Help with chosing a cam.
 

so ive picked out my winter project for my car, while its away id like to cam my 3.8L 96 camaro.
any suggestions on a mild to heavy cam? and what all supporting mods like springs, heads, retainers etc should i chose or leave stock.
it will be my first time doing a cam so all advice is welcome.

http://www.fbodyonline.com/f16/v6-faq-97/

If you have any other questions, just ask :)

What are your goals for the car? How fast do you want to go? How much horsepower are you looking for?


Just FYI, with a cam swap tuning is an absolute must. The only problem is that you have a 96 which cannot be tuned. You will have to find a 97 PCM and swap it.

Yup! In which case I was dumb and just managed to get lucky. I sent in my 96 after he said he could MOT it, and he couldnt, so he just gave me a '97 pcm.

Anyway, pretty much, the steeper you go with the cam, the more supporting mods you must have. If you get too high, you'll need to change the injectors, pistons, etc. I went with a ZZP GT2 Roller Cam, which has alot of lope, a rather high end powerband (good for my nitrous), and it did not require a ton of other mods at the time.

The one major point I would suggest when doing a cam swap, save up enough money to get heads at the same time. The heads are one of the most important peices on making a good breathing and performing car. It costs a bundle, I know. I went for the Intense Stage 3's, which is good for that cam, but cost a cold 2k wholesale. But just list out some of your goals for your maro and me and shodown can walk ya right through it :)

Thanks for the quick reply this is the first forums ive ever joined, recommemed by no other than phate.

Ok guys,What im hoping to get out of my car is hopefully 250 hp at the wheels N/A or close to it or more.
i want to be able to just be able to feel the power when i need it. im not going for any records here .
i really just want to have a nice sounding deep lope too(for a v6) so it sounds bad ass. will i only achieve that with a (ss) cam?
as for a new pcm im assuming a used one will do just fine from a wreckers if im lucky and find a f-body that hasnt been gutted already, only a 97 will work or all the way up to 02?
its funny you mentioned the intense stage 3 heads. i was just looking at them earlyer today. they are a big burn in the pocket. could you built up stock heads easly or just go with the stage 3 if i go with a zzp gt2.

For clarification, the GT2 cam is a Comp cam, its just sold by ZZP ;)

I bring this up so you dont kill yourself searching for a cam made by ZZP :)

Yea, kinda forgot to mention that lol. Oops.

But, for what you're describing, im not sure if you really need heads. The reason I did heads is because I wanted the car to be all around a quick car. But, I figure if you dont want to drop 2k, you can just P&P for around $800.

The things that cost you the most in a cam install are going to be gaskets, and the typical problems you run into (broken parts you find, things you break when doing the install, etc), a cam install is definately not easy on our cars, so if you've never done it, I would advise getting some help.

Well considering a port and polish is around 800 and the heads are only a grand or so more i wouldnt mind to spend that much more so in the furture i couuld prolly get her on the juice. i dont think ill have too many broken parts in my engine at least considering there is only 15 thousand km on the engine, but who knows there is always surprises.

no please correct me if im wrong there are different gaskets cause the value covers are different on rwd and fwd 3800 right.

The FWD 3800 is quite a bit different than the RWD version, but, when I did my cam install, I rebuilt the motor out of safety. Hopefully, you'll run into less problems than I did lol.

Keep in mind, you will HAVE to have it tuned after you install a cam similar to mine. It wont even run without stalling otherwise (typically). And if its already been geared, get your PCM tuned for your new gears so your speedo will be correct.

Let me know what kind of budget you're working with, how far (distance) you intend to drive it (is it a daily driver?), how much mechanical knowledge you have (if you've ever torn down/built a motor, etc.), and i'll let you know exactly what i'd do in your situation.

OK tunning is a MUST i just took a quick look at pcm's and wow there are a bunch out there.
my budget is 2000 maybe a little more. if i go any higher than 2500 i would just go and grab a lt1.
ive never torn down or rebulit a engine but i catch on real fast and my older brother will be helping me that has enough experance
this car is my daily driver in the summer. however i wont be driving it too much you know. for drving distance the most id drive it is 2 hours on the highway one way, and city driving well just a typical city driving day if i were to use it. i take the bus more often.
so do you think 2000 is going to be enough to get all the parts id need or close to it.

well you could always go LT1 :D

A cam install is one of the toughest things to do to our cars. Its a major pain in the ass. Im not sure if a Haynes manual would cover what all is needed to do a cam install, such as torque specs, how to set the retainers, what plugs you need to use, etc.

All of the build your talking about depends on what you plan to do to your car in the future. Heads will eat up your budget, costing around 2k alone, but if I were to do a cam install, and go through the many hours of work involved, and I already had the heads off anyway, i'd put on a set of heads before I installed a cam by itself. The cam is going to run about $300, then you need head gaskets, springs, retainers, rockers, rods, pistons (not a must have, but prefered), rings, etc.

Anyway, with a 2.5k budget, about all you'll be able to do is the cam, and a set of springs and maybe the retainers. Always when doing a cam install keep a little money on the side, or chances are you'll run into something that needs to be fixed, and be out of money. Dont forget the money required to have it tuned, if you want it mail order tuned, it'll cost around $250, dyno-tuned will cost a bit more.

I cant think of much else to say... if you have any questions, let me know.

Oh, and big thing here, if possible, drop the motor by the k-member instead of doing it with the motor in the car.... trust me.

Doing it in the car can't be that bad can it? If us V8 guys can do it in the car I don't see what would make it harder with the V6? Granted you have to move the hood latch to get the cam out in the front with the LT1's, but its possible.

Oh its possible, but its actually faster to drop the motor. It takes me about an hour to drop the motor, and its a ton easier without it in the car. It took me about 8 hours to do it in the car, and about 4 when dropping the motor.