I'm going to be ordering afr 180cc cylinder heads within the next couple months i will also be getting a new intake manifold and new intake runners. What would be a good cam to get that will work well with speed density and won't need tuning to get it to run(will eventually get it tuned to get most power out of setup)?

 

well you have a small problem,speed density is cam sensative even a lpe 219 cam requires tuning so you should just go head and get a good cam and get a chip burned for it then do more upgrades..

 

Try a reasonable camshaft with 212in. and 226ex. @.050 duration. Speed density is not as touchy with the exhaust as much as the intake. A cam like that would perform well with the modifications you have. Add some fuel pressure, then add a prom down the road if you have to, but in all honesty, I doubt you will....Tom

 

Brutal Who makes a cam like the one you suggest ?

 

I think i might go with the zz4 cam. will this be drivable without a custom chip or will i just not be getting as much hp as i could ? How is the zz4 cam for emissions?

 

I did not want to say the name, due to their way overpriced products, but its TPIS.

The ZZ-9 cam has those specs, and Ive ran that cam in my old engine combination with S/D, and great results.

I believe they sell them for a ridiculous $379.00, while everyone else in the english speaking world, sells rollers for about $200.00!

What I would do, and have done, is give Comp Cams a call and give them the specs of the cam you would like. Why buy an off the shelf unit, when you can go with a custom grind?....Tom

 

Comp Cams have a cam that is close to those specs (though you have to either go 212/218 or 218/224). Also Crane has a close version 214/222 (in Marine and Street version).

Frankly, with SD, you SHOULD get into eprom burning regardless of what you have in your engine and start BEFORE you begin to modify your motor.

I got into eprom burning when my engine was bone stock and greatly improved both it's performance and fuel economy (which was a little extra bonus). The great thing, no matter WHAT I did, I always had my original stock eprom to work with.

Proper tuning of a bone stock L98 will get you at least 3/10s & 3 mph (if not a bit more). That equates to roughly 30 HP over the factory. But, the best thing of all, now you can modify your engine to your hearts content AND never have to worry about what eprom.

Lastly, because you need to learn a lot of the ECM, you will learn all about the engine diagnostics and learn how to isolate virtually ALL problems with the fuel injection system.

Sometimes an SES code can be a false reading. It wouldn't be the first time I had a buddy who was having a problem with his engine, changed a sensor based on the SES code, only to still get the code. Ultimately, it turns out to be another sensor, but the ECM begins to compensate and causes another sensor to give a error reading. This is cause "trying to fix the symptom instead of the problem".

 

Im not saying "he should not" get a prom for the combination, since he said that he would eventually get one. I just meant that my S/D combination ran pretty well without one. You are absolutley right Glenn, without it, optimum performance would never be realized without one....Tom

 

Well i was set on the zz4 did some researching on the zz-9 and now i don't know what i should get . If i go the zz-9 im just gonna get a custom cam done by some place not sure where yet, because im not paying 375 for a cam thats nuts. Out of these 2 cams which would have that least affect on drivability. I might have found a place locally that can custom burn me a chip. Every time i try and learn the basics from the diy prom board i always get confused i guess the stuff would make more sense if i actually had the programs infront of me.

 

If you do get a chip done, please, dont let them take your money and just burn you any old combination that is similar to yours..I guarentee you will be disapointed. In your original message you asked about a S/D cam with "no tuning". You can install the cam, and later on, get the programming you need. I suggest you visit the DIY prom board. I have run the ZZ-9 cam with a stock prom, and it ran great, no drivability issues etc. With the proper tuning, you may even want to consider a cam with more snuff...Tom

A bit off topic here, but dont let the DIY prom board intimidate you. Like anything worthwile in life, it takes time! Ive only been learning this stuff for about 2 months myself.

 

yeah the place said they have off the shelf ones and ones the they do custom and will do sevral adjustments

 

What are they charging you to burn a "custom" chip?

Once you have the software cant you flash the chip in the 730 ecm? Or do you need to purchase any external programmer?

 

I think 400 for the custom and 200 something for the off the shelf one. I know getting into burning my own chips would be good but it would take a while for me to get use to doing everything and then after i learn everything i would have to still play around with gettting the chip right. I dunno seems like alot of time to get it all to work i'd rather be using the car then messing with the chips all the time

 

$400?!!? I am in the wrong business!!!

 

What fun....using the car WHILE messing with chips and tuning.

 

k just did some research and i think im going to buy prom burning stuff from moates.net i didn't realize how simple it is to change back to the stock chip.

 

As someone who has done both (bought a custom chip, then got into prom burning), GOOD DECISION!!!!!

 

That is why people get into eprom burning. The equipment can be cheaper AND you can keep reusing it.

The problem with most custom eproms, they concentrate on WOT only. Part throttle, they HOPE the O2 sensor can correct enough to make the engine sound okay.

Once you start tuning, you will notice EVERY little thing that isn't "quite right". With the eprom equipment, you can fix every one of those things. I have had a few friends try my "custom" eprom for I had developed for my stock L98 and they were amazed at the difference - especially the power and fuel economy.

Trust me, the fuel economy alone will pay for eprom burning equipment with in a short period of time if the car is a daily driver. You can also make a two eproms - one to run on regular and one to run on premium (depending on your compression ratio) if you want to save a little cash from time to time. (But most just leave the premium eprom in to get max power).

PS: No one who tried my modified eprom for when my car was bone stock could use it in their car without more tweaking. This just shows that 2 cars (even though equiped the same) are NOT the same when it comes to tuning. All needed a little more tweaking to obtain "max output". And that max output can be a matter of just 2* of timing in certain key spots...which you can only find by "lots of testing".

You can't do that with a custom eprom ... they just want your car to run "half ***" and get out of their. Typically, they will "have it slightly de-tuned" just to make sure you don't keep coming back. Slightly de-tuned makes it easier to pass off the eprom as "running good" but it is far from optimal. Especially on a SD car where you have fuel and spark to contend with.

 

A big YES! to everything Glenn said!!!!

Been there, done that, got that lousy T-shirt (using it for a rag now in the garage)

(I'm actually using the 3 versions of my "custom chip" as cores to burn my own proms)

 

I should add, IF you have a custom eprom AND discuss "little driveabililty issues", the typical reply is "That's normal". Point is...it's normal for THEIR eprom (not normal if someone spends the time to dig into the problem).

 

Here is another link that might be of some help, since you will need a programmer.

http://www.xtronics.com/

.....Tom