L33 vortec cam selection; help needed
 

Hey guys i figured you all would be the best community ask. I will be putting a 5.3 L33 vortec into a rwd nissan chassis. I'm sending the 799 (ls6 heads) of to be shaved .030" and a 5 way valve job. The truck intake manifold will be ditched in favor of a ls1 intake manifold and cable operated throttle body. The exhaust side will get some long tube headers. This car will be setup for mid to high range power. I stress mid level power because it will be a track (turns and whatnot) car. Throttle response needs to be quick and crisp through all power ranges above 2000 rpms. This will be coupled with a t56 so stall speed is not an issue.I know the L33 has a "hot cam" but how good is it really. I also know the L33 has a bit higher compression than its other 5.3 counterparts. With the head shave i should see a very minor bump in compression. I need some realistic cam selections

Also I plan on running 918 valves springs and retainers. I need to know what pushrods i should select. Two pushrods were bent from light piston to valve contact so i would like to replace them all. Additionally this motor will see extended periods of high revs and lowering the mass of moving parts should
help me out.

IMO for what you want you need to rethink the LS1 intake in favor of a LS6 or Fast intake... There are flow charts floating around here that show the truck intake is better than the LS1 intake...

I'm on a tight budget and im thinking cutting the corner and going for more midrange power.

+ you probably don't have the hood clearance for a truck intake.
power from 2k and up? i'd stick with something in between 220 and 224 duration.

good stuff and yes the truck manifold wont clear the hood.

those patriot gold valve springs get good reviews and are cheap, but performance wise would i be better with the 918's (although lack of safety from failure.) I know the patriots come with titanium retainers for something like $260 and that just seems cheap if including those titanium retainers... but i guess that doesn't matter as much as the drag you pick up from the Dual valve Spring. This motor will see extended periods of mid to high revs and i want a valve spring that will give me performance, but im also on a budget :).

I saw i can get ferrea 6000 valves for $160 all around the engine. Would i be better with those than getting a valve job on my current valves?

BTW domestic engine parts are much better priced than import engine parts... i like this.

The new comp 918's are a very nice spring. If you can find a good deal on a LS6 intake that might just be optimal for what you're doing with the car. As for a "racing" cam I honestly would not know where to start in reccomendations, maybe look over on LS1tech in the racing section. I'm sure the TR220 would be nice, but something with badass mid/top power matched with the LS6 intake would scream. Anyways, looks like you have a fun project on your hands. The stock cam in the L33 isn't "hot" by any means, specs are slightly different and the tuning is where it gains a little bit over the LM7.

agh i see about the l33 cam not being anything to write home about. Are there any specs on the L33 cam out there? Anyways, I independently came up with that tr220, specifically

Thunder Racing Custom Camshaft
"TR 220-112" - 220/220 .551/.551 112 LSA

so i must be on the right track with your recommendation.

I figure that anything more agressive wont match up as well with the ls1 manifold. Specifically form what i gathered the ls6 manifold does a good job sending the power range up higher in the rpm range. I can settle with keeping it down low as ill be saving enough money from going with the ls1 intake manifold to get springs and a cam.

So going on, should i go ahead and upgrade the valves or go with a valve job on my current valves?

Also why are those partiot dual valve springs so cheap once you consider the titanium retainers. There has got to be a catch...

Also, manly pushrods... are they decent enough? They come in the cam package.

Hmm, wonder what the stock L33 cam is...I have one in the cupboard. For some reason I thought they were similar to the LS6 cam.

<---- was wandering the same thing. prolly still going to replace it with something around 220 or 224 degrees of duration on both sides. I found this low dollar "typhoon" intake and was rather impressed. For $500 i can have intake mani that is better than the ls6 mani and close to the fast.... with a throttle body. I'm convinced its the smart doller move so my budget just increased by a few hundred... the project continues :)

Sethck, have you made any progress here? I've picked up a L33 and will be putting it into the same car.

I have been planning on running the Z06 Cam and springs, along with the LS1 or LS6 intake. I already have the LS1 intake, but I may spring for the LS6 intake if I can find a complete one (w/injectors and sensors) for a good price.