Need a little advice,PLEASE?

[Brian86]

I need some help with selecting a cam for my 86 L98. I don't need anything too radical just a slight lope. I have found a couple from TPIS but I need to know what would be recommended for a stock engine with no mods to the ECM.
Please help a brother out.

 

[Edmond]

First, decide what you're going to do with the car. Going with any mods? Slight mods?

After you've decided on that, you go from there.

 

[69MyWay]

The CRANE compucam series in the 2040 grind is great for a mild/stock flat tappet hydraulic engine. Your 86 should be a flat tappet hydraulic. It won't require heavier springs, push rods, or any other mods. It will give it a little more pull above your current red line, and a little more grunt off idle.

I have used them twice and been happy both times in basically otherwise stock engines. Add a chip, headers, and nice mufflers and it will really get snappy.

 

[LarryBible]

Camming a tuned port engine is tricky. To begin with the TPI setup was designed for a 305, not a 350. At the time they were developing the system, GM had discontinued the 350, then brought it back after the TPI development project was complete.

The system is tuned for mid range. Most cams on the aftermarket will basically move the torque peak to a higher RPM. This means that the TPI unit is optimum at one RPM and your cam would be optimum at a different RPM.

I think it would be well worth the time and possibly extra money to check in with those who have done cam development around this particular setup. The ones that come to mind are TPIS and Lingenfelter.

If you get the RIGHT cam it may work very well. GM did not take advantage of the rollers by putting more area under the curve, like you can with a roller. They were only looking for the MPG gain from the reduced friction. This means that the right cam should match well with the TPI and take advantage of the roller.

Scratch that last paragraph, you have a flat tappet engine. Nonetheless, ensure you get something developed for TPI. A cam developed for a carbureted or even a Throttle Body injection car could turn your TPI engine into a dog.

Good luck,

 

[69MyWay]

Scratch that last paragraph, you have a flat tappet engine. Nonetheless, ensure you get something developed for TPI. A cam developed for a carbureted or even a Throttle Body injection car could turn your TPI engine into a dog.

Good luck,

That is the good thing about the 2040 grind. It was developed for TPI, and has been on the market nearly as long as the TPI has been available. It is overall a very mild cam, and will not cause the computer to freak out on you like many of the other grinds. Actually since posting to your thread here, I am not even sure if they still offer it. The came out with a 2050 grind that is more aggressive and really requires more mods to work right. We put the 2050 in a 383 L98 with pretty decent results. Overall however for street driving, 0-60 mph bursts, etc. the 2040 made a better overall cam.

The parts made by TPIS are really designed for full on engine mods to get the advertised power out of them.

 

[Edmond]

The parts made by TPIS are really designed for full on engine mods to get the advertised power out of them.

I pretty much though all the manufacturer's were like that in their performance claims. You would only get the specified result if you went "the whole nine yards."

 

[Ethan]

86 L98

You might just get lucky when you pull the intake but maybe not I think 87 was the first year for roller cammed blocks. Check the lifter valley for three threaded bolt holes to hold down the lifter retainers that keep them from turning on them cam lobe. If you have this setup you can use stock Gm components. I have the LT4 hot kit in my91 and this is a good match for tuned port with a big mouth intake big runners ported top base and a 52mm throttle body.Lots of expense though maybe staying flat tappet is better.

 

[Eagle85C4]

I went to the Crane Cams web site and found the 2040 cam, 69myway talked about. It is specially made for the TPI engine with respectable performance. The complete kit with cam and lifters is under $200.00... I am going to order it for my 85. It has just enough lift and duration to satisfy my needs without ruining the ability to continue as a daily driver.

Kudos to 69myway.....

 

[84Vette]

JUst make sure you don't over cam it that is what most people do and it ends up messing their car up. my .02
84

 

[69MyWay]

I went to the Crane Cams web site and found the 2040 cam, 69myway talked about.

Great! BTW, you can drop a set of long slot stamped steel, or roller tip, or full roller 1.6 ratio rockers on top of this set up and get just a tad more umph out of the whole package.

Have fun!

Chris

 

[Eagle85C4]

I was not sure the 1.6's would work...so instead I got a set of 1.52 roller rockers from Comp Cams. A bit more performance without the possibility of running into problems with the valve covers. Thanks for the heads up Chris.....