Cam Upgrades for your LS Engine
It is incredible what a piece of metal called a camshaft can do to change the performance of your LS engine.
The Gains
Many LS engine when equipped with full performance exhaust and Over the Radiator cold air intakes perform very well. But when an upgraded cam is fitted they can spring to life with as much as 60 rwkw more power with big duration cams and with small cams gains in torque from as low as 1000rpm.
Extra Parts needed:
- Valve springs – we prefer for reliability dual springs which all have a higher spring pressure when closed and open.
- Chromoly pushrods – reduced flex
- New head gaskets, head bolts, balancer bolt, LS7 lifters, lifter buckets, cam bolts
Changed noticed
There will be more valve train noise because the spring pressure and camshaft lift
Typical LS1 stock spring specs
At standard installed height (~1.800″):
- Seat pressure (closed):
👉 ~75–85 lbs - Open pressure (at ~.500″ lift):
👉 ~190–220 lbs
Typical LS3 valve spring specs
At typical installed height (~1.800″):
- Seat pressure (closed):
👉 ~90–100 lbs - Open pressure (around .550″ lift):
👉 ~260–280 lbs
Common Cam upgrade Valve Springs are the BTR 660 springs
BTR 660 basic specs
Typical (varies slightly with installed height):
- Seat pressure:
👉 ~130–150 lbs @ ~1.800″ - Open pressure:
👉 ~380–420 lbs @ ~.600″ lift - Max lift capability:
👉 ~.660″ lift - Type:
👉 Dual spring with damper
Lift differences
After installing a performance camshaft, an increase in valvetrain noise is expected.
The standard camshaft typically runs around .500 lift, whereas this setup increases lift to around .610 along with more aggressive opening and closing rates. This is a significant increase in valve movement.
This causes the valves to accelerate and decelerate harder each cycle.
Combined with higher spring pressure, this increases the mechanical load through the valvetrain.
The result is a more noticeable and consistent ticking noise, which is normal provided it is even across the engine.
Cams with more lift must be supported with higher spring pressure to prevent valve float. Also there are reliability advantages of using dual valve springs
What to Expect
After a cam upgrade:
- Increased power and torque
- More aggressive engine note
- Noticeable but normal valvetrain noise
A well-installed setup will run clean, consistent, and reliable.
