camshaft guide for new guys

[malice10985]

I got bored, so I drafted this guide. I invite everyone to proofread and correct it as they see fit. If you all like it, maybe pgriffith will make it into a stickey post. I guess we could put it in the archives too. Have at it.

[malice10985]

There are several off the shelf camshaft grinds for the 3800 series II v6. If you want to get into custom cam grinds, don’t bother reading this. This message is meant for the relatively inexperienced gearhead who is looking into streetable performance. If you want to break any world records, then go away. I am not that smart. All the grinds I am listing are from COMP cams. Unfortunately, none of the vendors I have listed are sponsors of this site. None of our sponsors sell cams though, so I don’t feel too guilty about advertising the cams here.

If you are thinking of installing a cam, ask yourselves these questions:
Do I have a cold air intake?
Do I have headers and a catback exhaust?
If the answer is no, then stop right now and go buy them. They are mandatory basic mods and should be installed before getting into something advanced like a camshaft.

Generally speaking, our stock valvetrain will work with cams up to .510” lift. Above that, our valves will float at high rpm due to low spring pressure and the pushrods might bend. It is also rumored that the stock cylinder heads flow really well with cams up to .510” lift, but above that they start to dwindle. I am the only person I know of that has ever broken a timing chain here at Camarov6, but know that it is possible. I broke it with a small cam, so it might be a worthwile investment for a larger camshaft profile. Computer tuning never hurt anything when installing a new cam.

For you goomba’s that use an automatic transmission, you will also need a higher rpm stall converter to utilize the full potential of your new camshaft. I race with a manual transmission, so I don’t know anything about it.


www.ftpp.net Intake Exhuast
Lift 480 498
Duration @ .050 192 200
Lobe separation 110
Intake Centerline 106
I don’t know why anyone would ever buy this cam. It is BARELY larger than stock. Seriously, don’t waste your money on this cam.


www.ftpp.net Intake Exhuast
Lift 498 480
Duration @ .050 200 206
Lobe separation 108
Intake Centerline 112
I have this cam and I don’t like it. It required no computer tuning, no cylinder head work, and no valvetrain modifications. It has a slight lope at idle. I suffered minimal losses in gas mileage with it. It never set an SES light. It also made a minimal power increase. It started to make power around 2500rpm, and it absolutely stops at 6000rpm. It literally falls on its face. It is a good cam for a daily driven car where reliability is an issue. I broke my timing chain with this cam, but I think it is because I drive like a prick. If you want a cam but are paranoid about reliability, this is the cam for you.


www.zzperformance.com Intake Exhuast
Lift 507 507
Duration @ .050 210 210
Lobe separation 113
Intake Centerline Not listed
This is the ZZP GT cam. Seppo can attest to its awesome power. It is the largest cam that can be used with stock valvesprings and cylinder heads. It will not set the SES light. I haven’t heard it, but based on the duration, I bet it lopes quite well at idle. Seppo achived 220rwhp on the dyno, which is a respectable 60hp gain over the stock 160rwhp. It should make power up to 6000rpm. Texas-speed.com can provide a quality ECM tune to match this cam, although it is not required. I would recommend this cam for all those looking for “good mid range power”.


www.zzperformance.com Intake Exhuast
Lift 507 507
Duration @ .050 216 216
Lobe separation 111
Intake Centerline Not listed
The ZZP GT2. This is basically a GT cam, with slightly more duration. Expect minimal gains in power over that of the GT cam. It will set a P0300 SES code on the ECM. ZZP recommends that the rev limiter be raised to 7000rpm, so I would expect the cam to make power up to at least 6500rpm. If you plan to rev the engine that high with this cam, it would be in your best interest to get stiffer valvesprings. Look to Texas-speed.com(our diligent sponsor) for ECM tuning


www.ftpp.net Intake Exhuast
Lift 512 512
Duration @ .050 210 220
Lobe separation 115
Intake Centerline 111
This cam is listed by FTPP as a forced induction cam. Due to the long exhaust overlap, it is probably not good for turbocharged applications. It will work well with superchargers though. If someone were to use it for NA applications, I imagine it would require stronger pushrods, valvesprings, and very mild cylinder head work. I would recommend a new timing chain for this cam, and for all the cams listed below this one. It is advertised to make power up to 5500rpm.


www.intense-racing.com Intake Exhuast
Lift 523 514
Duration @ .050 212 216
Lobe separation 113
Intake Centerline 109
The intense Stage 1X. If I was to pick a cam and I didn’t know much about cams, I would talk to these guys. They offer complete packages for cam installations. Intense claims that it can be used with stock heads and valvetrain parts. I would upgrade the valvetrain if I were you, but the heads can be left stock. They offer a custom ECM tune to match this cam, which would be an excellent investment.


www.intense-racing.com Intake Exhuast
Lift 539 523
Duration @ .050 222 224
Lobe separation 112
Intake Centerline 108
The intense stage II NA cam. It requires modified valvetrain parts and modified cylinder heads. Intense sells heads that are flow matched to this cam, but they are really really expensive. They also have a computer tune to compliment this cam.


www.ftpp.net Intake Exhuast
Lift 533 544
Duration @ .050 210 220
Lobe separation 113
Intake Centerline 109
This is a big cam for the 3800. I would NOT use it with stock valvetrain parts. It needs at least COMP 105# valvesprings, and hardened pushrods. It definitely needs cylinder head port work done. Due to its high exhaust lift and long exhaust duration, I think it would be really good for nitrous oxide injection. I don’t have any power numbers for it, but with the right supporting mods, I bet it makes serious horsepower. Texas-speed ECM tuning would be a requirement to use this cam. This cam would not agree with the stock ECM.

Intense has many other grinds, but I only concentrated on the NA ones. If you are interested in a turbo/blower/nitrous grind, go check out their website. They have lots of good info, and have great customer service.

The information listed here is simply a compilation of observations I have made in the years I have spent trolling the message boards of Camarov6.com. If any info is wrong, feel free to email me and tell me that I am a moron. This information is, however, MY OPINION, and should not be considered cold hard fact. I am sorry that I don’t have power ratings for every cam, but I can’t afford to buy a zillion different cam grinds, install them and dyno test them.

[ November 06, 2004, 06:56 AM: Message edited by: malice10985 ]

[malice10985]

I had the cam specs organized in nice little tables from microsoft word, but they didn't copy paste onto the board correctly. I'll fix it later.

[OneQuickV6]

The worst thing about listing "all" the camshafts like that is that is lets members think that those are really all of them. When infact, there are a TON more. Why would you settle for a camshaft that worked on some guy's car across the country, with different mods than you? Also, it doesn't support the sponsors of this site, when they do offer a number of great camshafts from great manufacturers such as Comp, Lunati, and CamMotion. call them with a mod list, and they can get you a grind that is right for YOUR car!

[malice10985]

Yeah, there are a ton more, but I just listed some of the really popular ones that are installed in a lot of cars already.

A lot of noobs come to the advanced tech section and start the same thread: "I am looking for a camshaft, but I know nothing about them."

I figure if we sticky post my little guide to the top of the forum, many of the noobs will have thier answer without ever having to post. At least they will be pointed in the right direction.

It has been my experience that talking with manufacturers gets you nowhere. The comp technician I talked with said that my cam was perfect for me before I ever told him the rest of my mods. He didn't tell me about any other grinds that they had available. If you don't do your own research, you won't maximize your power potential, and you will waste money. Let others learn from my mistakes.

[Turbo V6 Camaro]

Originally posted by OneQuickV6:
The worst thing about listing "all" the camshafts like that is that is lets members think that those are really all of them. When infact, there are a TON more. Why would you settle for a camshaft that worked on some guy's car across the country, with different mods than you? Also, it doesn't support the sponsors of this site, when they do offer a number of great camshafts from great manufacturers such as Comp, Lunati, and CamMotion. call them with a mod list, and they can get you a grind that is right for YOUR car!

umm i don't see any listed for our cars......

[OneQuickV6]

NEVER call Comp's or most other manufacturer's tech lines, they are morons 99% of the time. Hence why I said call a sponsor here.

Viper, if you haven't figured out that there's more to a business than a website yet, there may not be any hope for you. When there's endless possibilities of camshaft grinds available, how do you list them all on a site anyway, and who's to say that if you list 10 cams on a site, those will be right for all cars out there?? Common sense goes a long way here...

If you know that 2 of this site's sponsors account for probably 75% of ALL camshaft sales for LS1's, and 4.6 Ford motors, reason stands that they can get them for the 3.8 as well. This is the case, as TSP happens to be the 2nd largest dealer of Lunati cams in the nation, and a big hitter for Comp as well. And I know Thunder runs a ton of comp, as well as CamMotion. That's just two of the site's sponsors.

[My3birds]

on a slightly more positive note, good job malice [img]smile.gif[/img] ... Mods make this a sticky

['98 BlackBird]

Originally posted by My3birds:
on a slightly more positive note, good job malice [img]smile.gif[/img] ... Mods make this a sticky

Very informative Malice. I like that alot.

[AZ3.8Camaro]

Couple things:

Originally posted by malice10985:
www.zzperformance.com Intake Exhuast
Lift 507 507
Duration @ .050 216 216
Lobe separation 111
Intake Centerline Not listed
The ZZP GT2. This is basically a GT cam, with slightly more duration. Expect minimal gains in power over that of the GT cam. It will set a P0300 SES code on the ECM. ZZP recommends that the rev limiter be raised to 7000rpm, so I would expect the cam to make power up to at least 6500rpm. If you plan to rev the engine that high with this cam, it would be in your best interest to get stiffer valvesprings. Look to Texas-speed.com(our diligent sponsor) for ECM tuning

I agree with everything here except it doesn't set any codes on my car at all. I would change "will set a code" to "may set a code." I would also add that is doesn't require ECM tuning, but it would be beneficial. This cam can and has been run on stock valvetrain because it has a slightly lower lift.

Originally posted by malice10985:

www.ftpp.net Intake Exhuast
Lift 533 544
Duration @ .050 210 220
Lobe separation 113
Intake Centerline 109
This is a big cam for the 3800. I would NOT use it with stock valvetrain parts. It needs at least COMP 105# valvesprings, and hardened pushrods. It definitely needs cylinder head port work done. Due to its high exhaust lift and long exhaust duration, I think it would be really good for nitrous oxide injection. I don’t have any power numbers for it, but with the right supporting mods, I bet it makes serious horsepower. Texas-speed ECM tuning would be a requirement to use this cam. This cam would not agree with the stock ECM.

Its not THAT big. It would be a good nitrous cam though. It would work with the stock ECM but tuning would be benificial. Head would have to be milled to accomadate the high lift.

Originally posted by malice10985:
www.intense-racing.com Intake Exhuast
Lift 539 523
Duration @ .050 222 224
Lobe separation 112
Intake Centerline 108
The intense stage II NA cam. It requires modified valvetrain parts and modified cylinder heads. Intense sells heads that are flow matched to this cam, but they are really really expensive. They also have a computer tune to compliment this cam.

I think this is bigger than the one before, but would still run ok on stock ECM. Heads should be milled on this one too.

[OneQuickV6]

Disagreed, the 222.224 Intense Stage 1 NA cam will definitely need a tune! I am running a very similar grind in my car, and on stock tune it was pissed! It definitely needs a little head work to accomodate the lift, and would be beneficial to mill to get a little more compression. Tune is a vital key for this one IMO!

[GPFish]

I was gonna say, the ZZP GT2 cam can be ran with stock heads.

The INTENSE stage 2 cam can also be ran with stock heads, but you will need Viton seals and shorter stems to run this cam. You wouldnt really grasp the power of this cam without heads. Then again, heads can open up any car.

[malice10985]

Guys-

What ever changes you would like to make to my descriptions, go ahead. Like I said, I only have experience with one cam. Once we are all agreed on the attributes of each cam, I will make a final draft and we can petition Pgriffith to sticky it to the forum.

Just copy paste my description, change it as you see fit, and post it here.

[Dotyereye]

What about the 3.4? Anyone know much about the cams for this engine?

[malice10985]

Originally posted by Dotyereye:
What about the 3.4? Anyone know much about the cams for this engine?

Sorry, I have no idea about cams for the 3.4. I guess I should have put 3800 in thread title.