I'm currently running a stock lq9 w/a custom grind cam (228/232 .588/.595 110+1) and a NNBS intake. As you can see the cam is pretty mild, nothing crazy. Setup made 390/380, has a nice lope, and drives VERY well. I didn't want a cam that would cause me to lose a ton of low end and one i had to rev to the moon, this cam made peak power at 6200-6300. So with that said, i have no intentions of changing cams in the future. I've got a spare set of 799 heads and another NNBS intake, what kind of rwhp could i pick up by sending the heads to AI for the 226cc treatment, and sending the intake to peak speed shop for their "radical" porting? Is it worth it to go with the 226cc over the 218cc? And worth it to go "radical" over Peaks "Basic" porting? Also AI ports intakes, but having a hard time finding any information on what kind of power they pick up. I've contacted AI and they said there were too many variables to determine what kind of power the intake would pick up. Any advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks!!!

 

Looking at your mod list in your sig, I see no mention of a stall. A stall would make you forget about the low end issue. Even more so since you're riding on 20's.

 

That's my bad dude, i wasn't really thinking when posting, need to update sig. The motor is actually in the 95 caprice now. It's been a while since i've posted but i always got good feedback on this site. Car is still t56/4.56 geared too.

 

I think you'd lose more low-end with 226cc. Low-end hp/tq you'd want a cam in the 212-224 range on intake/exhaust.

The cam YOU have, is no where close for a cam on the bottom of the rpm range. It's meant from mid-upper rpm's.

A cam only swap is easy as hell.

1. pull the radiator
2. take timing cover off
3. verify tdc
4. pull the valve covers and rockers loose (off the PR's)
5. pull cam gear
6. spin cam 8-10 times
7. insert dowels into valleys (to hold the lifters up)
8. pull cam
9. lube new cam
10. insert new cam

Then put everything back. A couple of years ago when I had my cam put in my 5.3, the old cam was out in 30 minutes.

If you want to swap cams, have Pat G spec you one. It'll be right for what you want.

 

I don't know if I would worry about porting the intake unless you just want to squeeze every last ounce of hp/tq out of the engine.

Plenty of guys I have seen running a similar cam with ported heads and a NNBS/TBSS intake making over 400hp/tq and thats through an auto. You should see a bit more through the T56.

Just make sure you have adequate airflow in and out of the engine (large intake tube 4"+ with large TB, long tube headers at least 1 3/4").

A lot of it has to do with how aggressive the tune is as well.

 

The cam is already in the motor. Put it in a few months back. And it's actually a Pat G spec'd cam i got 2nd hand. Like i said, I love the cam. In 6th gear even with a slight incline it'll cruise at 1100-1200 with no bucking at all. I gotta give a lot of that credit to my tuner though, he knows what he's doing.

And i am kinda trying to get as much as possible out of the motor, kinda on a budget as well. I don't care much about dyno#s as much as trap times, and the car has ran 8.0@89 on nittos in the 1/8th, and i'm pretty pleased with that. I've since added a 2 step to get my shifts and launches down, hoping for at least 7.9's this week. But goal is 7.49 all motor at this point. Hopefully around 450rwhp.

 

hoping for results very similar to this
228/232cam, TEA 243s, FAST85, LQ4 = 460HP/427TQ - LS1TECH

 

Here are a few examples of builds that used factory intakes to get pretty decent numbers. And again, you have a T56 so you will see a bit higher numbers than these......

With stock truck intake and 78mm tb:
https://www.performancetrucks.net/fo...1ftlbs-523813/

With stock TBSS intake:
https://www.performancetrucks.net/fo...esults-520631/

And here is dyno results from Peak Speed Shops radical port intake on a 5.3........

Peak Speed Shop radical port dyno results on 5.3:
https://www.performancetrucks.net/fo...esults-521020/

So you can see that, while the radical port does help, you can gain more by optimizing cylinder head flow and camshaft design to get 450rwhp. If it were me I would run a TBSS/NNBS intake with largest tb and intake tube/filter you can fit. If that doesn't get you 450 it should be close.

 

I would probably skip the intake port, and I would go with the 226 heads. You wont lose much over the 218 port. The bump in compression alone will make it more stout off the bottom as well.

I'm glad you're happy with the cam, but thats not exactly what I would call mild in an LQ9 lol. I am surprised that peak HP was only 6200 RPM.

 

lol, i say mild because a lot of local guys throw donkey dick cams in their rides. I think i've decided on the AI226 and the Peak Radial porting. It may not be needed to reach the power goals, but i'm gonna try to get as much out of the setup as possible.