Hey all, well as you probably read (or not), the coolant is indeed the rear intake cooling jacket. So the gaskets have to be done, thus the intake removed. And what is exposed when the intake is off? Thats right, lifters.... and what can we do when lifters are exposed? Remove them and put in a nice lumpy cam

Here are my questions...

1) Which intake will shift the torque up in the RPM's? I was told the TPiS will, because they have custom porting...

2) Best cam for driveablity, but gives more umph at the track.. I was looking at COMP Cams before I even bought my car.

Suggestions are always welcomed

 

Here's my suggestions even though no one ever listens to me.......

1. Accel base plate. The TPIS base is an Edelbrock base that is ported to the same dimensions as a stock Accel base........and last time I looked, the TPIS base was $100 US more than an Accel base.

2. ASM semi-siamesed runners. Again, ASM makes these but TPIS re-packages them and sells them as their own, after they add $100 US to the price.

3. Accel/LPE "216" cam. Since you are probably gonna use the stock heads this cam will work great. You will be able to retain your stock springs and you rockers won't bind at peak lift. It will work pretty well with your stock converter as well. Your 'puter won't gag on it either but a "custom" chip would be of benefit. This is a true EFI cam since it was designed as that from the get go. The specs are......

duration....213/219
lift with 1.5 rockers.......457/.470
112 LSA

Hope this helps,
Paul

 

Well... sounds like you've done your share of research Paul... I will definately take your suggestions strongly. I may not be doing anything with runners right now, since to me, they are easy to change in the future. But, I was thinking of getting the SLP siamesed runners, that are pre-polished. Which ever runner I am going for, will definately be polished, cause I ain't going through that crap again.. lol

Heads will remain stock, cause thats a lot of cash to shell out at once... but I am strongly leanging on better springs and roller rockers. I have to do the valve seals anyway, so "Might As Well" change the springs while I am at it.... see, that "Might As Well" attitude can get you in trouble sooo much

 

Errrr yeah, on second thought, you may not want the ASM siamesed runners on your car. They are kinda ugly. The SLP's would look better and probably work just as well after they are cleaned up.

Nathan, that "might as well" thing is what happened to my car..........

 

What is the weight,rear gears,TC on the car is still stock??

I would go for a ZZ3 cam(by half price) since its cheaper and better matched to the heads(a bit o porting is needed though)..Change the spring since I wouldnt re-use stock springs anyway..Aftermarket intake like Acceldz would help a whole lot but porting the snit out of the stock pieces should be fine for now..Dont forget that the stock heads can be made to flow like the ZZ3/ZZ4 heads(almost) and the ZZ3 motor made 345 horsepower..Expect less though..

I am using the Edelbrock base right now and it matches the Superram perfectly..

I did the cam once and the intake twice last yr..Doing the cam is 3 times more work than just doing the intake so think twice before you do it..IMO

Daz

 

My .02 don't go too small on the cam like I did. I read way too many magazine articles about overkill cams so I pussied out and got a .455/.455. Needless to say I am NOT happy with it, and will be installing a Comp 280H (my original choice) in the very near future.

Just do it right the first time, get good TC and everything because you will just end up taking everything apart again if you don't.

 

Hey Nate just to remind you exposing the lifter bay is only part of the job for a cam swap. To re & re the cam you have to pull the accessories, pulleys, harmonic, rad and anything else in the way. It's alot of work eh ?

thx,
RP.

 

Yeah, I know about the accessories, and I have been thinking of that. This is why I would like to hold off until its away for winter. if it goes beyond driveable before winter, I will just get a high performance intake and do the gaskets

 

Nate a word of caution for you

1 dont let your coolant leak go on to long. if its leaking out there is a very good chance that it is leaking in to the combution chamber too. if it was tho let go and you got a lot of coolant in at one time you will find your self replacing the hole engine. if i were you i would do it as soon as i could. (i have seen the way you baby it )

2 if you do the cam change becareful not to let it got out of hand.( it can add up very quick) if you do the cam you will need to add a TC to match it. that would also be a good time to port the heads to match the new base. if you were to port the heads then you will need a set of header also. while you have the heads off getting them ported you may find that the valve seals need to be done aswell. and what the hell you have it all apart now why not go the all the way and do a 3 angle on them too. Hmmmm maybe a set of aftermarket heads. Wait you will still need to do a set of lifters for the new cam. and for only a few more dollars you could go with 1.6 rockers no wait roller rockers etc etc etc


there will come a time where you will have to draw the line. and say STOP before you sink $5000 into a coolant leak

so what i am saying is... know what you want. Stick with it and buget for a few things you did not antisipate on.

with all that said if you need a hand to change over the base or replace the gasket i can give you a hand. it can be done in less than a day with only a few tools

this was my leak that started my total rebuild

 

I see what you're saying.... the cam will have to wait I suppose. But the different intake base is a must. I will have to two things... one, get the beater fixed so I don't have to drive the GTA around as much. And two, star saving for a new intake.

Thanx for the input guys.... and thanx for the heads up Scott, never thought about the leak getting worse, causing coolant in the combustion chamber.

 

TPiS has a cam in the Garage Sale section.. tell me what you think...

Solid Roller Cam for Roller 87+ Blocks, 242@.050, .498 Lift, 109LSA - $250

 

Nathan, tell me you're kidding.

 

ummmm.... not really. why?

Been shopping on line, found this:

LPE Intake Base $459.95 USD
TPiS Intake Base $425 USD
Edelbrock Intake Base $359 USD (Summitracing)

As for runners

LPE Runners $468.95 USD (not polished )
TPiS Runners $475 USD (not polished )
ASM Runners $395 USD or $545 USD polished
SLP Runners $399.95 USD polished (probably be my choice over all)

OR I go completely nuts, if I find a money tree!!! LOL

TPiS Miniram $895 USD plus $355 USD for the fuel kit. They claim 95 horsepower increase witha stock L98!!! is this true!!??

 

That is a very big cam especially for a long runner setup and it's a solid roller. Solid roller is another name for mechanical roller. You'd have to get new lifters, springs, retainers, locks......... You'd need a 3500rpm converter and a ton of PROM work to make that cam happy. Not to mention a nasty set of heads. I don't even know if a MAF system could support that cam.

I've found that cruzinperformance usually has the best prices on the Accel stuff. The TPIS stuff is made by ASM. I'm not sure how they justify the added cost.

 

haha.. yeah.... is the intake base also made by ASM? Because I couldn't find an intake base in the ASM catalogue

 

Edelbrock just casts some of their manifolds with the TPIS logo on them. TPIS then cleans them up until they are the same demensions as the Accel base. I believe ASM uses ported stock bases. Back in the day, GM used to go to ASM for all their custom EFI jobs for the show cars. Some of the stuff they make is unreal. If I where you, i'd try to find a used base and set of runners. Keep an eye on the C4 parts section on http://www.corvetteforum.com .

 

ASM does porting on stock intakes.... I suppose I could go this route if I find another intake base I can send away. Hmm... do you guys think I should go that way? Probably be the cheapest.

 

Nathan there's no way you'll get a cam that large to run on a stock computer. That thing is huge, plus I don't think your heads flow enough to let that cam really work.

 

Yes I already was told that... it was on sale, was just thinking about it. I'm not doing the cam anyway

 

Actually I would do a cam before anything else on a TPI motor, thats pretty much stock. A nice cam would awaken that L98 real well.

 

Well... I want to get this problem fixed before the coolant begins leaking into the Intake port and causing detremental damage to the cylinder. The cam wil have to be done with the heads. An intake has been known to free up at least 10 horseys.. which isn't bad. It gets down to the money that I have NOW... I was going to wait until winter, but Scott opened my eyes to possible damage caused by waiting

 

I don't see why you would have to remove the accessories? After changing the water pump today.. I saw that the timing cover could easily come right off at that point. Yes the rad must come out so there's room for the cam to come out... but the rad is not bad to remove, the A/C rad is though... would that have to be removed? I think I will do it all at once... this time I will bite my tounge and JUST replace the gaskets.

 

You will have to remove both the rad and the AC condenser. You will also have to move the 2 rods that run diagonally across the front of the condenser. The cam has to be able to go in straight or you risk cutting the journals up. Also, be carefull pulling the timing cover out or you'll wind up with an oil leak at the front of the oil pan. Have you decided which base manifold you are going to get? Are you getting runners as well?

 

I am still thinking of getting a spare intake and sending it away to ASM for porting. If not that, I will go with LPE.

As for the A/C condensor coming out, that sux.... I don't want to lose my A/C. Its freaking expensive to refill it with R12.. but then again, I can fill it up with R12a with no conversion crap... still may be doable...

 

I did mine without having to discharge the A/C..I pulled the condenser out with the fitting still connected..You might have to remove the the oil cooler line to get to the oil pan..The proper way to change the timing cover is to loosen the oil pan..I was troo lazy and did the shortcut..

Daz

 

Just my opinion.
Fix the leak for now and when the car is down for winter, take your time and do all you want done. Also gives ya time to get the parts you want.
Nothing worst then having the car down in the summer.

 

Camswap should take 2 full days if you are new but have all the parts..which is never the case..lol It took me 3 days to do the camswap but thats because I have to port the stock runner gasket twice to fit the SUperram(mistake lead to a leak) and have to do the valve lash,timing..etc..everytime

Daz

 

Yeah, thats my plan 16thOwner... Probably not this winter, but the next. This winter I want headers and valve guide replacement.