Is this really worth the hassle??? what kind of gains Might you get?? Like to hear from some of the guys that got this done?? I was thinking about doing it but I dont think its really worth it, I read the sticky.
everyone i know that has done this swap is happy with the results. but no one has dyno'd the cams
Im a Xbox 360 fanboy...and damn proud of it!!
Yeah, I'm looking to do a secret cam swap too and add some other stuff like header, intake, full exhaust, and u/d pulleys. Am I gonna need to get an HPTuner to tune it after the cam swap or should it be just fine without it?
98 Trans Am
6.0, L92 heads, LS3 intake, TSP 231/236 cam, and much more
tspence45 wrote:Yeah, I'm looking to do a secret cam swap too and add some other stuff like header, intake, full exhaust, and u/d pulleys. Am I gonna need to get an HPTuner to tune it after the cam swap or should it be just fine without it?
No tune needed.
2010 Subaru Impreza WRX Limited
1999 Cavalier Z24 Supercharged
1999 Grand AM SE (Beater Car)
1997 GMC Sierra
2007 Honda CBR 600RR
2005 Honda TRX450R
I have read many posts about the secret cam swap. Most people who install them say they feel more up top. And there were a few that said although they felt a better top end their 1/4 mile times stayed roughly the same. So your basically trading bottom end for top end which would probably be a good trade if you are going to install the HO manifold and other mods that are top end oriented.
Luke Heier wrote:tspence45 wrote:Yeah, I'm looking to do a secret cam swap too and add some other stuff like header, intake, full exhaust, and u/d pulleys. Am I gonna need to get an HPTuner to tune it after the cam swap or should it be just fine without it?
No tune needed.
No tune
needed but with that list of planned mods, a good tune will probably help you pull a decent amount of extra power out of your mods. Sure you could get by without one for a while, but if you're going to put the money into all of that, I'd say along the way or shortly thereafter you should consider HPT to really get the full benefit of the mods. Not to mention with all of that you're probably going to run even richer than the car comes from the factory and your gas mileage could be greatly improved from the tune as well (and if you're planning to include a high flow cat in your full exhaust, running too rich can kill a cat...)
Marcus Williams wrote:Luke Heier wrote:tspence45 wrote:Yeah, I'm looking to do a secret cam swap too and add some other stuff like header, intake, full exhaust, and u/d pulleys. Am I gonna need to get an HPTuner to tune it after the cam swap or should it be just fine without it?
No tune needed.
No tune needed but with that list of planned mods, a good tune will probably help you pull a decent amount of extra power out of your mods. Sure you could get by without one for a while, but if you're going to put the money into all of that, I'd say along the way or shortly thereafter you should consider HPT to really get the full benefit of the mods. Not to mention with all of that you're probably going to run even richer than the car comes from the factory and your gas mileage could be greatly improved from the tune as well (and if you're planning to include a high flow cat in your full exhaust, running too rich can kill a cat...)
Yeah, I planned on HPT eventually but I wouldn't be able to do it right away since it's so expensive. And my list is already gonna cost me quite a bit anyways.
98 Trans Am
6.0, L92 heads, LS3 intake, TSP 231/236 cam, and much more
Actually is HPT the only option for a tuner? Or are there any other substitutes that may be a little cheaper?
98 Trans Am
6.0, L92 heads, LS3 intake, TSP 231/236 cam, and much more
tspence45 wrote:Actually is HPT the only option for a tuner? Or are there any other substitutes that may be a little cheaper?
thats really the only one. besides a stand alone management system, but that costs more than HP
Im a Xbox 360 fanboy...and damn proud of it!!
tspence45 wrote:Actually is HPT the only option for a tuner? Or are there any other substitutes that may be a little cheaper?
no, there's other options. Megasquirt is an excellent choice, and about half the cost, and adjustable on the fly but not as easy to install.
There's some talk about it in the tuning forum, and in the
086 Swap - Questions.. thread in the performance forum. I believe on the 3rd and 4th pages. It covers the primary differences between the HPT and MS.
Unless there is a specific Megasquirt thread started in the tuning forum (which should be soon because there are 3 people including me who are weeks away from installing). Keep checking the url=http://www.j-body.org/forums/read.php?f=2&i=384082&t=384082]086 Swap - Questions.. thread for more talk about it. You can also ask questions there regarding it too, I suppose if you needed to.
-Matt
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what is this secret cam?? and where can i get one
oh yeah megasquirt. forgot about that one
Im a Xbox 360 fanboy...and damn proud of it!!
99cavy22 wrote:what is this secret cam?? and where can i get one
From what I've read it's the intake cam from a 95 2.3 and exhaust cam from a pre-95 2.3. And you can get both for around $100 to $120 from a few people that are selling them on the classifieds here.
98 Trans Am
6.0, L92 heads, LS3 intake, TSP 231/236 cam, and much more
99cavy22 wrote:what is this secret cam?? and where can i get one
read the secret cam sticky at the top of this forum. you cant miss it
Im a Xbox 360 fanboy...and damn proud of it!!
I know this is a retarded, ricer-ish type of question...but do the "secret cams" (really people, they're not a secret any more, too bad there's not another name for the swap) make any noticeable change in the sound of the engine at idle? I'd imagine it wouldn't be much if at all but I'm curious. Just one of many possible mods I could see myself doing on my car down the road...
Luke Heier wrote:tspence45 wrote:Yeah, I'm looking to do a secret cam swap too and add some other stuff like header, intake, full exhaust, and u/d pulleys. Am I gonna need to get an HPTuner to tune it after the cam swap or should it be just fine without it?
No tune needed.
Really????? Are you 200% sure of that??
I have the cams. Are they worth it??? Well in my opinion without tuning no. I gained 6whp off the cams and a header full exhaust and a lighter underdrive pulley. My car was running pig rich as well. Sorry they did not get me torque readings so I can say on the torque. I feel the same thing other do that they pull more top end, but the true gain does not appear to me to good. I'm planning to dyno again soon and will have the torque readings this time to compare. I then plan some tuning with HPT. Depending on the gains I might go back to stock cams.
FU Tuning
I heard that to fully take advantage of the GT cam swap (hows that name for a difference?) one must port and polish their head for good flow and chaning the cam lobes wouldn't be a bad idea either. But remember the function of the cams, they open the valves a bit more and maybe even longer, thus giving more air and fuel into you cylinder resulting in more HP. But to conclude, HPtuners would help boost the potential of the cam swap given air fuel ratios @ certain rpms. But it is worth the time and money to change to GT cams but again I recommend porting and polishing your head.
GMR has got nothing on this
gt cams? this thread is on secret cams and i dont recall any part of the secret cams comin from a gt. secret cams are lo cams, 95 intake and 90-94 exhaust
also ive had the secret cams in my car when it was an automatic and they are now in there and ive done my 5 speed swap, id say get them, i believe they were worth the $30 i spent on them
i also have hptuners but have not had the time to even mess with tuning, but its lookin like theres a little bit up top i should play with.
Well doesnt the intake cam come from a GT vehicle? As for the HO cams, one could install them with their regular cam housing right?
GMR has got nothing on this
no intake still comes from a lo motor its a 95.... only gt it could come from would be a 95 sunfire gt but thats not enough to call it a gt cam swap cuz all other gt versions of the cars wouldnt have the correct cams. and yes you could use the ho cams with the ho towers but thats a whole different ball game, with either swapping to belt style power steering or getting the intake cam machiened for the hex to use our power steering as well as having to use 2.4 towers(when going with 2.4 power steering) that were bored to fit the bigger lifters because the ho tower isnt threaded for the 2.4 power steering pump along with no cps on the ho cam
