About to pull the trigger on an SS4
 

Hey guys I have been looking at a GPI SS4 no flycut cam. I have it all in the cart ready to pay but this will be my first cam swap and I'm a little nervous. I have the BTR .660 kit the 7.425 pushrods the vette chain ARP bolts. Is the anything else I should look into before I buy?

you really want a cam that big? what r u using the car for?

It a 6speed so from my searches I figured why not? But it’s just goning to be a street car YouTube doesn’t do justice to anything but they sound great on the videos I’ve seen.

I have the SS4 flycut, and like it a lot. Are you planning on staying N/A? Driveability is just fine, get lots of compliments and everyone asks what I have under the hood. Stock intake and heads for now, too. I almost went SS3, but with Ryan running a huge solid roller cam, I decided to go with the SS4, and am happy I did.

You'll want either 3.91 or 4.10 gears too. Acammer on here is extremely knowledgeable on gears btw.

Idle video and 1/4 mile run

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqa8UugdUBc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=McpVe049Qzo

Bruh that thing is fast and it sounds phenomenal. I wonder what’s the difference in the flycut and no flycut? I’ll probably stay N/A. Maybe in 10years I’ll go SC.
I’m staying with the stock heads for now, I’m thinking of adding a stage 3 bo white tb if he’s still around and the GPI modded intake and CHE trunnions. I have the 1le so I have the 3.91 gear stock if I’m not mistaken.

Thanks, its definitely a work in progress and I have a long way to go to get it where I want it to be. So with the SS4, they flycut the pistons so that they will clear the valves. Its a higher lift cam. They use the Lindy tool at GPI and don't even need to pull the pistons, so it doesn't cost much extra. I stayed with stock heads due to budget. Bo White does good work. And yes, with the 1LE you do have the 3.91s in the rear already. Do you already hace headers? You'll want those

I went an bought the cam kit first because of GPI's black friday sale saved me almost 200. RDP gave me a good price on the Stainless power headers and hi-flow cats, so they will be on order when I get my piggy bank back full.
Question is the ud pulley and/or a harmonic balancer necessary and if so which is better?

Its quite necessary in order to protect from harmful vibrations over time. Fluidampr is usually considered the best protection that you can get in the way of dampers, but I was having a hard time finding a supplier for it so I went with a Powerbond damper that GPI had in stock anyway. Prostockjohn has had his for years with zero issues, so I went with that. And there is no better time to put one on because your stock pulley is off anyway.

I’ve had powerbond on with my ss4 for about 3ish years now

You should think of the usual things; LS2 dogbone dampener, trunnion upgrade to bushings, If dropping the cradle a good thing is the Monster billet bearing support you might not even know about as yours is plastic and can melt the stock....bearing support on the slave.

I would also say Driven racing br30 break in oil I use it, and do a break in on even just a cam swap even with the 8620 core I am old school. Your going to go through the usual gaskets needed; and fluid to do a oil dump or two, and have to get if the pans dropped a high volume oil pump to help and it can make getting the ls7 style dog bone dampener on instead of the ls3 which falls apart over time. And since if not dropping the cradle someone is "sneaking" the new pump on with its pick up to make sure the o ring to the pump is right and not messed up on install getting the pick up on to the right height...essential..

And with what ever mileage you have most likely a set of ls3/7 lifters and new lifter trays and head gaskets and TTY bolts if you have to pull the heads to do the baskets if your miles are higher than say 20-30 k ...basically you can tell a lot by the old cams condition and that's real important to the lifters health etc...… you will need the three bolt cam gear and bolt set, and I see you said bolts so you must have thought of pulling the heads...….Just some thoughts in your area there are lots of good shops in other local states even if needed …..I recommend professional installation as your going to need a tune, and there are special tools and knowledge required besides a wrongful online thread someone did who posted a DIY who could not do their own lash/preload right or measure pushrods right etc...…. Knowledge is all important, things like …


ls3=1.7 ratio rocker X .047 thread pitch distance moved in one turn = .0799 for one turn after zero meaning if you want to be in the golden zone of .045 to .060 preload, ( less noisey lower preload less chance to trash a lifter or cam etc), you should go about 1/2 , 2/3, 3/4 turn not to exceed the .070 preload used on the ls7 which has different heads ,and cam with lower lift ,and 1.8 ratio rockers...….Just stuff I managed to garner on here being a old motorhead and having done many of my own engines over decades...crap I could not and would not mess up....like aligning a couple cam marks on the cam gear and crank....etc and knowing how much advance is ground in first or maybe using a timing wheel and how much OPTV you have at what timing to allow you do timing...etc etc etc your rockers a fulcrum...…. Good Luck. Also Livernois and Lingenfelter make nice rocker arms bases for improvement over stock...….. Gottsa go football OMG …….

Ronnie at GPI sugested the Powerbond but i have been seeing the Fluid brand on a few sites im thinking of going with that one, whats the 10% or 25% ud mean?

which did you go with 10% or 25% and why?

I have right at 45,000 i wasn't planning on pulling heads when i said bolts i meant the cam gear and crank bolts. I ordered the GPI ss4 cam kit it was a pretty complete kit gaskets timing chain dog bone all that. I plan on order the CHE trunnion upgrade and the oil, there's a driven warehouse near me where i can hopefully get a better price.

I'm pretty mechanically inclined I was a mechanic in the army for 6 years and me my pops have rebuilt a number of of 350s. It's been a while since I have worked on a car but i feel pretty good about doing the job i really just wanna make sure i buy everything i need to do this in one go. And the only thing that scares me is measuring the pushrod length and checking the lash and preload.

With more underdrive meaning the 25% you are spinning the accessories at a slower rate and are therefore losing less power powering those accessories. Your horsepower gains are going to be very minimal, and you pretty much will never notice any type of gain by getting an underdrive pulley. That's really more of a secondary effect whereas the prime reason for getting an actual damper is to decrease those harmful vibrations to the engine that a larger camshaft will produce. Fluidampr uses actual fluid in their dampers and have been making them for a very long time. If I weren't so impatient and had it to do over again I would go with Fluidampr but I have had zero issues after 2000 miles so far with the Powerbond.

OP don’t forget to add some Suspension Upgrades for that added power. Oops sorry my bad it’s a 1LE. Best Wishes on your Build �� Once you start the Mods most can’t Stop. All I wanted was a Catback to make it sound better way back then lol.