Hey guys,

That's right!! I finally got finished with the install last night around 10pm. That's Springs, Retainers and Cams. The cams aren't hard to install or get setup in time properly at all, its the dang valve springs that make the job hard.

Well she fired right up and I went for a ride in it last night without ANY tuning adjustments other then the 93 Torque tune I normally keep in my car, for the C&L street intake, X-pipe and 3:55 gears. Drove great and when you hit 4000 rpm's WOW, it really hauls! It pulled all the way upto the shift point but I didn't wanna do any adjustments to it as I didn't know what the a/f ratio was yet so I waited until today.

I drove it 70 miles to the dyno still on the basetune and loaded a dynoloc tune to make the converter stay locked while doing the pull. The First pull out it made 298rwhp and 279 rwtq!! The a/f was close but not what I preferred so I did make some changes to it as well as playing with the timing both down low and up high. We made out best the second run with the a/f perfectly where I like it and the timing was crazy what I could add all through the RPM range, without detonation.

We ended up with 303 rwhp and 282 rwtq, up from my baseline twp weeks ago of 278 rwhp and 285 rwtq. Get this too, it was making power all the way to 6500 RPM's!!

The overall torque number was lower but the Torque gains in the upper RPM range was 20-24 Ft/lbs above 5000 rpm's and the Hp was 25-28 rwhp mainly above 4500-4800 rpm's.

The overall numbers are exactly 25 rwhp over the baseline.

The idle, well sorry guys but it does idle just like a stocker. It has a slight bit of a chop to it but nothing that screams I have a cam like the BBR's. Still with the above mods if I'm making the same Hp as the BBR cams but my torque is a a small bit lower, but of course I have an auto and the other is a manual.

Overall I'm very pleased with the cams and the ease of installation and the quality of the design. I would like to have a bit choppier idle but I can work on that later with future designs. I would like to test my car again with a C&L Racer or JLT intake to see what gains I may get from a better flowing intake. I was kinda limited on my runs today by my Aftermarket TB but you'll see that post tonight too.

Thanks!!

Doug.

 

Impressive - so what is a good ballpark cost for a cam swap, doing it yourself...?

 

NICE!!

Way to go Doug!!

 

Congrats Doug ...i am glad your custom grind worked out.

 

Good numbers. I'm knocking on the door of 300 rwhp N/A on an auto. Got to 297rwhp / 307rwtq with intake, LT headers, and exhaust. Not sure what I should do to get it over the hump, without tearing into the engine.

Any suggestions?

 

A better tune will get you over... I have 300/305

-Dan

 

awesome to see it done!! and similar results to me. I truely think with cams on these cars, its all in the tune. I firmly believe that as more people get cams, and more are tuned, you will be able to get some more power!!

the idle is disappointing though. were these the #300 cams or the bamachips grind?

 

hey guys,

A ballpark for the camswap, expect around $800-$1000. I plan on offering them for $1149 for the complete kit and then $1999 installed and dynotuned if you already have a tuner with numbers both before and after. I would expect that if you are swapping cams that you already have a CAI and other mods as cams aren't the first mod I'd do to a car.

These are the BamaChips special grind from Comp, they are just alittle bit different then the 300's as I've had them designed more for n/a and blower use. Still though, after installing these cams the only ones I'm going to offer for now will be either the 300, the BC grind, or the 350's as I don't see any benefit from the 100 series. 25 rwhp is the least amount of power I would expect to get from a camswap.

For the future I do plan on working with Comp even more to develop a new grind that has the same or better power but has a more aggressive idle, I mean to idle like a stocker, dang it! hahahaaa. It's all worth it though when you hit 4000 rpm's at WOT and it pulls like a banshee.

I can't wait to go back to the track.

Thanks Doug.

 

Man, I wish I still lived in AL so I could have you do this mod. Still looking forward to your dyno tune when you come to NY.

 

I was there yesterday to see it make it's pulls. I was very impressed with the numbers. These cams blow away BBR's. I think they sound pretty nasty at idle which is a bonus. Not so much lope you can tell it's cammed but they definatly make a good difference in the sound. And thank you Doug for my tunes the car drives SOOO much better on both tunes. I couldn't be happier with them. I've dealt with a good deal of tuners and when it comes to these cars, no one compares.

 

 

Cool that is my next hp mod. Gotta save up for it.

 

Congrats Doug!!!!!!! What do you think this will do for your ET's?

 

How often to you go past 4K driving on the street in every day traffic ?

Looking at your runs it appears you lost as much below 4K as you gained above it.

 

That is typical of cam swaps, they usually shift the powerband around.

 

With just a cam switch it's not unusual to see little if any improvement in ET but a significant increase in MPH, especially with an automatic. ie.the car is faster but not quicker. You need steeper gears and a looser torque converter to exploit the advantage of the cams.

 

Well, for a daily driver - all I am interested in is a nice lopey, choppy idle. Even if there was little to no performance gain, I would swap just for that sweet sound of a wild cam...

I have '72 Impala with a 454 and a heavy duration / overlap cam and it really sounds great. If I could get that sound into my 05...

 

what, are you on crack? I made the exact same power (plus a little more tq, but then im a manual) with the BBR cams. how exactly am I "blown away"? I also have an extremely nasty idle to boot. did I miss something? or are these no better than the BBR cams, minus the idle.

 

if you made the same exact power, and you have a manual, then you didn't gain as much, auto's loose more power through the transmission. {/devils advocate}

 

It's still just as strong and responsive down low but the top end now screams. I'll be heading to the track to see what kinda times it runs now but its been since march that I've been to the track.

As for blowing away anyone I've not done that in anyway, I've just posted the numbers and the installation for my cams.

thanks, Doug.