The cam is 230/234 .612 xfi/.598 xer 114+2 with stock heads

A lot of time has passed since the the daily driver good manners cam was introduced. The cam was initially designed to not buck and surge and to have a minimal lope for the casual driver that wanted to get 95% of the gains possible from a cam swap with few of the manner issues associated with big cams. It was designed to have only 4 degrees overlap to achieve this. Critics of the design all said that the cam would benefit from a bigger split with more exhaust duration so I had the same cam ground with a 230/242 profile instead of a 230/234 and the result was a 3hp difference but the added exhaust duration gave it 4 more degrees overlap and thus is didn't drive as well. That's the difference between theorists and practitioners.

Here is a fairly recent claim about the cam specs. I have had input from people like this for 17 years. I gave up.
A typical result (not the strongest result):



One of the issues with the cam was that in order to have the intake runner fill needed to make power without overlap, I was limited to the aggressive ramp rate lobes available back in 2008. Since then the cam could be had with softer lobes but still makes great power. To this day, I still receive requests for cam specs and I have to keep saying that I don't design max effort cams and I didn't make this cam to be the max power cam that it keeps being compared to.

A curiosity I have always had was to once and for all have an answer to the biggest question I have had about this cam: longevity of valve springs. If you wouldn't mind, please post to say hello and let me know how many miles you ran the cam for with the same springs. I am simply looking for the data point.

I hope this post finds you all well and enjoying life.

 

Subscribed 😎

 

I have had Spin's cam in my 08 LS3 M6 corvette for just over 5k miles and while it is put away for the year it is the best cam IMO for the LS3. Makes great power and drives 98% like stock. Atleast mine does...

Here are some videos for you guys. I have uploaded tons of videos on my YouTube channel as people were reaching out to me inquiring for more details.


and it moves out well...


Thanks again Spin! I hope everyone chooses this cam! I am adding boost to mine hopefully next year. Should make 700-800whp on E with the ECS Novi 1500 blower kit.

 

I ran it with a maxed out Paxton 2200 head unit and it made 822rw. I was beside myself reading just now on LS1tech how it would run like crap because it doesn't have enough exhaust duration. CF member have been installing this cam since 2008 and no one ever said it ran bad. In days of old, I'd be arguing with strangers. Who cares at this point. Guys believe what they want to believe. I'm glad it worked out for you.

Mine didn't have a stock idle but it ran with zero issues.

 

Mr. Spin, so you good to see you post & hear from you. I've always respected your attention to detail & your practicality! I don't spend much time on this forum anymore as the good guys like yourself have moved on to other things. Myself I have max effort LS3 stroker that I have re cam'd 3 times. 17.5* overlap disaster designed by a big name LS head guy spewing a bunch of BS. Then a good tuner came up with 10.5* overlap cam that helped dramatically. The current cam shaft has 4.5*, I'm struggling a little to get the perfect manners.....anyone could drive the car @ this point.

The interesting part of these cam swaps is their has never been a power penalty. Each cam change has improved the under curve power & day & night difference in drive ability......I always think of your builds when you were active here.

A tuning friend of mine made a post here that never went anywhere, I'm wondering if you might have a look & see what you think!

https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...ag-racing.html

 

The oil pressure drop was often a result of aftermarket oil pumps sending all the oil to the top of the motor leaving nothing down low to pick up. Was it an after market or ported oil pump?

 

I've let Ron know you have replied here, I don't want to comment on his behalf.......will get something wrong Ha!

 

Melling M295, nothing fancy. STD volume.

Thanks for responding!

You too CTD.....😊

 

It is often the issue. Is it the stock displacement? Stock redline?

The HV uses a different spring to boost pressure for such applications and may move too much oil to the top of the engine during very high RPM launches.

It may reach limits if the max RPM limit was raised. The spring in the pump may not be doing its job right

 

Stock displacement. Max rpm is 6700.
The M295 pump is stock replacement.

Auto trans car that pulls 1.2-1.45 G on the launch.

Converter flashes to 4000 rpm, so compared to a stick car, not all that high rpm at launch.

Pressure recovers as soon as it’s in 2nd gear and is 60+ psi until the finish line.

With the oil stacking up in the back of the pan at launch, and the pickup being in the middle of the pan I think the pickup becomes uncovered briefly.

I was was just wondering if it happens to other C6 owners who drag race.

Ron

 

I’ll figure this out myself.

Thanks.

 

I think most are oblivious to oil pressure at launch. Me included. I have a few 10 sec runs under my belt. Probably none leaving at hard as yours though. I guess I would have looked closer had I scattered an LS3. I know I probably should have, but have never had a lap top hooked up during a run. Good of you to bring it up though

 

Well thank you! I just try to pay attention to this stuff.
Its not a drag car, but works pretty well .

ron

 

Hey Spin, really good to see this recent thread with you identified as starter. Thanks for the contributions over so many years.

Running your cam with TSP lobes using .629/.615 lift combination see used by several including Pat G on his Stage 2 LS2 cam offering. Here's complete build, have added Tony Mamo ported TB and Improved Racing oil pan baffle / crank scraper since this post. This is primarily a mountain road driven car. "Tail of the Dragon" is 30 miles from our driveway and is only one of many roads in the E TN / W NC area to drive.

https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...no-sheets.html

Per building stages, had fresh springs added with heads at Stage 3. Currently around 7K miles on those springs. Did inquire of TSP regarding spring maintenance / replacement with their springs / lobes and this cam. Here's exact reply copied from email...

"I would check them at 25k miles. If they are within 5lbs they are fine, you can shim otherwise to bring up pressure if necessary after. Our lobes are very spring friendly and the made in usa top quality PAC springs have never let us down.

Thanks
Tech Support"

 

Did anyone ever make anymore hp with the spin cam?

 

It appears I spoke a bit out of turn here.
Normally when I see a cam with SIMILAR (but NOT identical!) specs, the conclusion alluded to me above is formed.
It appears you have found the balance between driving manners and good performance.
I do apologize for being a bit brash as quoted (from LS1tech) in the initial post of this thread.

 

I appreciate your response. Many times a theory interferes with practical first hand experience. Once facts and evidence are available we all re-evaluate our positions. I've chilled out over the years and simply share what I find works. I don't make money selling parts. I just wanted to advance the hobby and found resistance at times. This is what forums are for.

 

Thank you Spin. Do you have lobe recommendations for the new decade?

 

I ran your cam 230/234 .613/.598 114 +2 with the same valve springs for 8k miles before upgrading my heads and changing them out. This is a combination of hard driving and stop and go traffic, I will say i change my springs now every 20k miles due to me being supercharged making 780rwhp and those springs are good at 20k with your cam. Im about to forge the bottom end and push it to 850rwhp with the same cam, idk if you would recommend one of your blower cams or not over this one but it is still an amazing cam!! Hands down have had plenty of shocked faces from the dyno guys when they find out i have such a “baby” cam 😂😂😂

 

Cam motion grinds it on softer lobes and gets the same results. They also cam doctor each cam to verify that it is done right.