LS9 cam swap into L99 ? - Camaro5 Chevy Camaro Forum / Camaro ZL1, SS and V6 Forums

quinthawk · 01-24-2013, 07:41 PM

The March issue of GM High Tech Performance has an article installing the LS9 cam in a 6.2 truck engine with DOD/VVT. The article says it can be installed in L99s. The valve springs were swapped for LS3 springs, but the lifters were not replaced. I thought the L99 lifters were limited to around .500" lift. The swap gained almost 50 rwhp. Any downside to doing this swap?

flyer08 · 01-24-2013, 08:00 PM

Swap out afm lifters. If you're not going to do that don't get a cam

Pro Stock John · 01-24-2013, 08:08 PM

I saw that article too. What are the stock L99 cam specs?

quinthawk · 01-24-2013, 08:11 PM

If the L99 lifters could handle the additional lift, it looks like a good power increase.

mikeSS · 01-24-2013, 08:12 PM

idk how so many people have this idea of doing a LS9 cam. its honestly a waste to go into a motor over.

quinthawk · 01-24-2013, 09:03 PM

L99 cam specs: 0.500-inch intake/0.492-inch exhaust lift, 195-degrees of duration intake and 201-degrees of duration on the exhaust

Fast6.3 · 01-24-2013, 09:33 PM

The liftres dont have anything to do with lift. The afm lifters era troublesome. They have a really bad trac record. Besides if youre going to do a cam why would you leave the afm. You can keep your timing set you need an ls2 valley cover and 8 ls3 or ls7 lifters and tune out the afm. But instead of the ls9 cam I would get a vvt cam from mast or tspw if you do that you also need the comp ca s phase limiter

Pro Stock John · 01-24-2013, 09:41 PM

LS9 cam, 211/230.

The truck with bolt-ons put down 348rwhp. My car did 368rwhp with bolt-ons. Hmmmm.

litle88 · 01-24-2013, 09:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pro Stock John

LS9 cam, 211/230.

The truck with bolt-ons put down 348rwhp. My car did 368rwhp with bolt-ons. Hmmmm.

Different drivetrain and more weight.

Pro Stock John · 01-24-2013, 09:45 PM

Article.... pulled to 6500. Interesting. OP go for it!

Juice2SS · 01-25-2013, 12:12 AM

I was reading the same article. I think its a good idea if you just want an additional25-30rwhp that cant be heard through the exhaust.

flht99b · 01-25-2013, 10:25 AM

Having put an LS9 cam in a LS3 I can tell you this. In the LS3 you CAN do it on the cheap by just purchasing the LS9 cam, 3 bolt cam gear and 3 retaining bolts, timing cover & water pump gaskets and crank seal. So if you do the work yourself and do it on the cheap you can gain 25+ hp which an LS9 cam in a LS3. The stock LS3 tune even works fine with the LS9 cam installed BUT a tune makes it much, much better. I did not go the cheap route as I wanted to set up the valve train to be as bullet proof as possible, you can see what parts I added in my signature. Those parts added substantially to the overall cost.
The L99 to LS9 cam conversion will require new lifters which means the heads have to come off which means new head gaskets and head bolts. Plus the DOD plate will need to be replaced with an LS3 plate. You need the 3 bolt cam gear and bolts along with the gaskets and seal mentioned above. You will need to install LS3/LS7/LS9 valve springs ( they are the same ). You will need to have the car tuned. If you do all the work yourself converting your L99 to an LS3 you'll have a bit of $$ and a lot of time invested for 20 to 30hp gain. The LS9 cam in a LS3 requires as much work as any cam swap in a LS3 BUT does not require any where near the $$ in parts nor the amount of work to accomplish ( heads stay on, no lifters to purchase, no valve springs to purchase and install ) as an LS9 cam in a L99 requires.
With the supporting oil pump, HD chain, LS2 dampener and valve springs and rocker trunnion kit I installed when I went to the LS9 cam ( again valve train reliability was key ) I can always go back in and go to and different grind cam which I have no intention of doing as I now have all the HP I need and more importantly want and can use AND IF I ever really wanted more power I would just install a supercharger.
Ed M.

Alvin@PCMofNC · 01-25-2013, 10:40 AM

Better cams out there but yes it will work! Do yourself a favor and go ahead and get rid of VVT and DOD.

quinthawk · 01-25-2013, 11:09 AM

Alvin,
If I could get by without taking the heads off and replacing the lifters, I would consider the LS9 cam swap. Do you think the lifters can handle this cam?

01-24-2013, 07:41 PM	#1
quinthawk Drives: 2010 camaro ss, 2012 ZL1, 2021 LT1 Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Iowa Posts: 125	LS9 cam swap into L99 ? The March issue of GM High Tech Performance has an article installing the LS9 cam in a 6.2 truck engine with DOD/VVT. The article says it can be installed in L99s. The valve springs were swapped for LS3 springs, but the lifters were not replaced. I thought the L99 lifters were limited to around .500" lift. The swap gained almost 50 rwhp. Any downside to doing this swap?

01-24-2013, 08:08 PM	#3
Pro Stock John Writer Drives: 2010 SS / 1967 Camaro Join Date: May 2009 Location: Chicago, IL Posts: 7,216	I saw that article too. What are the stock L99 cam specs? __________________ PROJECT HEAVY CHEVY Camaro Now: Mods for the Masses Part I \| Part II 13.15@106 1.95 \| 100% Stock 12.37@112 1.85 \| + Kooks Headers/Cats + 20" 555R + CAI + BW TB + UDP + Tune 12.06@113 1.70 \| + CD 3200 + 18" NT05R + RCR Intake + NE OTR + GPI Tune 11.84@115 1.59 \| + 3.91s + Race Star 17x7 Fronts 10.90@125 1.47 \| + GPI VVT Cam + BW Ported Heads + CD 3800

01-24-2013, 09:33 PM	#7
Fast6.3 Drives: 2016 2SS coupe 2015 3LT Stingray Join Date: Aug 2012 Location: El paso texas Posts: 880 View My Garage	The liftres dont have anything to do with lift. The afm lifters era troublesome. They have a really bad trac record. Besides if youre going to do a cam why would you leave the afm. You can keep your timing set you need an ls2 valley cover and 8 ls3 or ls7 lifters and tune out the afm. But instead of the ls9 cam I would get a vvt cam from mast or tspw if you do that you also need the comp ca s phase limiter __________________ Ported intake manifold and throttle body kooks 2" headers no cats

01-24-2013, 09:41 PM	#8
Pro Stock John Writer Drives: 2010 SS / 1967 Camaro Join Date: May 2009 Location: Chicago, IL Posts: 7,216	LS9 cam, 211/230. The truck with bolt-ons put down 348rwhp. My car did 368rwhp with bolt-ons. Hmmmm. __________________ PROJECT HEAVY CHEVY Camaro Now: Mods for the Masses Part I \| Part II 13.15@106 1.95 \| 100% Stock 12.37@112 1.85 \| + Kooks Headers/Cats + 20" 555R + CAI + BW TB + UDP + Tune 12.06@113 1.70 \| + CD 3200 + 18" NT05R + RCR Intake + NE OTR + GPI Tune 11.84@115 1.59 \| + 3.91s + Race Star 17x7 Fronts 10.90@125 1.47 \| + GPI VVT Cam + BW Ported Heads + CD 3800

01-24-2013, 09:45 PM	#10
Pro Stock John Writer Drives: 2010 SS / 1967 Camaro Join Date: May 2009 Location: Chicago, IL Posts: 7,216	Article.... pulled to 6500. Interesting. OP go for it! __________________ PROJECT HEAVY CHEVY Camaro Now: Mods for the Masses Part I \| Part II 13.15@106 1.95 \| 100% Stock 12.37@112 1.85 \| + Kooks Headers/Cats + 20" 555R + CAI + BW TB + UDP + Tune 12.06@113 1.70 \| + CD 3200 + 18" NT05R + RCR Intake + NE OTR + GPI Tune 11.84@115 1.59 \| + 3.91s + Race Star 17x7 Fronts 10.90@125 1.47 \| + GPI VVT Cam + BW Ported Heads + CD 3800

01-24-2013, 08:00 PM	#2
flyer08 Account Suspended Drives: 2010 2SS/RS Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Texas Posts: 3,418	Swap out afm lifters. If you're not going to do that don't get a cam

01-24-2013, 08:11 PM	#4
quinthawk Drives: 2010 camaro ss, 2012 ZL1, 2021 LT1 Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Iowa Posts: 125	If the L99 lifters could handle the additional lift, it looks like a good power increase.

01-24-2013, 08:12 PM	#5
mikeSS Drives: 2015 c7 Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: MI Posts: 7,462	idk how so many people have this idea of doing a LS9 cam. its honestly a waste to go into a motor over.

01-24-2013, 09:03 PM	#6
quinthawk Drives: 2010 camaro ss, 2012 ZL1, 2021 LT1 Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Iowa Posts: 125	L99 cam specs: 0.500-inch intake/0.492-inch exhaust lift, 195-degrees of duration intake and 201-degrees of duration on the exhaust

01-25-2013, 12:12 AM	#11
Juice2SS Drives: 2011 2SS Join Date: Jan 2013 Location: DFW, TX Posts: 931	I was reading the same article. I think its a good idea if you just want an additional25-30rwhp that cant be heard through the exhaust.

01-25-2013, 10:25 AM	#12
flht99b Drives: 2010 Camaro 2SS/RS RJT Join Date: May 2009 Location: Knoxville Posts: 1,574 View My Garage	Having put an LS9 cam in a LS3 I can tell you this. In the LS3 you CAN do it on the cheap by just purchasing the LS9 cam, 3 bolt cam gear and 3 retaining bolts, timing cover & water pump gaskets and crank seal. So if you do the work yourself and do it on the cheap you can gain 25+ hp which an LS9 cam in a LS3. The stock LS3 tune even works fine with the LS9 cam installed BUT a tune makes it much, much better. I did not go the cheap route as I wanted to set up the valve train to be as bullet proof as possible, you can see what parts I added in my signature. Those parts added substantially to the overall cost. The L99 to LS9 cam conversion will require new lifters which means the heads have to come off which means new head gaskets and head bolts. Plus the DOD plate will need to be replaced with an LS3 plate. You need the 3 bolt cam gear and bolts along with the gaskets and seal mentioned above. You will need to install LS3/LS7/LS9 valve springs ( they are the same ). You will need to have the car tuned. If you do all the work yourself converting your L99 to an LS3 you'll have a bit of $$ and a lot of time invested for 20 to 30hp gain. The LS9 cam in a LS3 requires as much work as any cam swap in a LS3 BUT does not require any where near the $$ in parts nor the amount of work to accomplish ( heads stay on, no lifters to purchase, no valve springs to purchase and install ) as an LS9 cam in a L99 requires. With the supporting oil pump, HD chain, LS2 dampener and valve springs and rocker trunnion kit I installed when I went to the LS9 cam ( again valve train reliability was key ) I can always go back in and go to and different grind cam which I have no intention of doing as I now have all the HP I need and more importantly want and can use AND IF I ever really wanted more power I would just install a supercharger. Ed M. __________________ RJT 2SS/RS, AAM 3.70's, MTI Sway Bars, Shifter & SS brake lines, ZLI calipers, rotors & pads, BMR Trailing & Toe Arms, rear cradle & diff bushes, Pedders XA's, Camber/Toe eccentrics, Radius arm inserts, GTO clutch reservoir, LS9 cam, Comp valve springs, Melling 10296 oil pump, CR5 timing chain, LS6 damper, CAI Cold Air Intake, ARH LT headers w/HF cats, GMPP touring axle back, Elite Engineering Catch Can, Forgeline 20x9.5 & 20x11 DS3 whls, 275/40/20 & 315/35/20 tires, 2011 Convertible spoiler, 1LE front spoiler, Lloyd "SS" Floor Mats, GM Camaro Trunk Mat, wrapped console & Grant steering wheel.

01-25-2013, 10:40 AM	#13
Alvin@PCMofNC Drives: 2010 IOM RSS Join Date: May 2009 Location: Mooresville Posts: 363	Better cams out there but yes it will work! Do yourself a favor and go ahead and get rid of VVT and DOD.

01-25-2013, 11:09 AM	#14
quinthawk Drives: 2010 camaro ss, 2012 ZL1, 2021 LT1 Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Iowa Posts: 125	Alvin, If I could get by without taking the heads off and replacing the lifters, I would consider the LS9 cam swap. Do you think the lifters can handle this cam?