Today i went with a buddy to get his car tuned and a cam swapped. turned out his original cam was a ls6 cam and he said if i'd like i can have it. Should i stick this in my truck for the time being or will it not make that much of a difference? I have a 2000 silverado with a 5.3

 

Do you know what year LS6 the cam came out of? IIRC there are two different LS6 cam profiles.

As far as putting it in your truck, if it's free why not. All depends on what you're looking for; obviously it's not a race car, so if you just want something that'll give you a bit more power, and not need more expensive complimentary parts, and higher stall converter then it'll make a nice addition.

You can find LS6 springs for cheap too, which I'd suggest also changing.

*EDIT: Did some research cause I was curious, and here are the two LS6 cam profiles:

2001 LS6 Cam specs 207/217 @.050 .525/.525 lift 116 LSA
02-04 LS6 Cam specs 204/218@.050 .550/.550 lift 117.5 LSA

The .525 lift cam was in the 2001 LS6 with 385 hp and the .550 lift cam was in the 2002/2004 LS6 w/405 hp.

*Another Edit: The base circle of the LS6 cams is reportedly smaller than stock, so longer pushrods will likely be needed.

 

You might as well since its free. But the base circle is smaller so you need longer pushrods which doesnt matter since I would recommend new ones with any swap. And a set yellow springs and youll be good to go.

 

Is his car an LS2 based car?

I'm wondering how his original cam is an "ls6 cam". How does he know?

 

Yes, smaller base circle. IDK if it's all LS6 cams, just the '01 or is it the '02-04 only? I'm really curious. Anyone?

LS6 springs are commonly under $100.

I thought 7.400" p'rods were std. length. Most go .050" from that depending on.

Scott, they came in the CTS-V as well. He did say car, just not what kind. Perhaps he was the guy who put the cam in there?

 

Well i find it pretty unlikely his buddy forgot he had an ls6 cam in the first place. Unless I'm interpreting his story wrong.

What kind of car is this out of? And is it the stock cam, or did you forget to mention he had swapped cams before?

 

He probably forgot or left that lil detail out. Myself, there's no way I'd forget if I swapped a cam. Now the guys who've swapped 7-8 cams, well they might forget what # they're on.

 

it happens to be the 02-04 ls6 cam, he knows its a ls6 cam because thunder racing said so. They did the swap and tune. Turned out his car didnt come with the original engine at all. It happened to be a ls6 block that was swapped in after the original owner blew the ls1 to craps. The car had been worked on a bit before he traded it in. It was a 2001 trans am ws6. I've called around and located a place in kingsville, tx that will do the swap for me but they said i wont need any push rods or springs. that i can replace that stuff later on down the road if id like. I just wanna get some facts straight before i tear into the engine and need more than i suspected. whats the best push rods and springs to go with that yall have tried or heard about?

 

The cam specs on the 2001 should be 204/211. I'm 99% sure on that too.

 

You WILL need springs, unless you want a blown up engine. And swapping to 7.4" hardened pushrods is a smart idea.