Okiedokie, some questions.

[Michael Fornal]

I've decided on keeping this car and just making it faster, for ****s and giggles, instead of going to pay like $450/mth and way more on insurance for an LS1.

So, I want to start out with just a cam but will be doing heads and maybe even the S/C when BATMAN finishes, depending if my bonuses continue the way they are.

Basically, I want a cam that will work for now on my daily driven car, but I want it big enough that I'm not going to have to change it later on when I get more mods added on. So any suggestions would be muchos appriciated.

Also, my only mods on the car right now are a cut out and a flowmaster. So would it be safe to run just a cam? And would headers help compliment the cam?

Finally, I imagine I'll need a MAFT+ and what not to reprogram after a cam install - where can I get one at? I didn't find any places that had them for a '96 3800II camaro. Do they just program one for an LT1 and you use that or what?

Dropping the knowledge on my ignorant mind would be appriciated.

[Dominic]

I would never tell you to do a search because I'm not that kind of guy :cool: but others might. ;)

If you're concerned with getting every little microfractional horsepower out of your V6 that you can, you're going to have to experiment with cam designs a bit to find the one you need. It is commonly known that a perfectly designed normally aspirated cam should and will work very well with blower or nitrous.

First of all I have no problems recommending the general compcams 206/212 Xtreme grind to anyone, blower or natural. I have talked to more than one person at clubgp about it, as well as a few others, and think this is a very SAFE cam for our cars. With the proper springs it provides probably 99% of the power without sacrificing driveability or causing any unnecessary computer problems. For our cars, even with up to 12-15psi of boost, this cam will do nothing more than amplify the power gains of anything you strap on the engine in the future.

This is not to say for 15psi of boost that this cam is the best choice, however. Thrasher seems to think a 222/222 duration grind is best for high boost applications - and they might be right - but something this extreme would kill any normally aspirated car's power curve - effectively moving it into the 8000RPM range due to the flow capability it provides! Don't always think that bigger is better.

The Supersix 210/214 is also really nice - with a low 0.45" lift and the 210/214 duration it provides the same flow as the xtreme energy compcams 206/212 (since the compcams has more lift) without the NEED for stiffer springs and such. If your computer can handle the duration, this is a nice cam. If in the future you add a blower and need more flow - just get some slightly higher ratio rocker arms and stiffer springs and let it go [img]smile.gif[/img] .

Let the discussion begin!

(Oh yeah, can't leave out Magnus... with is 212/212 approach - also an interesting thing to do. With modified heads I would say this would work well, but for stock heads I would maximize the exhaust with a split cam).

[ August 04, 2002: Message edited by: Dominic ]</p>

[Magnus]

Very well said Dominic!!!!

Our stock heads flow very well so a huge exhaust favor isn't really needed.. a slight exhaust favor helps with stock heads and somewhat restrictive exhaust though.

I think my cam is very good for NA. It's very streetable as well.

If your going to swap the camshaft, I HIGHLY recomend you get one from COMP (perhaps through Supersix) instead of a regrind. The ramps on the COMP cams are much faster which open the vale at a much faster rate allowing for more air flow. However with a COMP cam aftermarket springs are needed.

I'll be upgrading to a 220/220 in the future probably... Focusing on NA.

Nitrous or blower cam would like a little exhaust favor. The thrasher cam (Not engineered by Thrasher BTW) is very interesting with its symmetrical duration on a blown car. Makes you wonder. [img]smile.gif[/img]

I do recomend a search though. ;)

[Michael Fornal]

Thank you for the replies, guys! I know, I know about the search thing, I've been reading this site for just slighty over a year now. But I was wanting to get an answer on my specific application.. the board would be pretty dead if everyone used the search feature =)

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>The Supersix 210/214 is also really nice - with a low 0.45" lift and the 210/214 duration it provides the same flow as the xtreme energy compcams 206/212 (since the compcams has more lift) without the NEED for stiffer springs and such. If your computer can handle the duration, this is a nice cam. If in the future you add a blower and need more flow - just get some slightly higher ratio rocker arms and stiffer springs and let it go .<hr></blockquote>

The "if your computer can handle" part has me a bit worried. Do you think it'd have problems using the supersix cam without needing reprogrammed?

Also, I couldn't find any links to sound files with our car with a cam, other than the one on the GTP or whatever. Does anyone have any sound files of a camaro with a 3800-II that has a cam or am I going to be the first one to post one when I get the cam in in a few weeks? ;)

All I have done right now to my car is a flowmaster and a cutout. I'm going to go this weekend and get it dynoed with the cutout open, then closed. Then I'll do it after I get the cam and see what kind of gains I get from it and let you all know. I am really curious what I'll get.

Oh oh, and one more thing - is the supersix cam pretty loopy sounding?

[Dominic]

I know for sure the CompCams 206/212 is PCM safe - and I'm pretty sure the Supersix 210/214 is but you would need to ask Tom about that [img]smile.gif[/img]

The worst that will happen is you'll get a random misfire code (it'll be false too) and your SES will come on... I don't think it will cause that problem though [img]smile.gif[/img] .

If you're the least bit worried, get the compcams 206/212 - you won't have any SES lights and it will provide the same kind of gains as the supersix. As magnus said above, the Xtreme grind is really awesome since the ramprate is steep. Fat Lobes Rule :D

No cam sounds so far :( We need some!!!

[ August 08, 2002: Message edited by: Dominic ]</p>

[Michael Fornal]

I'm not worried about a silly light, I was worried about it making the car idle funny or stall out at stops, etc. Hell, what's the point in modding the car if you don't like the pretty SES light?

Thanks for the reply. I've been e-mailing Tom back and forth a couple times already, hopefully will be purchasing on Friday. And perhaps install next weekend. And then sounds about two days after that.