bigal's1991

what is the restrictions on cams in a 1991 camaro rs TBI 305..... im 16 and just got my car and im tryin to fix it up... whats the biggest cam you can put in with out changin the computer?

ShiftyCapone

iTrader: (7)

The only cam that you can run properly on the stock tune is the stock cam. The stock chip calibration will not run properly with any cam larger than stock. You are better off spending your money on a full exhaust and suspension upgrades. A cam swap will need custom chip work. If you are serious about a cam swap in the near future than you will want to read up on chip burning and plan to practice on a stock set-up before you tune one with a cam. Take some time and read through the stickies at the top of the page. They give you a good basic understanding of what makes these cars tick. Good luck and happy modding.

Gallileo60

Shifty, what do you have to do chip wise to run the LT1 cam, i see everyone talking about...I have a full exhaust, and the headers are going to go on soon...Have a TBI Stage 2 chip installed now....Have done some of the free mods for the TBI, and have a free flowing ram air, cool air setup....Thank you for any suggestions..Probably wont do a cam swap real soon, but am curious... Tom

Gallileo60

Am now reading the stickys again, may find my answer there.Thanks

83-ta-5spd

i got the L98 cam not sure if its an improvment or not but deff helps the car out some. best time i ran so far is a 15.2 i had 3.42s, intake manifold, open element, dynomax cat back thats it

ShiftyCapone

iTrader: (7)

The chip work is no different than if you have any other cam. A smaller cam is easier to tune but in the end you will still have to adjust timing, fuel, spark, injector stuff and other parameters that link everything together.

Gallileo60

Well let me ask you this, will a stage 2 chip work with the LT1 cam, or do you have to do other things to it also??? I think this chip just has a little extra timing, and a bit more fuel on the top end, but not sure.What confuses the computer, is it lack of strong vacunm at idle, or what???..I know very little about chips in general...I have read alot on the boards, but am still confused...Thank you very much for taking the time to answer these same ol questions again......Tom

dimented24x7

iTrader: (2)

The change in VE is what does it. Intakes as well as other mods like CAI also really throw things off. The TBI computers estimate the fuel required from the VE as well as other factors. When you change the cam and/or heads, that radically changes the VE as well as teh timing requirements. In order to do it right, you have to recalibrate the ECM yourself. The aftermarket chip companies are just guessing.

cranknrods

gallileo-you stated that you have done some of the free mods-this isnt exactly a free mod at first but after you buy the stuff needed to do it and then learn how-chip burning can be a free mod-so to speak. our computers are not as powerful; as someothers on other cars> howeverthey are sensitive to the point that even porting the intake and throttle body is hardly effective without some tuning.you wouldnt change the intake on a carbed car with out doing some tuning-not to accurate of an example but the same aplies to computers as well. i dont know how many times ive heard someone say that the computer will accustom itself to almost any mod-this is just not true-the computer can usually take up the slack and get the thing to run but if it runs good at all, it would only be after a complete tune. i myself have finally got off of my high horse and decided to learn how to burn chips and now i see that the posibilities are now endless(kindof).
sorry so long just trying to spread the word
best of luck