i am looking to do a cam swap in the near future. i am trying to learn all i can about dyi prom burning, but it may take awhile. what is the largest cam i can run with a stock tune that will work until a chip is burnt. the vehicle is a 95 tahoe. only mods so far are exhaust, throttle body/injector spacers, and adjustable fuel pressure regulator. the vehicle is driven almost daily so i dont want anything too radical. a call to comp cams recommended a pretty weak cam. any suggestions

 

I'd say wait until you can burn a chip, anything that'll run on the stock tune will be close to stock and you won't see the power gains you want then you'll end up swapping it twice. Do it right the first time and you'll save time.

 

thats what i was afraid of. deep down i know this, but the prom burning if frustrating for me while mechanical work is not. I guess i will have to be patient. will the lt1 cam work well for my application once a chip is burned?

 

You will want to do chip work before, during and after mods. That way you become familiar with what to look for and how things need to be changed. The extensive part of your chip work will come after the cam swap. That changes the tune more than anything.

 

i have a crane computer cam 2040 210/216 @ .05 with 114 lsa. not certain if i will run OK without a tuned chip. $50 plus ship. email if interested.

 

I also have some questions.

LT1 Cam = CA Smog Legal?

I am reallly serious about the lt1 cam swap as my first true mod, and, this would be my first time tearing a motor apart, ever, and I really like gathering EVERYTHING I need to know BEFORE I go out there and try this, Where do I stick the "Crank Key" at in order to get the motor at TDC? I read the FAQ on the cam swap and this is the only part I don't get and don't want to mess up, because I don't feel like bending any valves.

And since i'm in there, would the swap be a good time to replace the Valve stem seals?

I know what TDC is and why it should be there, but I don't understand the rest.

Thank you in advance for your help guys.

 

You can pass the smog test with the LT1 cam provided you have a functional cat and a good tune. Tuning is the key to everything with these cars including emissions.

To get the motor to top dead center for #1 firing you want to turn the crank (with a crank key that slides onto the end of the crank snout) and turn it so that the dots on the timing chain are alligned. The cam gear dot will be at 6 oclock and the crank dot will be at 12 oclock. You are at #1 TDC but for the exhaust stroke and #6 TDC for firing. The dot to dot method is the easiet way to line things up. Ok so now you need to get the #1 from TDC exhaust to TDC firing. To do this you turn the crank gear 180° so that the dots are both on top. The cam gear dot will be at 12 oclock and the crank gear dot will be at 12 oclock. You are now at TDC firing for the #1.

 

i would be interested in that cam Ronny. do you know the lift of that cam. does anyone else know how the cam will run with a stock chip? thanks

 

how many miles on the compu-cam

 

Awesome! that makes sense now! Sorry for the post jacking crossfire and thank you Shifty! I've seen you helping alot of people around here and i'm glad I get to be one of them now!

 

Unless you in live in Oregon. For a 1990 RS, the Oregon emissions standards are actualy tougher than in Kali.

Thats right, 5 cam swaps in 2 months, 47 diffrent chips, 43 runs through DEQ, and I never did pass. (Ok, I passed the sniffer ONCE, and that run, they informed me that my car had failed the maxium noise test, this was test #27, You have never seen somone make the scene I did in a testing center.)

But, Most places, with a good tune, functioning emmisions equipment, and maybe a gallon of alchahol, and you'll be good to go.

 

Man that sucks. On top of your tricks using the stock air blox helps as well. The parts of ohio that do test aren't to strict and my buds LT1 camed 305 vortec set-up barely passed with no AIR, mediorce tune, and the stock air cleaner assembly. I didn't realize oregon was that bad.

 

Well, the did the dyno testing, which #1 is way to subjective. They are now doing away with that, that will make things better. They also passed some laws here, which made it easier to keep cheap 4cyls on the road, even in bad shape, and harder for V8 cars in good shape. Its stupid. The Portland metro area is the Meca for all the enviromental yuppy wacko's in the world. I do beleive we rival berkley in nut-jobs per capita. It is always fun to laugh at the the people with the save the tree's sticker, on their brand new H2.

On topic: With a 210* cam (a great choice IMNSHO) I would suggest that would be a great time to go to a signle plane intake, it complements a cam like that very well.

 

lift int .440 ext .454 part #crn-114132 crane says emissions legal. 2000-5000 rpms. max HP on a 350 cid was 5000-5100 confirmed in my car on dyno.

 

that cam may be a tad lumpy for what i need. i just dont know what i am going to do. i am starting to think that this undertaking is something not suited for a daily driver. i would hate to put a lot of work into the motor only to have it sit for weeks while i figure out how to tune it. i think i can actually get and make chips, i just dont have any knowledge of how to actually change my settings for more power. i also dont have access to a wideband or dyno. how effective would chip burning be without either.