Hot Cam

[Blk96LT1]

Can anyone tell me if there is a difference between the 350 Hot Cam Kit and the LT4 Hot Cam Kit offered by GM Performance? Are either street legal? Typically how much RWH would you gain form such an application? The price for the parts are 475$, is this reasonable. My 96 LT1 is strictly stock, except for a new Opti-spark, and water pump. She is completely checked out and I want to start my mods. The cam was suggested by several quality mechanics in the area, as well as a B&B Tri-Flow and K&N triple air intake. Any feedback would be appreciated.
Thanks

Real drag about Geof 180's accident!

 

[Ken]

A quick search turned up...

Hot Cam

Cam&Heads

Hot Cam v. Z06 Setup

Performance Cam for the '96 LT4 engine

Who here uses the LT4 Hot Cam?

LT-4 Mods

My new cam, and some things I found while doing it

But perhaps the most informative (There are a lot of links at least! ) is this one from grumpyvette: picking a cam IS NOT GUESS WORK

 

[sothpaw]

cam and cam kit

I was looking on there last night, I know they had the cam
and the cam kit listed separately. I think this 350 think might
be for a crate motor--don't mess with it. The LT1/4 has reverse cooling, you want to make damn sure the cam you pick is completely compatible with the LT1. The Hot cam is.

I am in your same boat. I think the cam will help us, but probably not very much with out ported heads. I am not certain,though. The hot cam I think is going to push the power peak higher--also a concern because the LT1 does not have the LT4 bottom end (crank etc).

Exhaust: Be careful. There are resonance (a drone sound in high gear at cruise rpm) issues with that, a cross over pipe is supposed to help, but I haven't seen many people do that. I am thinking of getting power effects as that is adjustable--still may have problems though.

airbox: Did that, triple k/n like you say. Do this with a coolant bypass, you get .2 sec in the 1/4 mi from this alone.

 

[l98vette1986]

Be careful what cam you select, it will be better for you to go w/ one that is relatively small (around 216 duration, wouldnt go w/ much bigger), and make sure you change to L98, or another type of stronger valve springs as the stock LT-1 springs are subject to coil bind. The reason I would reccommend a smaller cam is b/c this engine will not be spending much time above 5,500 due to the rev limitior. The RPM range on such a cam is usually 1,500-4,500. This seems to be little, but dont underestimate it. You will want to turn the motor a little past the peak HP so when you shift you have more HP on tap to start the next gear, makes for more average power which is what wins races. Expect big things to come from this setup. Also GM sells the LT-4 intake, and roller rockers which will bolt on to your system, and make a nice gain. The best part about this setup is your car will look, and sound bone stock. This setup w/ your heads ported could easily make you run high-mid 12's. If you have any Questions, e-mail me back at cwitt@covista.com
P.S.
on the ported heads, it will make a diff, I have seen stock headed cars run low 8's on the 1/8 w/ stock cast iron L98 heads unported.

 

[Blk96LT1]

WOW! Thanks for all the feed back you guys! I will spend some time looking it over. I know I'll have more questions.

 

[l98vette1986]

No problem man, the normal 350 cam can work in the LT-1, and LT-4 if you push the pin in further, and reverse cooling has no effect on it..also they have the same bore, stroke, as the L-98, and other 350's. There are very few differences in the LT-1, and LT-4.. first there is the Intake, which has more room for porting that the LT-1, and the LT-4 has factory roller rockers w/ the chevy bowtie on them. it also has a slightly larger cam. The heads are identicle, so is the rods, pistons, and crank. On the LT-1, and LT-4 the cam drives the Water Pump, and the timing chain drives the cam(as w/ all SBC's) this means you will still have your reverse flow cooling. One of my friends bought a performance Hydraulic roller cam from me to put in his trans am (its an 82 model w/ a 95 LT-1 from a Z28, that he converted to carburated) the stock LT-1 cam still have the distributer gear on it so it can turn the oil pump. After modifying an edelbrock RPM CARBURATED manifold he used the stock hei distributer w/ the cam he bough from me. The car still has reverse cooling, and runs 8.20's on the 1/8th..not bad for that heavy car. Whatever choice you make, dont limit it to a few cams. Good Luck.

 

[MoeJr]

BLK96LT1 I know this will sound funny but how fast do u wanna go. before I would start ripping into the engine I would do bolt on mods first. You would be surprised how much faster your car is when you do the simple stuff first and work on getting traction. I would think a C4 Lt1 would be able to get deep into the 12's with bolt ons. Just my .02