bit of a cut and paste from fullthrottlev6 forum good site even has a section for holden v6s even
This list covers every camshaft available for the USA GM 3800 Series II Engine. They are listed in increasing size starting with the STOCK cam.
All specs are actual numbers, if running any rocker ratio other than Stock 1.6:1, divide the Lobe lift by 1.6 then multiply the decimal number by the ratio of your rocker arms.
Example: .512 / 1.6 = .320 .320 x 1.7 = .544
Normally Aspirated Camshafts
Description Duration @ .050" Lobe Lift L.S.A. Centerline
Stock L36/L26: 182/192 .413/.413 115 N/A
CompCams 76-800-9: 192/200 .480/.496 110 N/A
CompCams 76-801-9: 200/206 .496/.480 112 N/A [ Malice
Supersix Motorsports: 204/204 .460/.460 112 N/A
Supersix Motorsports: 206/212 .512/.520 112 N/A
Grand Prix Store L36: 206/212 .512/.520 113 110
ZZP GT1: 210/210 .507/.507 113 N/A [ Seppo(111LSA)
Super Six L36: 210/214 .450/.450 112 N/A
Crower(regrind): 210/214 .445/.445 112 108
Crower(regrind): 210/214 .445/.445 113 109
Abbott Racing: 210/220 .512/.512 112 N/A [ FloydSummerOf68 , Silversixx, Smoke Panther, Car-Man-98
INTENSE Stage 1 N/A: 212/204 .515/.477 113 109
CUSTOM: 212/212 .520/.520 112 110 [ Magnus Before ls1 swap, 13secV6
INTENSE Stage 1X N/A: 212/216 .523/.514 113 109
Supersix Motorsports: 214/220 .510/.510 112 N/A [ usd2sing/DaniCammed8
ZZP GT2: 216/216 .507/.507 111 N/A [ Joe, Caspernicus, Red983800
CUSTOM: 216/216 .507/.507 112 N/A [ InSaNe6
CUSTOM: 218/218 .528/528 112 110 [ RallyRed98
CUSTOM: 218/218 .528/.528 114 [ Linx
CUSTOM: Custom 221/223 .541/.525 113 [ NotAV8
INTENSE Stage 2 N/A: 222/224 .540/.523 112 108
INTENSE Stage 3 N/A: 222/230 .542/.530 110 106
ZZP GT3: 224/224 .536/.536 113 N/A [ AnotherScreenName
Abbott: 230/240 .578/544 112 [WickedSix98
Power Adder Camshafts
Description Duration @ .050" Lobe Lift L.S.A. Centerline
Stock L67/L32: 182/192 .413/.413 115 N/A
GPS L67 Cam 1: 200/212 .504/.504 115 N/A
Stattama ST1: 206/206 .512/.512 111 N/A
Custom: 206/206 .526/.526 114 N/A [ Pector55
ZZP VS: 206/216 .504/.504 115 N/A
Comp Cams: 206/216 .512/.507 115 [ Sleepr
ZZP HL/GPS L67 Cam 2: 206/218 .512/.528 115 N/A
INTENSE Stage 1 Blower: 209/204 .488/.477 113 108
CompCams 76-802-9: 210/220 .512/.512 115 N/A [ 13secV6(removed), AirAttack111
Abbott Racing: 220/220 .512/.512 114 N/A
INTENSE Stage 1X Blower: 210/221 .514/.526 115 111
Stattama ST2: 212/212 .520/.520 112 N/A
ZZP XP: 212/224 .520/.536 116 N/A
INTENSE Stage 2 Turbo: 214/206 .530/.512 116 110
INTENSE Stage 2 Blower: 214/222 .531/.541 115 111
ZZP XPZ: 217/225 .563/.533116 N/A
Stattama ST3: 218/212 .528/.520 113 N/A
Stattams SS4: 218/230 .528/.544 116 N/A
Custom: 218/230 .528/.544 115 N/A [ Pector55
IPS Stage 5/ZZP NIC: 220/230 .507/.507 112 N/A
INTENSE Stage 3 Nitrous/Blower: 220/232 .539/.562 116 112
Thrasher Race: 222/222 .566/..566 114 N/A
INTENSE Stage 3 Blower: 222/228 .541/.550 115 111
INTENSE Stage 3 Turbo: 223/214 .541/.531 116 110
CUSTOM:224/215 .536/.534 116 110 [ Viper04af
Stattama ST4: 224/218 .536/.528 116 N/A
INTENSE Stage 4 Turbo: 226/218 .549/.554 116 110
INTENSE Stage 4 Blower: 235/238 .600/.602 116 112
For beginners, a cam is the brain behind the valvetrain, it is a shaft that has lobes (non-circular shaped arms that control the opening and closing of the valves) and these lobes are ground to a certain specification catered to the conditions your engine will see.
You have certain classifications of cam grinds:
Naturally Aspirated (N/A, all motor) specific for engines that have no power adders (Nitrous, Turbo, or Supercharger) Nitrous can be used, but gains will not be as high as a Nitours specific cam
Turbo: specific for engines running a turbo charger, pretty self explainatory
Supercharger: specific for engines running superchargers, these are not the same as a turbo cam, since the process of building boost is different between the two
Nitrous: these are modified N/A cams, they have certain specs built in to benifit from the nitrous, They are designed to be benifitial in a N/A application, but will optimize ppwer when nitrous is used.
What do the cam specs mean?
Duration: This is the basis for how your motor will perform in the RPM range. A higher duration cam will make power higher in the powerband, and lower duration will make power lower in the RPM range. Duration refers to how long the valve is opened in relation to Crankshaft position. If a cam is listed as a 220 Duration, that means the valve is opened for 220 degrees of crankshaft rotation.
Lift: This spec is stating how far the valve is opened. measured in thousandths of inches (.xxx). More isnt always better, but you want to make sure that you have enough lift to compliment the duration, or you will have an airflow restriction.
Lobe Separation: This refers to the spacing between the Intake Lobe, and the Exhaust lobe on the camshaft. This value is expressed in the in degrees on the camshaft, NOT the crankshaft.
Every company that sells camshafts will include what each cam is designed for. Naturally Aspirated cams will normally have a lobe separation between 110 and 113, Nitrous Cams are between 112 and 115, and Forced induction cams are from 114 and higher.
When looking at Lift and duration:
Naturally aspirated cams will tend to have an identical or closely split lift and duration.
Nitrous cams can tend to favor the exhaust side of the lift and duration to aid in relieving the cylinders of built pressures that the nitrous produces.
Turbo cams will tend to have a larger intake duration and lift compared to the exhaust side.
Supercharger cams will normally have a larger exhaust lift and duration for the same reason as the Nitrous, to help relieve cylinder pressures.
What do I need to buy along with a cam?
Valvesprings and Retainers
These are a must with any cam purchase. The extra load put on the valve trian due to larger lifts and faster ramps will be too much for our stock springs, so we must upgrade these.
The minimum for any swap is the 90 pound LS6 springs, these are good for most cams up to around .512" lift. You cannot use our stock retainers with these springs, you need to use a LS6 retainer or a comp cams brand retainer.
The next step up would be the Comp 915 springs, rated at 105 pounds. These are good springs which offer more tension, but less seat pressure than the LS6 springs. These can be used with any cam up to around .530" lift. Also you must use a comp cams retainer.
The largest valvspring we would need to use is a Comp Cams 918 rated at 130 pounds. these are heavy duty, use these with anything over .530 lift. these springs put a load on the timing chain and tensioner, so its reccommended to upgrade to a double-chain timing setup.
Install Kit
ZZperformance and Abbot Racing Heads offer a "cam install package" which basically consists of necessary gaskets, bolts, and other small odds and ends that you will need to complete the cam install. A few noted items that must be included are Rocker arm bolts and new Crank pulley bolt. These bolts are a one time use item, so after removal, you must use a NEW bolt for the crank and each rocker arm.
Rods and Lifters
New pushrods and lifters are not a necessary item to replace if you have a low mileage car, but if you have the motor apart and are replacing the rest of the valvetrain, why not go the extra step and finish it off with a fresh set of lifters and rods. The extra wear and tear that a camshaft puts on the valvetrain can prematurely wear out stock lifters, and the higher rev limiters and shift points can cause rods to bend slightly if a missed shift occurs or you bounce off the rev limiter a few times.
How Hard is it to install?
This is not a beginnners modification, you are working with key parts of the engine that have exact tolerances, one degree off in any direction can cause chaos in the motor, and frustration for the owner. Install time is around 8-12 hours, and can be done in a garage. You MUST have these tools before you think about diving into the motor.
Accurate Torque wrench, both ft/lbs AND in/lbs
Fuel line removal tool
Quality set of wrenches, sockets, and small hex bits
Sockets ranging in size from 7mm to 1 5/16"
Patience is the name of the game, there are alot of bolts that are a PITA, if you dont have the patience to allow yourself to be smarter than the car, you may need to talk with your councelor before attempting this. I HIGHLY reccomend going to the library and checking out the Chiltons Manual of your year car. DO NOT use a Haynes manual, that junk is not detailed enough for someone to effectively tear apart an engine.
How much power will I gain?
Each car is individual as the owner. Some cars are a bit quicker than others in stock form, some have issues that are unknown that will effect the performance. Some people have gained 10 HP from the cam swap, others have gained almost 100 with a good set of heads and a decent tune. At the track some have seen a gain of a few tenths, others a full second. The key to the camshaft is to have complimenting modifications. You cant just slap a cam in and be a new beast, the cam will make more power with the more you add to the car to help it do its job.
Any downsides to having an aftermarket cam?
As with any modification you do to your car, there are adverse effects. There really arent any serious effects to having a cam, depending on how radical you go, or the manintence you provide to your car the more issues you may encounter. You may lose some gas mileage, you may have issues with passing emmissions in some areas. The big thing you have to know is that your car will last as long as you let it. If you dont take care of it, or dont keep up with routine maintence then you will prematurely wear it out. As long as you supported the camshaft swap with quality parts and components rated for the specs of your cam, it should last as long as any other car out there.
1. How much can I bore the block? .030" is basicly the max you can go. .020" is probably the safest i would run.
2. How much cam lift can I handle with a wild motor ex. like 600 lift?Depends, on how much you mill the heads, and what thickness headgaskets you run. I have seen .600" lift cams run on these motors before. but once again it depends. Also the cam will need to be installed straight up at that lift. otherwise piston to valve clearance is way to close.
3. Building an all out n/a motor how much compression can it handle being fuel injected? Sure why not. people run obscenely boosted fuel injected motors. you need to make sure you have upgraded your fuel, fuel pump wiring, and injectors to start. You might have to change to an style lines to supply the beast too. however being N/A i think you should be ok with stock fuel rails and lines. As for C/R i would say 11 ish if you run like c16 all the time with arp studs and mls 4 layer head gaskets. Even then it could be a head gasket eater. we don't have nearly enough clamping force in the heads on these motors to prevent lifting a head with super high cylinder pressures. Some people have drilled the block to add extra bolts but it what in the long run will this do to the strenght of the block itself. that i don't know.
4. What all can be done to the heads, angle milled, max port/polish, springs, retainers, titaninum stuff? I'm not sure about angle milling. We don't have a lot on the base of the head. I would not go overboard with that. once again always remember piston to valve clearance with this with your cam selection and so on. You can mill them some i wanna say .030" is the most you want to go, A full out port and polish, mirror the exhaust ports, springs for .600" lift, either 150 lb springs or a double spring setup which requires extra maching work to the spring seat and valve guide areas. titaninum retainers are out there and there are bunch of different retainers that work. Also install a double roller timing chain and milled oil pump backing plate to gain the neccessary clearance for the double roller chain.
5. Oil galley plugs, restrictors, balance shaft deletion, that sort of things? Oiling is my specialty on these motors. First off we share a lot of the same problems as the 80's gn's. it surprising how similar these motors are even though they don't share any parts. first off, remove the ballance shaft and plug the front and rear oiling ports for that. 2. port the main gallery cross over in the rear cover. 3. Port the oil pump feed and return passages in the timing cover get all the casting junk out of there. 4. drill the main feeds as the passages are partially blocked by the cam bearings (this is key). Also chamfer the mains for better oiling. Next i would modify the front cover and relocate the filter and feed the oil pump with a nice sweeping -8 an line from a modified sump oil pan with a different style pick up. i think the term used to describe this pick up and sump is a mouse hut don't quote me on that though). I would also run another feed to the main oil gallery above the timing cover to fee the rear of the gallery. Final thing for now is i would port the main oil gallery around the lifters for quicker oil drain back. also install screens in the drain back holes to catch any debree if something comes appart in the top end.
6. Tolerances, blueprints, deck height, deck thickness, cylinder bore thickness, would it be a good idea to use some block grout? I don't know these off the top of my head. but i can look into it.
7. How much can I turn a stock crank, can I nitrade it, can I knife edge it? I would leave it as it is. its a super stout peice as it is. when you turn they become weak and will break in boosted engines. A max effort N/A motor could pose the same problems. Knife edging is a nice idea to eliminate windage. as long as to much material isn't removed i would say go for it.
8. Is there any other aftermarket intake design for this motor?, not a cold are system either. Not currently.
9. Is there away to carbuerate this motor, seriously? only with the right intake
10. Any better ignitions out there or is there just coil packs and pcm programming? The stock coil pack/icm setup on these cars are great. Most of the high power 10 second and faster gn's upgrade from their coil pack setup to what we use stock. Ussually garden hose wires are the only upgrade i make. Running a coil per cylinder setup will require some major tuning and wiring to get going. Its a major project. But i've heard that there is actually one or two gtp's out there with something like this.
