# Buying a cam for 2005 GTO



## 05silvergoat (Jun 8, 2010)

Has anyone used a 224 duration and .563 lift, from thunder racing? I have a 2005 GTO with Pacesetter long tube jet hot coated headers. - Jet hot coated off road midpipes with cat delete. - Corsa sport exhaust and Aeroforce CanBus gauges and was thinking adding a cam would be the next step? Ideas, thoughts?


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## 87GN06GTO07IRL (Aug 10, 2009)

You can go bigger on the cam and still retain driveability.


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## 05silvergoat (Jun 8, 2010)

thank you for the reply but I'm not a gear head at all so I'm looking for all the advice I can get. So if I go bigger - what size is optimal and what else will I need to switch out - rods, springs, etc? This is all new to me.


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## jpalamar (Jul 22, 2008)

When you do your cam, Def get your intake mani ported. Stock porting without a tune is netting 15+HP and with a tune and cam, it will be only better. Alotta HP for the buck.


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## 05silvergoat (Jun 8, 2010)

*2005 Sequence of Mods*

So at this point I have a 2005 GTO with Pacesetter long tubes, off road midpipes with cat delete, Corsa sport exhaust and Aeroforce CanBus gauges and a shorty shifter. Am I correct that on a poor mans budget the sequence below is the way to go?

Add a Cam, Push Rods, Springs, get the Intake Manifold ported along with Throttle body

What do you think?


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## 87GN06GTO07IRL (Aug 10, 2009)

05silvergoat said:


> Am I correct that on a poor mans budget the sequence below is the way to go?
> 
> Add a Cam, Push Rods, Springs, get the Intake Manifold ported along with Throttle body


I wouldn't call that a poor mans budget myself. Have you checked the prices and labor for the work? If not you might be surprised.


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## ROBSGTO (Jul 6, 2008)

05silvergoat said:


> thank you for the reply but I'm not a gear head at all so I'm looking for all the advice I can get. So if I go bigger - what size is optimal and what else will I need to switch out - rods, springs, etc? This is all new to me.



My cam specs are 230/232 .614 .602 114 LSA and drives almost exactly like stock except for trying to drive extremely slow in a parking lot or something of that nature.

Alot of how a car drives after a cam has to do with the tune.

You should buy new springs and push rods.


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## ROBSGTO (Jul 6, 2008)

jpalamar said:


> When you do your cam, Def get your intake mani ported. Stock porting without a tune is netting 15+HP and with a tune and cam, it will be only better. Alotta HP for the buck.


+1

I had a ported intake installed at the time of my cam install because I couldn't justify the price of a FAST.I paid $200 for a ported intake and tb,a very good bang for my buck imo!

Maybe later after I do heads I may decide to get a FAST,but for now the ported stocker is just fine.


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## HITMAN803 (Apr 10, 2010)

jpalamar said:


> When you do your cam, Def get your intake mani ported. Stock porting without a tune is netting 15+HP and with a tune and cam, it will be only better. Alotta HP for the buck.




I dont know about that considering a FAST 92 will get you around 20hp with just a cam swap and a stock mani even ported is no where near a FAST......


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## ROBSGTO (Jul 6, 2008)

HITMAN803 said:


> I dont know about that considering a FAST 92 will get you around 20hp with just a cam swap and a stock mani even ported is no where near a FAST......



A FAST will cost 3 to 4 times what a ported stocker will cost,at least for me it would have been seeing as I got a ported intake and tb for $200.I do realize that not all shops are this low on pricing as my shop was though so it will not be that much of a difference for some.

I couldn't justify spending $799 for a FAST 102 for 10 or so more hp than a ported stock intake.If I had money to blow I would have considered it though.


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## jpalamar (Jul 22, 2008)

HITMAN803 said:


> I dont know about that considering a FAST 92 will get you around 20hp with just a cam swap and a stock mani even ported is no where near a FAST......


Ported LS2 on a stock motor without even a tune nets about 15HP.... so tuning it will most likely add more and then added a cam with help even more. That said, I bet it would be about the same preformance as the FAST 92 and cam as you stated above. Its more budget VS willing to spend tons of money for every little HP you can. HP per dollar is def in porting the LS2 mani.


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## dustyminpin (Jun 19, 2006)

I've never seen fast 102s (LS3 version) for 800 bucks. I got mine on sale for 950, granted, that was a year ago when they first came out.


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## dustyminpin (Jun 19, 2006)

Is your car a manual or auto? One huge thing to consider with a cam is how big you can go without stepping up to a bigger torque converter if you have an auto. My cam is a 228/232, .595 lift, 114+2 LSA and needed a minimum 2500 stall. I couldn't go with a bigger cam because the giant hollow stem LS3 valves would crash into the pistons. I'd of had to get the pistons knotched/ground down .060 or more or replaced with aftermarket for a more tradtional lumpy cam, say in the 235/245 range. 

I should've went bigger with a converter. Everybody at work told me to get a 3000-3500 but I was afraid my every day drivability would be crap. The car is a little herky jerky driving super slow-parking lot speeds, but the speed shop guys told me that would go away with a bigger converter. The next time my car goes under the knife a Vigilante 3200 stall (minimum stall or equivalent) is on my list.


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## Poncho Dan (Jun 30, 2009)

dustyminpin said:


> I've never seen fast 102s (LS3 version) for 800 bucks. I got mine on sale for 950, granted, that was a year ago when they first came out.


The real reason why you should invest (yes, invest) in one of these is to support future N/A mods, like P&P heads or a stroker crank.


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## dustyminpin (Jun 19, 2006)

The reason I went with the FAST was because the only other option I had at the time was the intake off of the Caddy Escalade 6.2 (L76 I think it's called). GM hadn't released the LS3 intaked manifold for sell as a part number at the time and the guys at the speed shop said save up the extra 600 bucks and get the FAST. They said the cnc ported LS3 heads flowing 349 cfm and the bigger cam would really make that intake suck air, and scream at high rpms. Which it does, it pulls nice up to about 80, then from there to 140 it's like you hit an imaginary nitrous button. 

You can really feel the car accelerating, where when it was stock, it took about twice as long to hit drive going from 3rd gear, even though it shifts into drive at 140 now, whereas stock it shifted at 120. I guess that rpm/mph zone is the car's sweet spot, or as my gear head buddy at work calls it "power band".


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