hey guys, i am gettin a cam for my birthday and i wasnt quite sure which one would be computer friendly where i wouldnt really have to do prom tuning or anything in that nature the car is an 87 trans am GTA with a 350 tpi and want to know what would be the best cam to swap into this so any help would be great thanks in advance
-Eldin

 

what kind of heads do you have, is it a daily driver?

 

the heads are stock heads as of now till i get some money saved up but that will be some time and the car will be a daily driver and the strip every now and then and the occasional beat a couple mustangs and ricers on the street

 

comp cams 08-300-8, my buddy runs the same cam in his motor, stock everything, stock tune, runs good, lots of power, his is a 88 l98 from a iroc

 

you need to have a better flowing set up first. if you have a stock block its best to build around it first or at the same time. you can have a huge lift and exhaust out of a cam but no where for it to go, making it doggy. i would highly suggest a nice flowing engine and a strong car first.

 

Why don't you download comp cams camquest software for free and type your info in and see what it comes up with?

http://www.compcams.com/camquest/default.asp

 

You haven't mentioned what has already been done to the car. What sort of headers are installed on it? If it doesn't have headers, a cam swap is a waste of time and will probably reduce your power and increase your fuel consumption.

 

LPE makes a very good small cam that doesn't require anything special other than possibly a different distributor gear.

 

I have that same cam not installed yet How your buddys car sound with it.

 

well the engine is stock as far as i know exhaust is a 3 inch flowmaster with stock headders and i was told the car has a hypertech chip from the guy i bought the car from not sure ill have to check it but other than that the engine is bone stock,now the tranny has a shift kit and a 2500 stall im not sure what gears are in the rear end. So i would be better off getting headders then the cam and i downloaded the cam quest from comp but havnt came around to tryin it out yet

 

Get a Crane 2032 grind!

 

camquest is kinda useless, his camaro has headers/full catback, it all works very nice together.

little bit lopier than stock, has a nice rumble

 

If you upgrade the cam, you should consider getting a full wide band tune. Even if the cam is computer compatible and your MAF system can compensate to a certain degree. It's the only way you are going to get the most out of your new cam.
I upgraded to the comp cams 08-500-8
http://store.summitracing.com/partde...8&autoview=sku
I drove the car with the stock tune for about 10K miles and was generally happy with the way the car ran and sounded. However, there were little stumbles in the power curve here and there due to the car running too lean at some points or too reach at others. Not to mention that the 10k miles I put on the car without a proper tune did ruin a set of new spark plugs.
It made a huge difference when I got my car tuned. The power throughout the rpm band improved dramatically, fuel economy improved, the car runs cooler and starts much easier. It is as if everything has fallen in sync now.

 

how does the idle sound and would i need a diffrent set of lifters and springs to run that cam ?

 

The idle is quite a bit more aggressive than stock. Sounds a bit choppy but doesn't lope too much. You don't need a new set of lifters. I used new valve springs with my new cam just because I didn't want to take any chances. When I called comp cams to ask about the cam, they said that the heads don't require screw in studs because the springs recommended for that cam don't have enough pressure to pull the studs out.
The power output is great without sacrificing any low speed drivability. This cam is in my LB9. A friend of mine has the same cam in his 350 and also likes the results.
I have not installed a set of headers yet, just have a 3 inch magnaflow cat back exhaust and some stock replacement catalytic converters. I am also running a set of Bosch design 3 22lbs injectors with my new tune. The car as it stands will hold its own against stock LT1s. When I put a set of long tube headers in the spring I will have the car fine tunned with the headers and dynoed. I will post the results. The guy that did the tunning said that the car right now is in the visinity of 220-230 whp and 300 ft lbs of torque to the rear wheels (his shop specializes in f-bodies) . The engine was rebuilt from the oil pan to the valve covers about 12k miles ago and so far I am very happy with the results.

 

Shouldent he get a new intake manifold first? If im not mistaken just with all stock stuff the intake chokes the motor, if you add a cam itll just be choking it even more.

 

Not necessarily. If you select an incorrect cam, or if the engine is not tuned with the new cam, it will lose performance.

 

I know that. I was just saying wouldent it make more sense to upgrade the intake first? Or maybe save up a little more money so you can just do it all at once. The stock intake really doesent provide enough flow for higher rpms.

Also I dident see anything mentioned about fueling [might have missed it], hes definitely going to need at least AFPR. Plus he should get headers first also. He has other things he should probably get before and aftermarket cam.

 

He doesn't need an AFPR if he widens the injector pulse in the computer. He will definitely need a good flowing exhaust with the new cam. The stock TPI unit may not be ideal, but will work fine with a cam like the xr258hr12 (comp 08-500-8). The cam makes its power at low revs and provides a good bit of torque where the TPI shines.
Throwing a cam in the motor without some supporting mods will not improve performance.