Add any horses? I mean bigger ones than our stock ones. I got a 88 l98. Im curious what would be a good upgrade, and is there something that would also work with an aftermarket cam?

 

Stock ratio (1.5) - no. Higher ratio (1.6) - maybe, but very little. 2-3 tops. With a factory cam and valve springs, its not worth it. With a big aftermarket cam and heavy valve springs it would be. There are two purposes for roller rockers - reduce friction, and strengthen the valvetrain. Stock rockers have a tendancy to flex, especially with bigger cams and harder springs. With the tiny little stock GM cam and wimpy springs, its not really an issue. With bigger aftermarket cams, it is, and is worth the upgrade.

Untill you upgrade the cam and springs, don't bother with roller rockers.

 

Okay then. I know this is a overasked question. But every car is different in my opinion. I got confused with cams too many times. I believe i dont buy a roller cam correct? Because of my TPI right? well now i just gotta figure out a sick cam. I dont care bout gas mileage anyways. So if anyone has some ideas

 

Your engine takes a roller cam, and the FI will only work right if it's tame. Welcome to the "wonderful" world of FI.

 

If your engine is the original '88 5.7, then yes, you do have to buy a roller cam. Your engine is equipped with roller lifters. All V8s in passenger cars '87+ had roller cams (trucks are the exception).

 

You don't have to buy a roller cam for a roller block, but it would be silly not to.

 

If you get a crazy cam, you will need to tune for it. Beauty of EFI is you tune cleanly from the air conditioned cockpit rather than under the hot hood with oil and smelly gas all over you. EFI ROCKS! To get the full benefit of any cam, you'll want to tune for it anyway.

There is a ton of good cam info all over this forum so I won't go into that but watch out for the bad advice, there is a fair amount of that too. Remember that TPI was designed for low end torque.

 

you arent going to be tuning any "crazy" cams with a stock TPI

 

Main premise behind roller rockers is less side force on the valve stems. This sideways force is aggravated by wild cams.

 

a roller rocker still applys side force to the valve stem... the rocker still sweeps side to side it just has less friction on the tip and a true roller rocker is even better

 

I know im not gonna get a sick cam, but something beefy. My TPI will not be stock in 2 months. Okay so I guess i will search some more for a good roller cam.

 

Look at the Comp Cams catalog - they have a section of cams specifically designed for TPI engines. Stay on the smaller side of their range of cams and you should be OK. something around 218* or smaller is probably good for a healthy L98. Cam isn't really worth it untill you upgrade the primary bottle necks first though - namely the exhaust system.

 

it's just math, lift divided by old ratio times new ratio
how many miles do you people expect to get out of a engine??

 

You get a million miles from an engine. lol Anyways I have a free flow exhaust so im not worried there. And i have a nother block if i blow mine. I honestly dont think adding a larger cam is gonna blow an engine. Its not like these engines are made of plastic

 

well hell if thats the additude than all the power to ya man. throw the sickest cam in it you can afford for that application. you mentiond not being stock in two months anyway....what are you planning on doing?

 

when i said you wont be tuning any crazy cam with a stock FI setup... i meant the ECM... somepeople can manage to get it to run off of the stock ECM after a bit of tuning and more experience than you have but there are better/more expensive ways to do it...

And no a massive cam isnt going to "blow up" a engine... it WILL however make it a undrivable DOG... especially the TPI... even in the ultra modded hogged out versions the stock TPI isnt that good sorta why everyone changes the base runners well pretty much they change every part of it...

you will notice alot of posts talking about the TPI running out of steam at about 4500RPMs that isnt a myth that is how the system is designed it will rev higher than that yes is it making any meaningful power NO

picking a huge cam is going to move both your HP peak and probably torque peaks above that 4500... so what good will that do?

 

I uderstand that. But lol i didnt mean to have a attitude. lol It was seeming as y mod these cars. Well im looking for a 400 hp TPI. I kno its completely acheivable. So ya

 

yeah 400HP is very possible... not from a 100% stock TPI i am not even sure if it is possible from a modded stock TPI

 

lol no. When i start gettin my paychecks again, it will be going al towards the car. I got free college