Cam selection help – Is there a near stock no compromise option?

[Larry Callahan]

Cam selection help – Is there a near stock no compromise option?

I am working on a LQ4 6,0 with a 4L80 out of a 2003 Silverado for the ’55 Bel Air.

My wife wants to make it her daily driver and we would also make it our weekend errand and get out of town car.

The car will has 3:25 rear end gears, a stock converter and it will run a Holley EFI system.

It needs to be mild mannered like the stock Silverado the engine was pulled from. A little HP increase would be nice, a little lope would nice but I don’t want a temperamental driving experience.

The car will have a full evap system and cats to deal with the smell and it needs to be about as nice to drive as a new truck.

Is there a cam available that with a good tune that would offer up a near zero compromise experience for Susan?

I am also worried about the smell at idle due to the overlap of a hotter cam.

I called Brian Tooley Racing and they flip flopped between these cams

LS1/LS2 NA Stage 1 cam - 223/230 .613"/.605" 115+2

LS1/LS2 NA Stage 2 cam - 227/234 .614"/.576" 113+2

Is there any chance the stage 2 version of that cam would still offer a no compromise drive with a stock converter and no converter lockup issues? Is there a chance that it won’t idle so high that it takes a lot of brake to keep the car stationary?

In the end I would rather err on the cautious side and be short on HP then have a car that she won’t want to drive.

Thanks for the help and any advice anyone might have.

https://i.hmjimg.com/images/2020/08/18/2020-08-08-14.32.59.md.jpg (https://www.hostmyjunk.com/image/cTVeH)

[Z06vet]

With that rear end gear and stock converter, I don't think either of those is a good option. Would need at least a converter in my opinion. Nothing crazy, but something in the 2200-2500 stall vicinity. Otherwise I would go with something in the 212/218 range. I ran a 216/220 in 68 firebird with ls1/4l60 stock converter, 3.42 gears. It really needed a small converter in my opinion. Needed a little extra effort to hold the car at a stop. Idle had to be raised a tad over stock. And it was just a bit slow to spool up from dead stop or in the higher gears at low speed. This was something my wife drove as well, nearly daily.

[Aussie]

Google this cam, Aussie grind, stock converter, most of our factory autos are 3.08 or 3.31

Guys have dyno’d at 420 rwhp

[Larry Callahan]

I'm not 100% against a converter swap. I worry that I may run into lockup issues with 3.25 gears or it being sloppy and needing a lot of RPM when putting around town. I have been a manual trans guy all my life and this is new to me. It's possible that my concerns are not legit?

[Larry Callahan]

Google this cam, Aussie grind, stock converter, most of our factory autos are 3.08 or 3.31

Guys have dyno’d at 420 rwhp

It's funny you bring up this one. I ran across recently and it caught my eye.

[Aussie]

It's funny you bring up this one. I ran across recently and it caught my eye.

I'll be using it if I upgrade engine in my AWD Holden with LS1, can run stock convertor which appeals

[Sbeck09]

https://www.texas-speed.com/p-5002-tsp-stage-2-low-lift-cathedral-camshaft.aspx

Been seeing more and more people run these TSP low lift cams. You can pick a wider LSA which will mellow the idle even more. Decent enough gains, but none of the drawbacks. They even state that they are friendly to factory converters.

Definitely not my cup of tea, but sounds like it's perfect in this situation.

[andrewb70]

Summit Racing "Ghost" cam. I run it in my 5.3L in the Cougar. It idles smoothly at 725RPM and pulls very well to 7000RPM. It pulls about 15 inches of vacuum but still has a little lope at idle.

Andrew