Corvey-licious

A mechanic told me I need to do a fuel upgrade if I do a cam swap. Is that true? If so, what would be the cost of something like that?

robert miller

Don't see you need a fuel upgrade on a cam swap only to the car here at all. Now the cost for all the labor & cam & part will run you a good 3,k plus with you having to pay for a tune & turn key let say. A tune will cost you a min of 600.00 cam 400.00 all gasket & part and labor 2,k to 2500.00.. Robert

FYREANT

$5,000, installed, and tuned.

$400 for a cam alone? you're forgetting you need to pull the heads to change the valve springs, installer the phaser limiter, change the lifters and trays, etc. your tune pricing is pretty accurate though..

Vengeance Racing has a "cam kit plus" kit with a cam, with all the add-ons for the cam for $2,000. Plus $600-$800 for a tune, brings you up to about $2,800. Add about $2,200 for install, and yep, you're at about $5,000. Install takes a lot on the LT1 as it requires the engine be lifted or the lower cradle dropped since the oil pan must come off to get the oil pump and timing stuff off..

FlatPlaneCrankDreams

Ported MSD intake manifold or ported oem manifold, ported throttle body and flex fuel e85 will get you running pretty stout.

Based on dyno graphs, the MSD carries the power up a little better but the ported oem manifold has it beat everywhere else.

The Edgyvette ported throttlebody and intake manifold is only $500 after core returns.

I really want to cam my car too, but it is so cost prohibitive. To put things into perspective I paid 4K for my new supercharger kit.

bigsapper

Everyone I've talked to stated they'll pull the engine. It's just easier that way. That included quotes on doing a cam in a truck.

Corvey-licious

Do you have to make any modifications to the car for that? Or is it strictly a tune?

ilivas

I'm on stock fuel system with a cam and supercharger making 786whp. You don't need to upgrade fuel system for a cam.

Make sure to get a cam with the increased fuel lobe.

FYREANT

This is accurate. In order to run E85, you MUST upgrade the fuel system. Some of us can only run about E45 blend since we cannot flow enough fuel after upgrading all the high side stuff.

By getting a cam with a 32% fuel lobe, you ARE upgrading the fuel system lol. Still have to do a lash cap though to provide proper preload on the pump

ilivas

When you say fuel system, I was thinking injectors/fuel pump, etc.

Yes, the lash cap as well.

Little Red Corvette1

$5K to $6K..
Complete fuel delivery upgrade not needed.
Increased fuel lobe may not be needed.
My install was defect free.
There are many opportunities for the installer to introduce defects.
Your installer should have done four or five C7 cam installs, before I would let him do this modification.

FlatPlaneCrankDreams

Many people have reported of gains of 30whp with just the e85. All you have to do is buy a flex fuel sensor and get tuned for it. It will allow you to switch between regular gas and e85 seamlessly.

From a quick search with everything I recommended you can expect to dyno 470-480whp and run very low 11s @125mph.

Reach out to Edgyvette to get the real answer on e85 fueling needs. I'm certain you don't need any upgrades. I don't think I would trust a tuner that doesn't know his stuff.

robert miller

ANT, just tell him it cost to play even more these day's with these car's.

OP here if me & going to this point on a cam I would also do a set of pistons in the car also. Robert

davepl

Wow... five grand to install a cam. That was the second serious mod I ever did, back when I was 16, and it took me an afternoon, some hand tools, and about $300... on a 1969 Pontiac, that is.

Clearly swapping the cam in a C7 is a little more invasive and difficult!

Long gone are the days when you could rebuild 75% of a Chevy with a 9/16" wrench and a screwdriver!

FYREANT

Most definitely. Its quite labor intensive. I have dozens of photos from my build that I will use to write a guide on how to do it... when I have time to write it of course.. lol

bigsapper

Now you can replace the intake manifold without touching the cooling system.

But you have to drop the pan to swap cams.

Two steps forward, one step back.

NinjamanZ51

Yeah at $5k, you can buy an LT4 shortblock and spend a touch more to do a cam install with an engine stand. Then you can install the LT4 shortblock for cheap and turn around and sell the LT1 to recoup the cost.

kdejac

I just did exactly what you want to do. I had a mild cam installed, along with the E85 flex fuel sensor and a mild tune as I drive the car everyday! cost was $3500 out the door with me purchasing the flex fuel sensor. 2014 Z51 A6.


With a very conservative tune, I put down 477hp, 465 Tq.


Good Luck

davepl

It's funny because I'm in two threads at the moment - this one, where it costs $5000 to change a cam, and one in the C7Tech forum where they're saying you can upgrade an LT1 to LT4 power for $6000. Unlikely that both can be true!

FYREANT

Not exactly. You can buy a blower kit, headers, and meth for $6000 if you do the install yourself. You could even squeeze a tune in there under $6k. That will get you to Z06 power.

davepl

Well yeah, but by the same token, you can buy a cam for $300 and do the work yourself. To compare apples to apples, can't compare sweat equity vs paying a shop!

Parts and labour on a blower install to go from LT1 to LT4 power runs more like $20K (my brother did that on his Camaro, a neighbor did it, pretty common). That's the drycleaner (drop off, pick up later) version of it, anyway.