EDIT: The title was supposed to say 'help me make a final decision.' but I hit 'post thread' too soon.

Hey gang,
I'm trying to narrow down my cam choice and am still torn between a couple different options. I plan on doing the heads at a later date and am still undecided on Trickflow 225s or ported stockers, but I'm leaning on the latter.

I have a couple questions for each option.

Background Info: I'm doing the install in my garage and will be having Jeremy Formato take care of the tune. All the options will have a 25% UD pulley, ARP hardware, appropriate springs, retainers, and all supporting hardware to go along with it.

Goals: Run 10s@132 or higher while maintaining streetability, the car is my daily driver

Option A) 230/238 .605/.615 cam from Pat G.
This cam puts me at ~.080 PTV which leaves little room for a thinner gasket or milling, but the car should run very well with it and may very well put me at my goal with all the other supporting mods. The original goal was to be cam-only and hit 10s@13x with good street manners.

Option B) Spinmonster 230/234
Question: Can I use .040 Cometic Gaskets in combination with the stock heads milled to .035 without having to flycut? I would expect the CR to be roughly 11.5:1 and with a decent set of ported LS3 heads, I should be at 515-535whp which should be more than enough for a 13x trap.

Option C) LG G6X3
I've seen multiple people comment on how big and strong that cam is, but the fact of it being a max effort cam and having such huge lift will require the pistons be flycut with any thinner gasket or milling.
Question 1: Because of the different valve angle on the Trickflow 225s, would it still be necessary to flycut the pistons if .040 Cometics and .035 milling are implemented on the Trickflows?
Question 2: Would the power/et/mph gain but substantial enough over Option A to warrant the additional ~$2,000 spent on the heads and more expensive cam? I realize this is a very subjective question but I'm curious to hear the opinions of the forum.


Thoughts? Opinions?

 

I'd recommend 235 TF heads or small bore LS7 if you're swapping the heads. You have to know more than the duration to figure PTV clearance and you need to determine what you're comfortable with.

 

From what I understand by talking to some of the experts, .080 is the industry standard for PTV and .065 is the absolute limit so I'm not trying to go any further than that.

I have all the information on the 230/238 as it was recommended by Pat and he sent the exact same specs for it.

 

I'd decide on the heads now and match your cam to the heads and CR you choose. When you do the heads later, your cam will work but probably will not be optimal. I'd choose the trickflows and target 11.5:1 CR if it is in your budget. You know they'll make the power to achieve your track goals and the smaller port volumes should help tame the cam for daily driver duties.

I'd use a 10% ATI Superdamper rather than a typical 25% UD pulley.

 

The trickflows are very expensive so it would be some time before I can pick them up, not to mention I'll need new rockers, etc to go with them.

Are there guys/gals out there trapping in the 130s cam-only without having a mess of a car to daily drive?

 

I'm uneducated--I thought the 'standard' was the 25% UD-- why do you say the 10% ATI?

 

I agree with you on the PTV clearance, if you feel that way I'd reconsider the G6X3 as I hear it's around .020". I believe TurboVic knocked down 130mph cam only as well as LS3yeager. You'll also need a new intake with the heads as well.

 

Fair enough, Pat told me I'd have .080 with his cam selection and that is kind of what I'm leaning towards.

 

The ATI unit is going to help with engine harmonics as it a damper. When I talked with ATI, the technician told me that around 500 HP was where they stopped using the 25% unit and only recommend the 10% unit as the 10% unit is bigger and can provide more dampening.

 

An LS3 with the right combination of work, quality parts, craftsmanship, tune etc. will put down the numbers you're looking for. I'm curious why you're looking at UD pulley's, fly-cutting, potential PTV issues, thinner gaskets, milled heads etc etc? I'm certainately no builder, but it seems the more of those types of things you do, there would be a corresponding reduction in dependability. Also, are you going to stay strictly N/A, or do you think you may add to that down the road as that's a consideration when laying the foundation.

You know what I did with mine, and it's putting down the numbers and rock solid - albeit it wasn't inexpensive.

Looking forward to following your build. These are fantastic cars to do this stuff to.

FF

 

Joe G used the G5X3 with cometic 0.040 head gaskets and didn't flycut. If I remember correctly, he was at 0.047 PTV. The G6X3 is a larger cam and will eat up even more PTV.

Cometic gaskets alone will get a stock LS2 to 11.4 CR without milling the heads. I have Spin's 230/234 cam and have 0.065 PTV with just cometic gaskets and no milling.

I would think that you would need a max effort cam to be 10's at 13X with ported LS2 heads. Also, I hear that Trickflow heads have different angles on the valves so flycutting shouldn't be an issue.

Hope this helps,
Sean

 

He has an LS3 with a much larger intake valve limiting his PTV clearance The Trick Flows or small bore LS7 heads will both increase PTV clearance with their different angled valves and I agree that you should decide on the heads before you choose the cam.

 

I'm almost positive he has an LS2. His last dyno before the heads was 450 rwhp... No way an LS3 with full bolt ons and cam would read that.

Sean

 

I don't think they had JSB before '08

 

I think Pre-Z06 is saying the OP, me, has an LS3--which I do.

The reason for the UD pulley are many--1)it's free HP when you're doing a cam swap as you already have to remove the pulley anyway, why not pick up an additional 6-10whp in the process? and 2) if you're going to be spinning the rpms higher than they're specced for, you want to slow them down to save on the wear/tear of the parts.

At this point, heads are not in my budget. I think I'm going to trust Pat's original recommendation and do with the 230/238. I'll be at .080 clearance which is plenty and if I get to the point where no more power is possible without changing heads, I'll consider the Trickflows with a fast and 102mm TB.

I've also thought about the Cartek heads/cam package but have yet to contact them about their product. I know of 1 guy who was hitting 10.6s@13x with that package and 3.73 gears.

Ugh, why do there have to be so many damn choices???

 

Sorry about that. I didn't pick up on the fact that you had an LS3. I meant that Joe G had an LS2, but that doesn't make a much difference since we arent comparing apples to apples anymore.