Well shoot...so many threads, so little time. Then there's that confused mind that I have to deal with

If you're there to pin the crank anyway, and you don't want a big rumpy cam, the LS9 cam isn't a bad way to go. LS2,3,6,9 springs are the same. As long as your plans don't include big boost and spinning that thing to the moon, your stock LS2 springs are good with the LS9 cam.

 

You in Detroit? Who's tuning this bad boy?

 

Not 100% sure ... was thinking Dr Phil ... but my good friends Vito and Hugo might have me check someone else out... also heard Livernois Motorsports does good work

 

Considering the labor is the same I would never bother with an LS9 cam. The gains are not significant enough to make it worthwhile.

 

yes... I got this much from the post here.... my brother contacted LIL John today to see what we will end up going with.... best cam setup for my car

 

Yes, labor to swap just the cam is the same. LS9 cam can be had for +/- $125. Custom cam will cost $400-500. A hundred + for pushrods, 250 to 300 for springs, and quite a bit of labor to swap springs. None of that needed for an LS9 cam. For someone wanting a mild cam and a mild parts and labor bill, the LS9 cam isn't a bad way to go.

 

I won't run an LS9 cam on stock LS2/3 springs. It will get Pac 1218s and chromoly 5/16 pushrods as well. I know people do just swap the cam and cam gear but that isn't the right way to do it. The gains from a change of just an LS9 cam from an LS2 cam are pretty poor for the effort. People get confused because they pulley down when swapping in the LS9 and think the gains are more from the cam when in reality its the pulley making the larger difference. A good boost cam on the other hand can have major gains.

I am still of the opinion that if you are going to do it do it right or just save the bills altogether and keep the stock cam.

 

 

Custom cam for a stock LS2 (apart from SC)?

How custom is that?

Keep the stock cam.

 

You can get any cam Comp or Cam Motion makes for that price range. Make it as mild or as wild as you want. That sounds fairly custom to me.

 

Of course.

But how "custom" that would be for a stock LS2?

In other words: if your build is "custom", then get a custom cam.

If you have a stock LS2, then, well...

 

There's more than a few LS2's running stock long blocks with custom cams. Are all those guys doing it wrong? Must you have a forged bottom end to run a custom cam?

 

I'm with oldmotorhead on if you have to pull the front end of the engine down, remove steering rack, radiator support, etc., then it's nothing to pull the balancer and timing cover off and slip a LS9 cam in there, which would clearly make better power than a stock LS2 cam - especially for boost - and you would get some extra power, for just a little extra labour cost, without having to change any other valve train components. For a cam change on a budget, that can't be beat, especially with the cost of the LS9 cam at ~$125.00.
If it were me, I would get a custom cam ground for a stock LS2 motor (yes, I do understand what that means - i.e. a stock compression, 6.0 liter with stock cathedral port heads) with some extra exhaust timing and a wider LSA for boost, and change the springs to some PAC beehives and install better pushrods. That would involve just a bit more labour, so it shouldn't break the bank just to change valve springs.
As far as cam specs go, if you want to keep it quiet without too big of an impact on mileage, just tell your cam guy that you want a lobe with a mild ramp, and keep the intake duration at 0.050" less than 218* with about another 10* on the exhaust and an LSA of 116+*.
Also, bear in mind that the LS9 cam was designed for the rectangular port heads, which tend to need a much wider intake/exhaust duration split than the cathedral port heads, which I why I would personally go with a custom grind for cathedral port heads, although I don't know if that makes a world of a difference.
Just my 2 cents, FWIW...

 

Thanks for all the great info it sounds like that's exactly what I'm going to do is get a custom grind

 

You will not find on any cam company's web site the best cam for a custom applycation. If you have three guys and all have the same combination we may make three different cams depending on how they want there car to preform. You can also ask three different cams guys like Martin Pat G or me and we may come up with cams a little different from each other. So one of the most diffiluct problem we have is to get the cam to preform the way you want it to preform. Custom cars are always the best however there are quite a few that will work fine. Kip

 

I went with a LS9 cam in my build and I know I am leaving power on the table because of it. Probably 50 or more HP.

AES 399" Forged & Stroked LS3 with an A&A V2 Ti.

I am now looking into a cam more tailored for my set up.

Wish I would have done that to being with!!

 

I tell this to people all of the time. It is cheaper to do it once then twice.

 

The best cam is the cam that fits your needs. To be specific, you have to be able to tell the cam guru what you expectations are of the cam. I've used 2 different cams on the same engine, n/a and sc. Two different cam gurus and both provided me exactly what I wanted. So talk to the guru and answer the questions honestly.

 

Thank you.... I'm most definitely learning so much about cams right now lol

 

And it's not just the (custom) cam.

Add two tuner gurus into the picture as well.

You'd probably get two different results even with the same cam...

In other words, it's the combination of mechanical/electrical components and the tune.

With two different tuners but with exactly the same engine/cam, the other car might be undrivable on the street but the other one being just fine.

The best cam for your car depends both the cam guru and the tuner guru. :-)