHE bushing kit's than anything from Yella Terra and they actually stand behind their products when they do break.

93Polo

I remember seeing Vengeance uses CamMotion. I would call them and discuss the cam. EPS I believe has their own lobes with CamMotion.

ErikwithAK01

You guys are a tremendous help, thank you I learn more every day here

Ok here it is. I have figured on a cam. I think the SSHT has too much overlap, and will make my (effectively straight through) exhaust too foul for my taste. I am now between the BTR stage 2, and the Titan 4, leaning towards the titan.

I have been doing research on my rockers, and decided a good roller rocker for my application is appropriate. I have had my eye on the YT Ultralites for a while now, but just discovered these new roller rockers from TSP, and think I might just get those. They are only 8 GRAMS heavier at the nose! It seems almost all the ones I've seen add 20 something grams to the nose.

So, I wanna go with those, since I have heads with bronze guides coming and need the roller; I'm thinking I might as well save some weight on the highspeed side of the valvetrain right? Well, I noticed that they are actually 1.72 ratio, not 1.70 like the stock units. So I am wondering....

If I ran these rockers and used the cams I listed above, would that change what spring you would recommend additional lift wise?

Would it change the spring recommendation at all due to the reduced weight over the nose?

Would I have to worry about PTV clearance with the additional lift 0.02" adds to the rocker ratio?

Potential cam specs in the pictures...

DetroitPlac

Haha, I was deciding between those two cams as well! They's so similar in specs, I don't think you can go wrong and both will likely perform very similarly. I ended up with the BTR cam because BTR was running a sale at the time (black friday, great time to pick up car parts!).

In terms of PTV, duration is the number you want to look at, not so much lift. The extra lift from the 1.72 rockers probably won't matter too much. But from my experience, you don't want to go with a bigger cam than you've spec'd as you'll likely need to flycut the pistons.

ErikwithAK01

Let me pick your brain about that BTR cam you got. What did you run for your valvetrain? Are you using BTR dual springs with that cam? What heads, and rockers are you using? What pushrods have you got? Are you an M6 or A4?

Most importantly, what do you like about it? Did it add a lot of volume to your exhaust?

DetroitPlac

Car is a 2003 M6 car.

I want a little more mild route with heads because it's what I found for a good deal on craigslist . Livernois Stage III 243's. They're Livernois top and most aggressive option, but still 243's. Slightly larger valves, Livernois dual springs (up to .7" lift!), titanium retainers. I'm using stock rockers with the Straub trunnion upgrade kit, I figured I wouldn't get much use out of more. I also went with LS7 lifters and BTR 5/16" pushrods...again because I figured I wouldn't get much use out of more. My car is a 99% street car, with very occasional road course and auto-x use.

Can't deny the benefit of fancy pushrods and rockers, but diminishing returns kick-in fast above stock parts, IMO. For a street car like mine, stock valvetrain parts and basic pushrods seemed fine. The only thing is I have some valve noise, which I think is due to the LS7 lifters. I don't think they like the lift. Running on the shorter side of pre-load helped, but if I could do it again, I'd probably go for the drop-in Morel lifters.

Car goes for a dyno tune on the 28th, but it absolutely RIPS on the street. Solid midrange, but when it hits 4k RPM... HOLD ON. It does not stop pulling up top. My tuner and I set the rev limiter at 6,800 to be safe, but it wants to keep going...hard to believe there's much valve float. We'll see what the dyno chart looks like. The cam seems to respond really well to high flowing heads like mine (and what you're looking at), so I couldn't be more pleased. I'd buy the cam again in a second.

I'm surprised by the exhaust note. I'm running XS Power catted long tube headers into stock Z06 Ti mufflers. I'm going for more of a stealth exhaust note, but was going to sell the Ti's before the cam because they were too quiet. The cam added a surprising amount of sound volume from idle on up to the point where it ended up perfect for me. If you've got a loud exhaust already, it's going to be LOUD.

Also, I personally really like the 113 LSA lope because you can tell it's not stock, but it doesn't sound like a 1960's speedboat. Perfect blend of modified and staying true to the Corvette feel.

DetroitPlac

I also swapped to 4.10 gears, which was the best thing I've done to the car yet. Since you have an auto, I'd consider swapping to a manual 3.42 diff at some point down the road. With high revving cam and heads, it just amplifies the awesome.

ErikwithAK01

Thank you very much, I think I've found my cam

I plan on doing an SS3200 and RPM 3.73's the next go 'round of go fast parts

First stage was bolt ons, second stage is gonna be heads, third will be the cam, 4th will be the rearend stuff, 5th will be max effort bolt ons (better headers, FAST intake, already have a Callaway Honker), if there IS a 6th it might be a blower but once the car is putting down 400+wh I think I'm gonna have a hard time convincing my wife I need more especially another $6000+ more!

Side note, I plan to drill the heads out to accept traditional 3/8" push rods while I'm saving up to buy my ridiculously expensive rocker setup

DetroitPlac

The heads won't already take 3/8" pushrods?

Maybe it's because it's the route I went, but I think a heads/cam/gear C5 is the best C5. I spin 1st and 2nd with what I have, I can't imagine even more power. The power delivery with free flowing heads and a medium sized cam is pretty fantastic. Solid mid-range and I love the feeling when revving it high with all the power up there, and with the gears, it's amplified that much more.

If you go with a blower, you want less aggressive gears to put the power down. No way I'd do it with my 4.10's. But then I'm giving up acceleration from gears for more power from the engine. It's all a trade-off, but I think you'll love the car at the end.