[MSU120]

Well....I’ve gone back and forth between going FI and keeping it NA about a million times but I’m 99 percent sure I’ve settled on keeping it NA. My question isnt so much about what spec cam to use. I’m more interested in which complete package (cam/valve train) is the best/better quality. I’ve got it narrowed down to the following companies: BTR, GPI, Texas Speed and Livernois. Any input on which may be better or worse quality components? Or is this one of those “you can’t go wrong with either” scenarios?

[BradfordCamaro]

For the best tested product that has shown to produce results, that has been developed through dyno/track results and has been eagerly sought out by many.
Don't order off the shelf. Get the parts that are shown to work over and over.......



Order a package through Pray Performance. Customs specs produced for him by TSP I believe

[Dads1le]

Pray performance is excellent! Brett Specced a cam heads package for my road race /autocross 1le which is his original stage 1 baby cam and it makes 570/502 rw with great torque down low. I was lucky enough to have a great shop in my back yard ( Indiana muscle car) that was happy to install his products but I bought the supporting stuff from the shop like headers/ rotofab/udp/ borla exhaust etc. don’t know how far south you are in Michigan but his shop is only an hour from Michigan border

[KingLT1]

Originally Posted by Dads1le

Pray performance is excellent! Brett Specced a cam heads package for my road race /autocross 1le which is his original stage 1 baby cam and it makes 570/502 rw with great torque down low. I was lucky enough to have a great shop in my back yard ( Indiana muscle car) that was happy to install his products but I bought the supporting stuff from the shop like headers/ rotofab/udp/ borla exhaust etc. don’t know how far south you are in Michigan but his shop is only an hour from Michigan border

Hey, glad to hear Pray's stage 1 setup is working well for you. My car will be heading to IMC for a dynotune here soon for a Whipple setup.

[KingLT1]

Originally Posted by Dads1le

Pray performance is excellent! Brett Specced a cam heads package for my road race /autocross 1le which is his original stage 1 baby cam and it makes 570/502 rw with great torque down low. I was lucky enough to have a great shop in my back yard ( Indiana muscle car) that was happy to install his products but I bought the supporting stuff from the shop like headers/ rotofab/udp/ borla exhaust etc. don’t know how far south you are in Michigan but his shop is only an hour from Michigan border

Hey, glad to hear Pray's stage 1 setup is working well for you. My car will be heading to IMC for a dynotune here soon for a Whipple setup.

[oldman]

I think you should think of your tuner first, also if you do a AFM delete cam as the AFM cams suck, the heads need to come off. I went with Pray for the entire package, heads, cam, tune, and supercharger. Once the heads come off you should really look at porting them. Also things that should be done: pushrods and trunnions for the rockers...

If you are sticking with the AFM cam, I would work with a vendor that has done these, as they can be sensitive to valve spring pressure..

[Cammed_1LE]

Can’t go wrong either way. I haven’t heard much on Livernois for the 6th gen. But my cousin is taking his raptor there for a NA build this summer. He says they’re the people to go to for them!

I went with GPI. The customer support was fantastic. I called them so many times I can’t remember going over every possible route and they were always happy to help me. I went with their SS4 cam and heads package. I added smith bros trunion upgrade. I already had headers, flex fuel and cai. They did the work and tuning and it came out great. Dyno said I put down 533hp/472tq. Driveability is great and she pulls like no other. The only thing I have left to do is ported IM and TB and I’ll be done unless I want to throw a baby shot of nitrous in there.

[MSU120]

Originally Posted by oldman

I think you should think of your tuner first, also if you do a AFM delete cam as the AFM cams suck, the heads need to come off. I went with Pray for the entire package, heads, cam, tune, and supercharger. Once the heads come off you should really look at porting them. Also things that should be done: pushrods and trunnions for the rockers...

If you are sticking with the AFM cam, I would work with a vendor that has done these, as they can be sensitive to valve spring pressure..

I plan on doing DOD delete, heads, new springs, push rods, lifters.....etc. I was more interested opinions on the quality of materials/parts from the above mentioned vendors. I.e does one vendor use lesser quality springs, push rods, lifters, etc? Or are they all pretty much the same? Again, I plan to buy an entire cam/valve train package.

[Cammed_1LE]

Just about everyone uses Brian Tooley springs. Most people use the LS7 lifters. Who ever you go with will have a Cam Kit to go with the cam and you cam upgrade if you feel necessary. The only thing I changed on mine is adding the trunion upgrade to the smith bros. It replaces the needle bearings that are known to fail with a solid bronze bushing that’s much more reliable.

[MSU120]

Originally Posted by Cammed_1LE

Just about everyone uses Brian Tooley springs. Most people use the LS7 lifters. Who ever you go with will have a Cam Kit to go with the cam and you cam upgrade if you feel necessary. The only thing I changed on mine is adding the trunion upgrade to the smith bros. It replaces the needle bearings that are known to fail with a solid bronze bushing that’s much more reliable.

Thank you sir!

[KingLT1]

The lifter is a very critical part of the valvetrain and a 100.00 set of lifters has no place in a high performance engine with a more aggressive cam profile running heavy dual valve springs. I would opt for Johnson 2110 lifters over LS7. I just can't see using a lifter that was never intended for higher spring pressures combined with high rpm. The only reason why the LS7 lifter is popular in cam packages is simply because it has a boat load of plunger travel which makes setting up a LS or LT based valve train really easy. Just get the push rod length close and send it. That however will cost power and valve train stability at higher RPM. It's been proven time and time again with LS based engines over at LS1tech. Come over here to Camaro 6 and it's like all that valuable information has never existed. Reduced travel lifters with precise lifter preload will make more power, carry past peak better, and the valve train will live longer. .

[MSU120]

Originally Posted by KingLT1

The lifter is a very critical part of the valvetrain and a 100.00 set of lifters has no place in a high performance engine with a more aggressive cam profile running heavy dual valve springs. I would opt for Johnson 2110 lifters over LS7. I just can't see using a lifter that was never intended for higher spring pressures combined with high rpm. The only reason why the LS7 lifter is popular in cam packages is simply because it has a boat load of plunger travel which makes setting up a LS or LT based valve train really easy. Just get the push rod length close and send it. That however will cost power and valve train stability at higher RPM. It's been proven time and time again with LS based engines over at LS1tech. Come over here to Camaro 6 and it's like all that valuable information has never existed. Reduced travel lifters with precise lifter preload will make more power, carry past peak better, and the valve train will live longer. .

Thank you. I won’t cut corners.....that’s for sure.

[7speed]

Originally Posted by KingLT1

The lifter is a very critical part of the valvetrain and a 100.00 set of lifters has no place in a high performance engine with a more aggressive cam profile running heavy dual valve springs. I would opt for Johnson 2110 lifters over LS7. I just can't see using a lifter that was never intended for higher spring pressures combined with high rpm. The only reason why the LS7 lifter is popular in cam packages is simply because it has a boat load of plunger travel which makes setting up a LS or LT based valve train really easy. Just get the push rod length close and send it. That however will cost power and valve train stability at higher RPM. It's been proven time and time again with LS based engines over at LS1tech. Come over here to Camaro 6 and it's like all that valuable information has never existed. Reduced travel lifters with precise lifter preload will make more power, carry past peak better, and the valve train will live longer. .

Interesting, I personally upgraded to LS7 lifters since they are proven and I don't plan on increasing the stock rev limit when I get my TSP vvt2 installed.

[KingLT1]

I could post links for days of LS7 lifter failure in cam'd LS engines.


Also, bigger cam shafts need spun higher in the rpm range to net their full potential. I have seen plenty of cam cars run slower then a well sorted bolt-on car from not revving the cam up where it needs to be. Bigger cams trade low-mid range for peak power(there is no free lunch). So if you shift them at the stock rpm range you are making less average power. I haven't cross compared a VVT-2 to stock dyno graph so I am not saying revving it to 6500 will cost anything. Just food for thought when choosing a cam.


Edit* Here is a VVT-2 dyno graph in a C7 still running stock IM.
https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...tang-dyno.html

Looks to me like you will want to spin it to 6800rpm.