[2out2sea]

Hey everyone,
I've enjoyed my vengeance build for a couple of years now. I am tuned to 670whp and a stock blower ported by kong, 103tb, 2" ceramic coated kooks into 3" x-pipe, wx heat exchangers, 2.3 griptec, etc. It pulls like a beast and I was able to run sub 1:50 laps as a rank novice at Barber Motorsports.

When vengeance tuned my car I recall then saying they backed it off just a little too stay safe on fuel. I don't know if it was low side or high side. I heard a cammed ZLE at the track day and loved it. It got me thinking about putting a cam into my motor.

I don't have a desire to get into hp wars. I'm likely not going to swap superchargers, I feel like I have enough power and I'm not running into heat soak at the track.

Do I need full heads or is just cam and valve train sufficient? What cam and bits are best for a good lope, still good drivability, and most importantly good engine life and health.

Thanks for the expertise and advice.

[Camaro1973]

Originally Posted by 2out2sea

Hey everyone,
I've enjoyed my vengeance build for a couple of years now. I am tuned to 670whp and a stock blower ported by kong, 103tb, 2" ceramic coated kooks into 3" x-pipe, wx heat exchangers, 2.3 griptec, etc. It pulls like a beast and I was able to run sub 1:50 laps as a rank novice at Barber Motorsports.

When vengeance tuned my car I recall then saying they backed it off just a little too stay safe on fuel. I don't know if it was low side or high side. I heard a cammed ZLE at the track day and loved it. It got me thinking about putting a cam into my motor.

I don't have a desire to get into hp wars. I'm likely not going to swap superchargers, I feel like I have enough power and I'm not running into heat soak at the track.

Do I need full heads or is just cam and valve train sufficient? What cam and bits are best for a good lope, still good drivability, and most importantly good engine life and health.

Thanks for the expertise and advice.

If money allows, get the lt4 heads ported. Some good power there, its a good combo to go with the cam. Do it all at once so you dont regret not doing it after More then likely it was the high side, the cam will take care of that with the added fuel lobe %.

[2out2sea]

I recognize there's power to be had by porting or swapping heads. But, fuel headroom, cam lope and some small gains are fine with me. Not sure I want to fork out the bucks for the heads or porting. Will just cams and upgraded valve train be any benefit?

[Z OH 6]

Originally Posted by 2out2sea

I recognize there's power to be had by porting or swapping heads. But, fuel headroom, cam lope and some small gains are fine with me. Not sure I want to fork out the bucks for the heads or porting. Will just cams and upgraded valve train be any benefit?

Yes, there will still be benefit to just the cam and valve train upgrades, but I got to be honest, I'd do the heads too while I was in there. Vengeance stage IV kit is a camshaft and valve train upgrades, stage V is the same with ported heads. I suppose if you're happy with your current setup but just want the sound of a cam though, just do the cam and valve train upgrades, you'll get some power and get the chop chop you want.

[2out2sea]

I guess as I think about it I don't want to find myself in the same place with heads and cam as I have with my ported stock blower. I'm very happy with my worked over stock blower, but I recognize that I've got cooling issues if I push the super charger any harder. I'm happy with it, and I'm fine where it is. If adding the cam doesn't cause problems I'd really rather forgo heads and porting. I'm not looking for more power, but more fueling and lope.

I talked to vengeance but wasn't offered just the cam. Only the full ported package. Just looking for info from you guys on what experience everyone's had with each option. I'm not the only one considering cam only, am I?

Sorry if I sound like a flake on this. I'm really new to American iron and it's a lot different than my past experiences.

[IneedAZ]

I didn't do heads. Thought it was a lot of money for the small gain.

[Z OH 6]

Originally Posted by 2out2sea

I guess as I think about it I don't want to find myself in the same place with heads and cam as I have with my ported stock blower. I'm very happy with my worked over stock blower, but I recognize that I've got cooling issues if I push the super charger any harder. I'm happy with it, and I'm fine where it is. If adding the cam doesn't cause problems I'd really rather forgo heads and porting. I'm not looking for more power, but more fueling and lope.

I talked to vengeance but wasn't offered just the cam. Only the full ported package. Just looking for info from you guys on what experience everyone's had with each option. I'm not the only one considering cam only, am I?

Sorry if I sound like a flake on this. I'm really new to American iron and it's a lot different than my past experiences.

No reason why you can't just upgrade to the Vengeance stage 4 package. Thats the reason why they have packages.

[Camaro1973]

Originally Posted by IneedAZ

I didn't do heads. Thought it was a lot of money for the small gain.

True its not cheap, however its just not about numbers. If you port the heads you'll flow better, reduce boost and make more power. The idea is to make as much HP as you can and increase boost. Think of it as a whole package.


When you have porting done on the SC, snout a new SC, headers, Cam, its all about restriction and you want to free up as much as possible. 20-40hp gains are not uncommon while at the same time lowering boost.

[jvandy50]

OP I’m likely gonna order my cam tomorrow and i doubt I do heads also.

Here is my non-scientific reasoning... i want the sound, i want the bog tuned out(fingers crossed), i want to replace my oil pump, but i really needed to stop spending somewhere and I’m not chasing a number. The car is way faster than me on track, but it will spend a lot of it’s life on the street as well.

That said, if any of my parts are backordered for weeks and the stock market keeps running up...well, i may send my heads off, but i really doubt it.

[Bangkok_ZL1]

Originally Posted by jvandy50

OP I’m likely gonna order my cam tomorrow and i doubt I do heads also.

Here is my non-scientific reasoning... i want the sound, i want the bog tuned out(fingers crossed), i want to replace my oil pump, but i really needed to stop spending somewhere and I’m not chasing a number. The car is way faster than me on track, but it will spend a lot of it’s life on the street as well.

That said, if any of my parts are backordered for weeks and the stock market keeps running up...well, i may send my heads off, but i really doubt it.

I'll change tracks for a second.... If you're in Cannabis stocks, You have been a serious return as of late....

[2out2sea]

I'll give vengeance a call. Thanks.

[Markoz28]

Can only is just fine. You’ll pick up about 40-50whp. Heads will give you another 20whp but not sure what the cost would be. I went with cam only and I’m very happy with it. No regrets and I feel like my car has plenty of power. I will be dragging it only 2x a year and the rest will be on the street. I don’t need more power to over power the street. I’m already doing that. lol

[JANNETTYRACING]

Originally Posted by 2out2sea

Hey everyone,
I've enjoyed my vengeance build for a couple of years now. I am tuned to 670whp and a stock blower ported by kong, 103tb, 2" ceramic coated kooks into 3" x-pipe, wx heat exchangers, 2.3 griptec, etc. It pulls like a beast and I was able to run sub 1:50 laps as a rank novice at Barber Motorsports.

When vengeance tuned my car I recall then saying they backed it off just a little too stay safe on fuel. I don't know if it was low side or high side. I heard a cammed ZLE at the track day and loved it. It got me thinking about putting a cam into my motor.

I don't have a desire to get into hp wars. I'm likely not going to swap superchargers, I feel like I have enough power and I'm not running into heat soak at the track.

Do I need full heads or is just cam and valve train sufficient? What cam and bits are best for a good lope, still good drivability, and most importantly good engine life and health.

Thanks for the expertise and advice.

I would push you toward Cam Blower combo rather than Cam Heads combo.

You can have 800+ RWHP Road coarse Friendly power.

Ted.