Another Cam Question

[j.curt]

I apologize in advance for asking a question that I'm sure has been asked numerous of times already but I wanted the most up to date info.

I have a 2012 LS3 that I use as a daily driver. I have the basic bolt-ons and I want to add a cam. I want something I can use as a daily driver but also adds a lot of power. I take my car to the quarter mile track a couple times a month. I have heard a lot of good things about Night Fury but have also heard it is not the best choice for a daily driver.

Does anyone have any suggestions? Any experiences with a certain cam good or bad?

Thanks

[camarosspower]

Nightfury here. Driveability wise its not bad. I got used to being cammed the first day. My gains were 62whp 55wtq. I've had it for close to a month with no issues

[christianchevell]

I use a TSP cam, the people at Texas speed and performance are LS engine specialists and they can hook you up good with kits and they do talk to you via phone and internet. If I were you I would talk to them and check out their site. I drive their most radical cam its .639/.623 with 235/239 and 112 LSA there are articles out there one in particular from comp cams about the effects of LSA and drivability. the more you have the better the drivability usually that you should read up on. Ever wonder why people never post their "night fury" cam specs........ or just post the duration like its top secret...ROFL
There are some here who would diss on comp cams because well they make the blanks or should I say sell the blanks most people have for cams and for what ever reason they had their cam fail. My cam is about as high in lift as there is out there and is more than the night fury I am sure, MY idle is 950 and to easily drive I stay when in gears above 1500 rpm so there is only a limiting when going 15 mph or less and having to take it out of gear and coast repeatedly if I want to go slow.
To give advice on a cam: cam motion has higher strength steel cams than the blanks used by some other places: to me that's nice but almost all cam failures I ever read about the person did not do a cam break in and did not use the best oil or used springs with excessive pressure or had lifters that were going south already.....

I am a old hot rodder who always installed his own cams in my cars, they were hydraulic flat tappet cams and required break in with a good high ZDDP oil which was the standard before the EPA messed up everything trying to make catalytic converters last forever and reduced , and is still with new oil standards coming for two major formulations to come out in 2017.....F ing with the oil for our cars. Now old hot rodders like me have to have the exact right oil and good break in oil or watch the cam implode and ruin the ...cam..lifters...hurt bearing surfaces... maybe damage pushrods, etc etc by eating the cam alive just while trying to break it in apon initial start up and 30 minute break in above 3000 rpm.

Many over time have felt they are the guru's and know what they know from talking to Joe Dirt the local mechanic or what they think is common knowledge. But hey think about this: From 376 cubic inches I am getting 550 true flywheel h.p. from a stock engine with just good flow from CAI and headers with the right cam, springs and pushrods spec'd to 7.375 by my excellent double degree electrical engineering g.m. guru who drives what he builds and has been in the same place forever and basically does everything and lives off word of mouth. He always dumps the oil after a Dyno tune and that requires revving it to various rpms and adjusting the tables of the AFR and doing trial runs in the r.p.m. range trying to get what works best and starting with what he thinks is close from a library of built up tunes for similar engines. IN effect he was and is breaking in engines although it may not appear to some it is. Sure he just would recommend or buy good oil for that for a LS engine. But he never gets anyone coming back down the road saying hey my cam is crap now. Because over time that's when a roller cam will fail from bad oil or no break in because its a roller does not mean it can do without break in.

And that's why I used Driven racing br30 for break in twice on my cam and then went with LS30 for my oil that I get for my LS engine as 550 h.p. is what % above the ratings for say the classic muscle cars of the past? A 450 rated 454 in a 70 Chevelle top of the heap was really inflated as hell in the numbers ,( eventually they changed the numbers when it benefited), as it really delivered about 283 h.p. to the rear wheels..... I deliver 500 to my rear wheels. My lift from my cam is titanic in lift terms and not seen on flat tappet cams as is my spring pressure with .675 springs. SO think about that. and just use some off the shelf Scrote One oil and see how long your rollers last or what ever until the lack of several factors in oil down the road make you say: I blame it on the cam.. oh sure the cam is made from the same that 100 million others are made from.. lets place the blame. If you listen to me and do a break in good.... if you don't....and do not use better than good oil for what is in effect a racing engine once you cam it....well down the road comes and you may be here in one of the posts over time where people have learned the hard way.... or if your really unfortunate through no fault of your own you may be one who gets a cam blank turned that is not exactly oven baked to perfectional hardness.....then if you did not do a break in to help....it will only fail that much faster.

SO my advice: measure for pushrods....though my expert says 7.375 for ls3 and 7.4 for l99's with their two different lifters. Do a break in with BR30 as it changed Joe Gibbs racing from loosing 1 in 10 engines on the engine stand break in for Nascar to 1 in 40..... yes LS engines imagine that. DO not over or under spring, and remember the stock lift is .550/.550 for a ls3 cam that is like mega cam for hydraulic cam that's not able to increase any more for flat tappet cam unless its to change its design to a different cam and lifter combo..... And research LSA and do buy the best oil you can get .... Because you know what they say:

YOU CAN PAY ME NOW OR PAY ME LATER................ And for all of those who would trash on my hard research and backing it up daily driving my second fifth gen SS.....experts agree on driven racing oil.. its recommended by comp cams, its recommended by just about anyone whose anyone....including TSP and a whole list of parts makers who do make the parts for our engines that have to survive. But hey you know Joe Dirt and his common knowledge you do not have to break in a hydraulic roller.....and can use the same oil in the Honda as the Camaro.... yah right that may be o.k. for stock for a long time..... SO consider this my daily rant, and yes read my numbers and my mods. I do not go to the track, I hammer it all I want yet do not abuse it until my suspension is finished with my rear and axles.... failure is not a option.
http://www.drivenracingoil.com/news/...tech-bulletin/

[j.curt]

Thanks. That's quite a write up!!

[camarohead]

Hey christianchevell....do you ever have time to take your car out and enjoy it?




















Jk...

[mkhn2202]

Same question here I want to get a cam that I can use everyday and have an aggressive sound. I have L99 engine

[dcpatters]

I went with a Lingenfter GT11, not the most radical cam but it does make decent power. Google ”LS3 Can Review ". Great article.

[Bo White]

Dang at the typing.

[christianchevell]

I enjoy my car daily as it is a daily driver, I do live close to work though but have managed to get to 16k miles on the odometer from road trips. The car is so fun to drive......... its hard not to want to rack up miles for any excuse, such as my wife has a 2013 Altima coupe with about 10k less in miles we bought at the same time....

[Bo White]

I live 2 miles from work and 10 miles from the track. Ive put 45k miles on my car in a year and a half.

[camarohead]

Originally Posted by mkhn2202

Same question here I want to get a cam that I can use everyday and have an aggressive sound. I have L99 engine

There are several people you can call and tell them your goals and they could spec you a cam...search pat g, Brian tooley racing, GPI, futral motor sports, lethal racing and where I got my custom cam Geoff skinner with eps..all those seem to be the top cam gurus.

[rberns]

Originally Posted by camarohead

There are several people you can call and tell them your goals and they could spec you a cam...search pat g, Brian tooley racing, GPI, futral motor sports, lethal racing and where I got my custom cam Geoff skinner with eps..all those seem to be the top cam gurus.

to add to this, make sure its on a cam motion core.

[j.curt]

Originally Posted by camarosspower

Nightfury here. Driveability wise its not bad. I got used to being cammed the first day. My gains were 62whp 55wtq. I've had it for close to a month with no issues

What about the "bucking" that I have heard of? I have never driven a car that has an aftermarket cam.

[mlee]

Originally Posted by j.curt

What about the "bucking" that I have heard of? I have never driven a car that has an aftermarket cam.

The bigger the cam the more chance for "bucking" or decrease in smooth drive-ability. Just makes it a little tougher to drive at low speeds and low rpms.

Nightfury is about as big as it gets. My wife used to be able to drive my M6 Camaro but with the cam she does not.