I would take any advice from @RonSSNova
He has built one heck of a street car doing low 11’s, maybe even high 10’s, and you can get in it and drive it everyday. I’ve done some of the things he has done, maybe a little different. I’ve never opened up the LS1 before, but mine has LG headers, custom tuned, VR intake, 3.73 gears and 3200 converter. If you don’t care about gas mileage, 3.90 gear and 3600 converter with sticky tires will certainly launch that car. 3.42 or 3.73 gear will be fine if you do a lot of highway driving. Mine turns about 2600RPM at 77mph. I think the 3.42 gear will turn about 2300-2400RPM at 77mph. 3.90 gear will turn 2700-2800 at 77mph. That’s cruising in OD. If you want big cam, your probably going to need at least a 3600 converter.

 

Thx. Beast. I've read alot of threads on headers; and Kooks seems to lead the parade. will look at lg. Probably 80% of driving will be under interstate speed. Just like my "Harley days" ---- which I miraculously survived ---- the fun is in the stoplight-to-stoplight. Your comment just adds fuel to "JD, change the diff". I want this to be a "one-and-done" upgrade. So, in addition to converter looking at RPM transmission or letting local shop rebuild trannie.

 

Enough of the arguing and personal attacks, Please stick to helpful comments - or expect rules violations,

 

I have the BTR stage 3 cam in my '99. It has a pretty aggressive lope, shakes the car at idle, and gives me a 6700 RPM rev. I paired it with a set of TSP PRC 225 heads. While it did add power, it shifted my torque curve to the point that the car isn't happy under 3500 RPM. I am kind of reading through your posts wondering if there is any LS1 camshaft out there that will give you the same low-end grunt your old rig gave you, and nothing comes to mind. There is only so much torque 346 cubes can crank out. If I had my rathers, I would have gone with a BTR stage 2 and a set of AFR 205s. That would give better low and mid-range than a high-revving stage 3. But really, it sounds like you would be better off stroking it up to a 383. There are many days I wish I had done that while the engine was out of the car for my build. Just some things to think about.

 

The Trackweapon cam gets good notoriety for midrange torque. But the cam still lands in the typical rwtq range in an LS1, between 380 to 390wtq (to dainon's point). Peak whp will typically range from 390 to 430whp with a cam/heads swap and the right supporting mods in an LS1. Rearwheel torque on the other hand won't be too impressive without stroking it.

And once you get into this ball of yarn you're likely better off starting with an LS3 swap these days.

And if you get yourself into a peaky cam you absolutely want to change the gear drive ratio . It makes a very significant impact on acceleration and driveabilty (but I can only speak from an MN6 perspective).

Go FI right from jump. For the cost associated with either direction an otherwise stock C5 (with upgraded springs and solid tune) with FI is going to be a blast with good power on tap that drives like stock when cruising around, but will rip when getting into boost.

 

Johnny said this exact thing to me during my build exploration thread. $10K and two years of driving around on 400WHP later, I can honestly tell you I really wish I had listened.

 

QQ......You have a 99 and let it rev up to 6700rpm.....I was under the impression that the 99 and under, maybe the 2000 too have very suspect rod bolts. That being said, running the car past 6400 rpm is playing with fire from what I was told. I purposely tuned my supercharged 99 to have a limit at 6400. Has anybody actually had issues with the rod bolts???

 

That is the first time I have ever heard that. Can you provide a link so I can read about the suspect failures?

 

[ I paired it with a set of TSP PRC 225 heads.

[/QUOTE]
any thoughts on just swapping my 241's for 243's? The valves are much better quality and the springs seem capable of handling the additional strain. Also, did you put headers/exhaust system on yours ?

 

any thoughts on just swapping my 241's for 243's? The valves are much better quality and the springs seem capable of handling the additional strain. Also, did you put headers/exhaust system on yours ?[/QUOTE]

I've had three sets of heads on this car. The 853s it came with, a set of AFR Enforcer 210s, and the PRC 225s. The Enforcer and the PRCs made within 1 horsepower of each other. Without adding more cubes (stroker), the 346 combustion chamber can't take advantage of the higher flowing heads. In essence, I lose velocity and it ended up being a big waste of money. I called Rick at AFR when I discovered this, and he flat out told me the best head for my cam was the AFR 205. More compression with the 58cc chamber makes this head provide more power under the curve. Having said that, ported 243s are probably going to provide the best bang for the buck, but the 205 is going to give the best result on a stock bottom end but you would have to decide if the price is worth the mere handful of more horsepower.

Because I live in an I/M county, I have to pass emissions for four more years. So, my exhaust is stock except for a Dynomax Super Turbo axle-back kit. If I added some headers and lost the cats, I might pick up another 25-30 HP, but not worth the federal fine and a car impound..

After spending so much money and learning the stage 2 cam and smaller head would have been better, I really do wish I had just stuck the A&A on it and been done. This experience has left me hungry for more power and a lot smaller bank account. Now I am in a spot where I could spend $3500 getting the 205s, then a Fast 102 intake, and maybe some shorties and a Corsa or Magnaflow catback, but I would be in the area of $5000-$6000 more to pick up maybe 50 more horsepower.

So, if you want to max out the butt dyno, the A&A is the way to go. If you want a deep rumbling-choppy idle car that is fun to drive between 2500 and 6000 RPM, the milder cam and free flowing heads are the answer.

 

Lol.. Well I don't track the car so I never run it at that. It only sees above 6200 when some WRX or tuned coal-rolling Dodge truck needs a lesson. Just once in a while. lol

 

I tried!!! On the bright side...there's still time. I ran NA heads/cam/gear setups for two decades before adding the Novi 1500.

I also wish I had done it sooner, but I'm also glad I have a nice lopey cam to go with the boost. I'm mostly satisfied with my car now. Especially for as little as I drive it theses days. It went from my daily for 8 yrs with heads/cam/4.11... to somewhat of a garage queen that I rarely get to enjoy.

 

Decisions. Decisions. Decisions. No question the best bang for the buck is A&A. I would go that route in a skinny minute EXCEPT I have a 19-year-old son and 16-year-old daughter. Earlier this summer my son finally got his driver's license right before his 19th birthday and four days later totaled my Dodge ram diesel pickup straightening out a curve because he was on his effing phone and did not see the big yellow sign 100 yards before indicating sharp curve. My daughter has a heavy right foot that always gets her in trouble on Life 360 app. She just can't seem to control the 300 hp 3.0 L twin turbocharged 2014 hand-me-down BMW 535i. Point being, neither one of my children is mature enough to handle a supercharged Corvette, especially since I know they will be egged on by friends to "show me what she's got. And, it would cause way too much family dissension with a selfish "no, that's daddy's car and you can't drive it." House rule, especially since the car was bought for me and my motorhead daughter to "tweak"..
Like you, I'm trying to figure out how I can wisely buy some torque, horsepower, and "don't f with me" sound, hoping like hell it is a one and done upgrade .

 

My heads and cam 2000 had the limiter set at 7k, I'd shift 6,500ish. I didn't have a problem, nor did the next owner. The way we drove which included mountain runs, some track time, and foolish 20 something year old things, I didn't worry about rod bolts but I would change valve springs every 30k miles or so at heads and cam power levels. If you're going forced induction or nitrous, I might take a look at rod bolts.

Some conversation on the topic, LS1tech had many topics which can be found with google searches.
https://ls1tech.com/forums/generatio...gen3-rods.html

If you're going for the power needed to change rod bolts, IMO pull the pistons re gap the rings and re torque with new rods bolts to measure rod bolt stretch.

As for cam talk, IMO a cam only maybe worth it depending on goals. More in the topic linked below which also links Prop Joe's topic, both good reads.

https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...-cam-swap.html

 

MY '99 NA had the redline set at 6700 rpms as well. But not on stock internals. I went many years without issue. Well, until I floated a valve and smoked cylinder 7 due to an aggressive over rev (missed 5th racing a bike). Which then lead me down the fully forged path and ultimately the supercharger.

You best beware of those coal-rollin Dodge trucks. My 20 yr old nephew has two of them that both make over 900whp and 1300lb ft at the wheels. His brother has a 6.0 Ford making about the same. Those diesel pickups with big turbos rip 11s all day. And then tow your C5 (mine in this case) home from Island Dragway after leaving parts of my diff all over the tarmac.

 

I bounced the rev limiter at the top of 4th doing something like that. I had a LS6 block, crank and heads waiting for money and then a 388 all bore build at the time. Thankfully no damage.

 

Ahh... Yeah, that would tend to put a damper on max HP.

In that case, I find the BTR Stage 3 more streetable than I had thought it would be. It sounds great and does give you a significant bump in power, just at higher RPM than I think is ideal. Comp Cams had a 223/231 with .610 and I think about 112 degrees, and TSP had simliar when I was looking. But I got greedy and pulled the trigger on the Stage 3. It's more fun out on the open road, two lane highway kind of thing. I am certain a smaller cam would have more low end and be more fun in town and between lights. Fortunately my daughter is scared to death of mine, and my wife thinks it's too loud and it stinks. She thinks I ruined it with the upgrades..

I hope any of this was helpful. Maybe I'll grab a go-pro and post some pulls and cruise videos.

 

A sad tale indeed!

Live hard JH..

Respect!

 

I think our wives might be related. Everybody who comes over insisted I crank up my C3 454 and loved the sound. She always complained she could hear me before she could see me coming home. Daughter, on the other hand gets a kick out of all the thumbs up.
Yes, all good stuff you are giving. I am definitely looking to build something with more low-end G forces, which is why I am almost committed to a RPM .373. I was hoping to get by with doing some upgrading but part of my success mantra is "do it right the first time".
Again, with 98,000 miles I don't want to add so much horsepower the stock parts --- camshaft, bearings, pistons, rings, etc. --- end up on the roadway. So, now looking at a total rebuild like I did with the 454--- yank it; take it down to the block; send that to the machine shop; bore it to 383; and it put back together upgrading any defective parts. My daughter would absolutely love that. Ditto for transmission. Since I have to drop it to replace the torque converter may as well get a reputable shop to rebuild or give RPM some more money. Decisions decisions decisions.

 

I would not even think of it for a street car. There are thousands of LS platforms running FI with a stock bottom end. Of course there is always someone out there that will beat the **** out of a car until it grenades.....