CAMs

[GTManiac]

Owner: Steve (Club Vice-President Bloomingdale Chapter)

Model: 1999 Grand Am GT

Mods: 3.4L SFI Ram Air, Borla Cat Back Exhaust System, Ram Air Technologies (RAT), Underdrive pullies, Caspers, Electronics, Cooling Fan Switch, TPS Enhancer, GMS High Flow Mass Air Sensor, Adjustable Fuel Pressure Regulator, Taylor 8mm Blue Spark Plug Wires, NGK TR/55 spark plugs, HyperTech 180 Thermostat, Vent Visor, Rain Guards, GTS Blackouts, GM Grand Am Bra, GrandAmGT.com Red Ram Air Stickers.


That's the list i was going from. So when I said I didn't see anything over the $100 price range I would be correct.

Agree to disagree, but I STILL back the fact that even though you may not like the price DO NOT go about talking bad about the company, unless they've done YOU wrong personally. It looks bad on all of us when someone goes off for no reason.

[phantom505]

Would you two simply stop? I have questions that now are in the middle of the thread somewhere that I would like to have answered so I can get that regrind done.

Geesh.

[blckgagt]

just settle this arguement. We all want the same thing, an aftermarket cam for our cars, so lets stay with that for now, then worry about the price. We can't do nothing to change the price of the cam so there's no point in argueing about it.

[FastSteve]

Like many others here, I too would like to see a cam or two available for our cars at a fair price. Only time will tell if that will happen. If I think a company is out of line I think I have a right to express that. I have not personally attacked Crower in that I have not knocked their product. I have noted some of their practices that is it.

As for cam questions. I am not the greatest with cam specs. I concern myself with rpm range and thats about it when it comes to cams. I will look back at your question and see if I can find an answer for you. Sorry if I knocked your question off track.

It amazes me that through 5 pages worth of crap, not once did someone mention Crane.

Bottom line here:
If your not willing to pay at least $500 for a cam, then simply get a regrind.

Crane knows what they are doing when it comes to this engine.. simply tell them what you have, and what you plan on doing and they will take care of you. Ask for Steve. Cost is about $150 plus sending them your core. You can get more information off their site, http://www.cranecams.com

Its also funny to see people still living in the dark ages when it comes to Compression Ratio's.

[Licit]

Originally posted by GPXSS
It amazes me that through 5 pages worth of crap, not once did someone mention Crane.

Bottom line here:
If your not willing to pay at least $500 for a cam, then simply get a regrind.

Crane knows what they are doing when it comes to this engine.. simply tell them what you have, and what you plan on doing and they will take care of you. Ask for Steve. Cost is about $150 plus sending them your core.

Its also funny to see people still living in the dark ages when it comes to Compression Ratio's.

Sweet deal on the info as this is exactly what I have been asking around town for lately. Wondered if you had a webpage/phone number for Crane? Any further info on the setup would be great, like how long you might have to go w/out the core unit. Thanks in advance.

[steve_m]

Originally posted by aleroboy
Got 1100 bux and nothing better to do with it?
crower will make you a new cam.
or if they see a larger intrest in it they will make a production cam instead of one offs.

Really... interesting. We should try and organize a group buy to maybe get the cost down.

[Schweppe23]

Group buy for Cam

1.) Schweppe23
2.) steve_m
3.)
4.)
5.)
6.)
7.)
8.)
9.)
10.)

If we get 10 people im sure we could get some kind of group discount.

Crane, Comp, or Crower.....someone needs to do some contacting and organize this.

[steve_m]

I'll start shooting some emails out to these guys. I guess the only problem here is -- we might not all want/need the same grind.

[AaronGTR]

Ya know, if I had a performance shop or an online store, I'd just front the money to get like 20 made for me then sell them to you guys. The initial investment would be big, but the price per cam would be less than a one-off cam. Then they could be sold at a decent price. The problem is the average guy isn't willing to pay in advance for something that hasn't even been made, but once it's been made and someone's put it in their car and said it works, then everyone wants it. I've seen this here before, and it's to be expected really. All we need is someone to go to comp or crane or whoever and say "I want you to make 20 of these for me so I can sell them in my store" and we're all set. Anybody listening out there?

[steve_m]

Originally posted by AaronGTR
Ya know, if I had a performance shop or an online store, I'd just front the money to get like 20 made for me then sell them to you guys. The initial investment would be big, but the price per cam would be less than a one-off cam. Then they could be sold at a decent price. The problem is the average guy isn't willing to pay in advance for something that hasn't even been made, but once it's been made and someone's put it in their car and said it works, then everyone wants it. I've seen this here before, and it's to be expected really. All we need is someone to go to comp or crane or whoever and say "I want you to make 20 of these for me so I can sell them in my store" and we're all set. Anybody listening out there?

I am listening. I just might know of a performance shopt that might do this. They are starting to mass produce/sell other 3400 performance parts so we will see.

[aleroboy]

I would do it but I dont have that kind of $$$$$.

[blckgagt]

i would be interested in the group buy. But i won't be able to get on it for another month. And about the different cams for different setups, what are we gonna do about that? Not sure how they all work, but i would want one thats pretty extreme.

[steve_m]

Originally posted by blckgagt
i would be interested in the group buy. But i won't be able to get on it for another month. And about the different cams for different setups, what are we gonna do about that? Not sure how they all work, but i would want one thats pretty extreme.

Yeah, that is going to be our problem -- probably a big enough problem to kill any kind of group buy. I am keeping my car as a daily driver so I don't want to go too extreme on the cam.

[phantom505]

Originally posted by GPXSS
It amazes me that through 5 pages worth of crap, not once did someone mention Crane.

Bottom line here:
If your not willing to pay at least $500 for a cam, then simply get a regrind.

Crane knows what they are doing when it comes to this engine.. simply tell them what you have, and what you plan on doing and they will take care of you. Ask for Steve. Cost is about $150 plus sending them your core.

Its also funny to see people still living in the dark ages when it comes to Compression Ratio's.

I tried to get a hold of Crane and they seemed like they couldn't care less. I sent it to Comp because they at least spoke with me.

As far as your comment about people being in the dark ages when it comes to compression ratios I assume you were talking about me. As you recall I was trying to get some info on it. Most of the websites I've found are not very good. So....

How about this for an answer: Enlighten me. Give me a link, whatever. Don't make useless comments.

[steve_m]

Originally posted by phantom505
I tried to get a hold of Crane and they seemed like they couldn't care less. I sent it to Comp because they at least spoke with me.

As far as your comment about people being in the dark ages when it comes to compression ratios I assume you were talking about me. As you recall I was trying to get some info on it. Most of the websites I've found are not very good. So....

How about this for an answer: Enlighten me. Give me a link, whatever. Don't make useless comments.

Not sure what the flame war is about but what did you want to know?

Originally posted by phantom505
I tried to get a hold of Crane and they seemed like they couldn't care less. I sent it to Comp because they at least spoke with me.

As far as your comment about people being in the dark ages when it comes to compression ratios I assume you were talking about me. As you recall I was trying to get some info on it. Most of the websites I've found are not very good. So....

How about this for an answer: Enlighten me. Give me a link, whatever. Don't make useless comments.

Actually I was talking about the general consensus, and GTManiac for the "higher than 11.5 and your asking for trouble" comment. But then again, some people like to run 87 octane, which you can do on your application with the 10.5 or whatever.

Im running upwards of 12.2:1 on premium pump gas with my new engine, and did for a full year before my old engine ate a lifter.

Ive posted this before, so its not as if its a big secret.. and pretty much everybody knows about it over on the 60v6.com boards.
Throw in some Fbody 3.4 pistons to bump compression, use the .040" head gasket from the iron heads, and just make SURE you have the combustion chambers smooted out as much as possible, else you may get a good bit of detonation.

As far as Crane, Dont say you want a new cam, cause you wont get it. Just tell them you want a regrind, and all the information on their regrind sheet (on the website) You can get all the info you need from their site www.cranecams.com Talk to Steve, he's the guy that knows about the 60º. I got about the hottest regrind you can get for these cores and not have to worry about the cam taking a dump, but its almost needed for the compression im running.

[phantom505]

I'll see what Comp comes up with before I try Crane again.

Thanks for the info on the pistons. I don't really want to run 12.2:1 because out here in New Mexico we can only get 91 and I don't trust the quality. So I think leaving it about about 11.5 would be safer. Or does the altitude allow me to go higher anyway? What is your opinion on this?

I'll have the heads cc'd so I can get an exact compression ratio after the headwork. I think it will probably be around 10:1.

Have you done any other work on your internals?

[bszopi]

GPXSS has done more work on these engines that anyone out there... but anyway, back to the cam issues.

I saw something in here that kind of made me chuckle. Some one wanted on the group buy list but wasn't going to have the money for at least a month. FYI, IF this ever even gets rolling, don't expect to have a cam for AT LEAST 6-8 months. I can guarantee you that they won't drop all of their other projects for a cam for a economy engine. Oh yes, the 3400s are economy there peeps... Another comment that was made is that there are more GAs than F-bodies. Ok, first off... look at the WHOLE picture. 3400s aren't in just GAs. They are the predominant engine in GM's economy lineup. This includes GA, Malibus, Impalas, Aztek, minivans, etc... is a HUGE market. BUT, the performance market is small. Whereas the F-body performance market is huge. I would say that perhaps 2% of all 3400 owners will perform some modifications to their cars, and a fraction of that will be internal mods. I will bet that at least 50% of LS1 owners will perform mods, with at least half of them going internals. Ok, so if you are a company, which market would you grasp?

Its all basic marketing principles. Why spend R&D time on a small market where you won't make much profit when you can spend the R&D and a large market and make a significant profit. Why do you think Magnuson stopped the SC kit?

[GTManiac]

Originally posted by GPXSS
Im running upwards of 12.2:1 on premium pump gas with my new engine, and did for a full year before my old engine ate a lifter.

'nuff said

some of us like our dependable daily drivers. You wanna blow your engine up for a few more ponies (we're talking like 10-30 HP TOPS here; depending on mods), then by ALL means DO SO, but I'll be cruising, a bit slower than you, while you're rebuilding your engine.