lt1 heads/cam
 

hey guys, i am gaining interest in doing a new heads/cam setup on my lt1 since i may be parking it for a bit. stock motor with bolt ons. what would you guys suggest? i do daily drive it so i don't need anything crazy. probably keep it under 400hp. not looking for a real aggressive cam, just some more power. just a push in the right direction would help for now. thanks!

I know some people have pulled it off using wild cams on stock blocks, but I would highly recommend staying away from cams like the CC306 or GM's variant (847?). You'll be spinning bearings like nobody's business.

I hear a lot of good things about the LT4 Hot Cam, with ported heads they seem to be a very common upgrade for stock block LT1 cars and make reasonable power.

Whatever you do, just make sure you do your homework, and have all the supporting mods to go along with it to take full advantage of the combination. I let Josh @ JS Performance do the work with my motor and I think he did an awesome job building me A killer combination that stayed within my price range as well as goals.

Auto/stall or manual? What rear gears?

What do you want from the cam? Torque or top end power? do you plan to run the car at the track?

Hot cam is a 15 year old cam with real slow ramps. The kit that surrounds it is pretty much just enough to run that cam. I would highly suggest calling up Lloyd, at Eportworks and telling him what you want. I love my LE2 heads/cam car and I haven't even got the stall installed yet. Just remeber you want to support the heads with a really nice valvetrain and good supporting mods.

does llyod have a website? i was floating around on LT1.com but couldn't come up with much. i was taking a liking to LE1 and LE2 setups. I have the basic intake/full exhaust bolt ons, considering doing a 52 or 58mm throttle body with the build up.

Auto with stock converter that can be changed of course. stock 10 bolt with 3.23's. looking to do a 12 bolt with 3.42's or 3.73's. i do dd it so nothing wild. i would love to run it, but i don't think it will be very often. with the cam, i don't want to be making most power above 4500 cuz its a 90,000 mile motor. probably want to get the low to mid range torque.

yeah i don't want anything wild! just looking for some more giddy up. i have heard/read alot about the LT4 hot cam, just wasn't sure if its a good way to go.

LT4 "hotcam" is like I said, kinda outdated and pretty much old technology. Lloyd's site is eportworks.com. I would say look into LE2 heads and a emissions cam. He made my cam for peak horsepower below 6200 so anything you want I think is theoretically possible.

the motor is outdated also. I am really happy with the numbers my car put down.

LE2 is what I wanna go with next

Well there are better designed cams out there. Thats all I mean by that. And LE2 is a good package, granted you won't pass emissions to save your life but oh well.

From what I have read, loyd elliot is by far the best.

The LT4 cam seems out dated and under powered.

Here is a copy from a post on camaroz28.com:

I see alot of people asking questions about Heads/Cam setups and i think that Lloyd Elliott's are very good deals. I have been talking with Lloyd for the past two weeks about what i should get for his setups and he has been extremely nice and helpful. He responds to my emails almost immediately. I highly recommend him to everyone. He says you must supply your own cores and once he recieves them, they will be done in 2 1/2 weeks.

The setup i am getting in the LE1.5 It is $1,400 plus shipping:

SI 2.02/1.60 valves
Comp 26918 bee hive springs
CM retainers
10 degree locks
LE 2 cam


Here is an Email he sent me with all of the Package information:

Below is a basic run down on the head and cam packages. The best package will depend on HP goals, budget, rear gears, stall size, future plans, emissions, driving style, tuning ability, existing components, etc., etc, A phone call would be best to make sure that we can talk through these things and get a package that will work like you are wanting it to and also make sure that you have the complimenting parts to make each set up work.

I offer cam and head packager from $1100 to $1650.

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LE1 cam pulls from 2000 to 6200 RPM and should make 370-390 RWHP with matching heads, 30 lb injectors, 52 TB, 1 3/4 LTs, No cats, good tuning, etc. The heads are ported using stock valves, performance valve job, back cut valves, CM 612 springs, retainers and locks, milling, cleaning and assembly. These heads flow about 255/180 with a 195 cc intake port and stock LT1's flow about 215/150 with a 170 cc intake port.

Heads and cam are $1100 (plus shipping). This has the RPM range of the Hot Cam, CC 305, etc. but makes more HP and TQ over these cams through out the entire RPM range. This will work with any gear and converter but the track times will be better with a stall and some gear.

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LE2 cam pulls from 2200 to 6500 RPM and should make 400-420 RWHP with matching heads, 30-36 lb injectors, 52-58 mm TB, 1 3/4 LT's, no cats, GOOD tuning, etc. The heads are ported and machined for larger Ferrea 2.00/1.56 valves, matching springs (Comp 987/977 springs and Ti retainers or Bee Hive springs and CM retainers depending on lifter type and EXACT cam specs), locks, locators, milling, cleaning and assembly. These will flow about 270/190 with a 205 cc intake port.


Heads and cam are $1650 (plus shipping) and will need GOOD tuning. This has the RPM range of the CC 306 cam but will make more HP and TQ at peak and across the board. The REAL difference will be the LE2 cam will make TQ in the 2500 RPM range and the cc 306 doesn't start until way past this.

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LE3 cam pulls from 2600 to 6800 RPM in a 350 (2300 to 6500 RPM in a 383) and should make 410 to 430 RWHP with matching heads, 36-42 lb injectors, 58 TB or mono blade, GOOD tuning, etc, etc, etc. These are the same heads as above. This type of RPM requires a lot more spring pressure and will also need Comp R lifters to handle the spring pressure.

Heads and cam are $1650 (plus shipping) and will need GOOD tuning. This cam is similar to the GM 847 cam but makes about 10 more HP at peak and starts making HP sooner. Makes more HP and TQ across the board. Needs gear and converter to work well in a 350. Pretty much a racing cam for the 350 or a good street cam that will act like the LE2 in a 383.

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Everyone has a different opinion about what is streetable and what a safe RPM limit is for their engine.

If you are looking for just cylinder heads and with out a cam, the heads are priced at . . . . .

$750 for the LE1 heads only
$1300 for the LE2 heads only
$1300 for the LE3 heads only

Give me a call and I can help you pick a combo that you will be happy with.

Lloyds website is www.eportworks.com

Lloyd Elliott-------------------------------972-617-5671----------------------------Red Oak Tx 75154
NightTrain66@msn.com

And to be fair, check out Advanced Induction too. Their customer service is fair lacking compared to talking with Lloyd but they are CNCed heads, Vs hand porting. And I think the in house design their bumpsticks. Lloyd has Bret Bauer design his.

thanks guys. 12second, thats what i read to find about llyod. whenever i try to visit his site, the connection times out?? :shrug:

He was switching his website servers awhile back. So I would just call him, hes a great guy to talk to and he will answer all of your questions.

http://elliottsportworks.com/ just went to it

The only problem with getting the stockers ported is the downtime, your looking at like a month of no car. So if that is a problem maybe look into either buying a spare set of LT1 heads and getting them ported and swapping, or buying a set of Trickflow, AFR etc.

BTW, Do you need to pass emmision? That's a big factor in your cam selection if the car is going to have to pass the sniffer.

Emmisions? What are those? :wink: Yea you will lose a bit of mid range torque/horsepower and of course finding a way to run LTs and cats will rob more to.

yeah i was going to try and pick up a set of heads. i heard he suggests aluminum heads. saves on shipping!

yes....no. i don't have to.

Do share :wink:
And I thought all LT1 heads were aluminum? It was like 50 bucks to ship insured to Texas. Not to bad. Hard part was finding a box suitable.

yeah i thought so too, i read it off of another forum? :shrug: thats not a bad price though

And they come back all shiny and clean too. :mrgreen:

im pretty sure Impala LT1 heads were Iron

yes very true!