Looking for an LS3 cam suggestion - mild, slight idle lope, great driveability...

[wbt]

I'll go out on a limb here and say the 2C would clear fine but the 2r will be very close to the .100/.120 clearance most desire due to the longer duration/overlap.

Let's see if I am right.

[g-townmach]

Originally Posted by Andy@Livernois

we publish specs on all of them, here it is:

2c Cam
224/236 .612/.612 117LSA

2r-max Cam
235/242 .603/.618 114LSA

Nice!! Those were bigger than I thought. Is it possible to order the 2C on a tighter lsa?

[Jason 98 TA]

We dyno tested a 235/240 on my test LS3 & it had .020" piston to valve clearance when the advance was correct on the camshaft. That's the main reason we sent back to the 231/236 for our customers. It wasn't worth the 4-5 extra peak hp for the spots in the pistons or bent valves...

[g-townmach]

Jason, don't y'all sell a .225/.230 cam too? I'm thinking about driving up to the LBK sometime soon and stay with my friends while y'all put a cam in my car

[Ivan @ Southwest Speed]

Originally Posted by Jason 98 TA

We dyno tested a 235/240 on my test LS3 & it had .020" piston to valve clearance when the advance was correct on the camshaft. That's the main reason we sent back to the 231/236 for our customers. It wasn't worth the 4-5 extra peak hp for the spots in the pistons or bent valves...

I agree, the couple extra wouldn't be worth it to myself at a risk of piston slap.

What are the numbers on that particular cam Jason? I'd like to hear more about it.

Thanks,
Ivan

[g-townmach]

Originally Posted by Bad Karma

I agree, the couple extra wouldn't be worth it to myself at a risk of piston slap.

What are the numbers on that particular cam Jason? I'd like to hear more about it.

Thanks,
Ivan

they list their cam info on their site www.texas-speed.com

[wbt]

Originally Posted by Jason 98 TA

We dyno tested a 235/240 on my test LS3 & it had .020" piston to valve clearance when the advance was correct on the camshaft. That's the main reason we sent back to the 231/236 for our customers. It wasn't worth the 4-5 extra peak hp for the spots in the pistons or bent valves...

Definately not enough. What lift were you running with that duration?

[Andy@Livernois]

Originally Posted by Bad Karma

Andy,
Those are some pretty huge intake and exhaust lift numbers aren't they?

How concerned should one be running the 2c or 2r-max on stock heads in relation to p/v clearances? Is a spring upgrade in order to run one of these two cams??

I'm still in the "learning" phase as well and the only two times I bought a cam were both off the shelf HotCams for the old LT1 cars when I had em.

What would be the major concerns/differences in these two cams?

Thanks alot for the crash courses guys.
Ivan

In the LS world these lift numbers are pretty average

Originally Posted by wbt

I'll go out on a limb here and say the 2C would clear fine but the 2r will be very close to the .100/.120 clearance most desire due to the longer duration/overlap.

Let's see if I am right.

The 2r-max cam has over .100 on both intake and exhaust with a stock thickness head gasket and .003 milled off of the head to clean up the deck surface. the 2c clears by over .175

Originally Posted by g-townmach

Nice!! Those were bigger than I thought. Is it possible to order the 2C on a tighter lsa?

We don't do this because the lobes are specifically designed for this purpose, and this cam is mean to have lope with stock driving characteristics, when you tighten it up it loses this advantage.

Originally Posted by Bad Karma

I agree, the couple extra wouldn't be worth it to myself at a risk of piston slap.

What are the numbers on that particular cam Jason? I'd like to hear more about it.

Thanks,
Ivan

With any of the Comp lobes, I would agree something with this profile would be tight, but we don't use comp for these cams as they could not offer us what we wanted in a cam.

[wbt]

Originally Posted by Andy@Livernois

In the LS world these lift numbers are pretty average



The 2r-max cam has over .100 on both intake and exhaust with a stock thickness head gasket and .003 milled off of the head to clean up the deck surface. the 2c clears by over .175



We don't do this because the lobes are specifically designed for this purpose, and this cam is mean to have lope with stock driving characteristics, when you tighten it up it loses this advantage.




With any of the Comp lobes, I would agree something with this profile would be tight, but we don't use comp for these cams as they could not offer us what we wanted in a cam.

Great info. Thanks!

[Ivan @ Southwest Speed]

Agreed...nice lesson.

Thanks.

I reckon I got some thinking to do as to which route to take here in the next couple weeks.

Thanks guys.
Ivan

[St33lsinger]

A question (Rick or Andy) for a L99 would you still recommend a 1C or 2?

Considerations:
Daily driver
MPG
wife driving the car sometimes.

[Andy@Livernois]

I would stick with the 1c, 1, or a 2c. I guess it depends on what you are looking for in sound and what your future plans are with the car. But usually one of these 3 cams is our recommendation

[Russell James]

I appreciate all the good advice. For my 6 speed manual I think I'm leaning toward something like the 1 or 1B.

From what I've listened to so far, a stage 1 type of cam with a 117 LSA didn't quite have the idle lope I was looking for. Maybe those are a bit too stealthy for my taste. So maybe a 114/115ish LSA with stage 1 type duration.

Andy,

In your stage 1's, for a 6 speed manual, how would you describe the differences in the 1 and 1B for driveability and idle?

Thanks

[Andy@Livernois]

the stage 1 cam would be better suited, as the 1b is more designed for a supercharged application. so if I had to choose from what it sounds like stage1a or stage2c for your car would be best.