........I know this is dumb.....BUT..Is there anyway to idenify a LT1 cam???? Numbers???? How can you at a glance tell if it is a billlet cam???? Is it not that easy....I tried using my dial indicator today, but im not really good at such things....I bought it off a mechjanic freind for 50 dollars, he said that he took it out of a 96, or 97 Camaro..I ask if it had Opti Spark on the front, he said yes....I did see some numbers, and letter around the perimeter of the cam...(off the top of my head)CPC 242.........Thank You for any help on this....

 

Try Googling "LT1 cam 242".

A little mental ingenuity goes a long way, rather than relying on everybody else to do Internet searches for you.

It's a GM cam. CPC is on pretty much all stock cams lately (from the late 70s well up into the 90s anyway), it's the vendor that makes them for GM. Since it came from a 96 Camaro, probably the stock one for the Camaro/Firebird version, and/or possibly the Vette version, for that year. Very ordinary and unremarkable. Which is why you can get it for $50; which is about the going market rate.

There are no billet GM cams.

To determine whether it's a billet cam:

GM cam: yes/no?
Yes: not billet
No: does it look like cast iron in between and on the sides of the lobes with a parting line all the way down the cam, or is it shiny and smoothly machined and sort of copper-colored?
Cast-iron: not billet
Looks like steel billet: billet

 

Well it sure never occurred to me to do a web search.Brain storm of an idea you had.....Thanks alot....Tom

 

Well, I had no luck with the google search...Is there anything about a LT1 cam that makes it look different than any other cam....Can I do some sort of measurements???? Sure hate to put it in, and find out its not what I thought...Thanks, Tom+

BTW, the cam looks cut out of a block, it is kinda copper colored burnt looking...Very strange multiple cuts in between the lobes....Never seen one quite like it...

 

No doubt you noticed when you Googled "lt1 cam 242", the 4th link that came up, was this one.

http://www.automotiverebuilder.com/ar/ar99928.htm

Your cam look anything like this one? (another common form of research.... go look at pics)

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Stock...QQcmdZViewItem

You can measure the lobes the long way where they're tallest, then measure them the short way across them; the difference between those 2 measurements, times the rocker ratio (1.5), will tell you approximately the peak lift.

 

Once again THANK YOU.............................BTW, I didnt want anyone to do it for me, just didnt know the answer......................Tom