Did you install your own cam Helopilot?

 

I did a few engine builds back in the day, big and small block chevys tho. But we used walrus hide for main bearings. I'm sure things have changed a bit since then.

 

Yes in fact I didn't even know what a cam or pushrod was until I decided to take the plunge and just try it. I had never been into an engine before and using the write-up over on HTC I was able to get it done. That gave me some confidence and since then I have installed all of my mods myself, i.e. torque converter and stuff. Sure is a lot cheaper that way!!

 

Hey Helopilot I love yer Hood is it a functional scoop?

How long did it take to do the Cam from downtime to back on the road?

 

Thats right on, I think more guys should take the plunge and give this stuff a shot on their own. personally I get a lot more satisfaction knowing that I installedall that extra horsepower under my right foot plus I'm keeping all that extra money in my pocket.

 

helo your air fuel was out of wack cuz of your headers. they are supposed to lean the hemi's out. your engine is designed to run at NORMAL operating temps that are considered under NORMal conditions. if your running a blower or turbo or NOS sure get some extra help cooling the poor truck down. if your mostly stock and every stop light is not the drag strip christmas tree then its not of any MAJOR benefit. if you have every notcied that you can flog the **** out of the hemi and it might heat up (according to the stock temp gauge) and then within a couple of minutes it will cool down to normal temps. engines NEED heat to work best. its the one that have power adders that need the help. shoot my buds srt-4 runs all day at 195-200 degrees and thats at over 400WHP!! if his TURBO ride can handle it then hey my NA truck should be just fine. just my .02 as to why i dont think they are needed.

 

pappy, the labor book says it takes 9.2 hours...but it all depends on the experience you have and the tools you have available to you...really if you work at it then it shouldnt take you any longer then that and plus you'll be savin yourself quite a bit of money

 

So a good weekend project kind of deal.
To include friends, for parts runs. The truck is our only source of covered transport.

I'm gussing the warranty is over after an engine mod like this.

P.S. How are you guys getting pics in your sig block? Thats cool.

 

They don't though, at least according to my A/F.


That is why they make intercoolers, radiators and the such. J/K, I am feeling a little sarcastic this morning.


We are talking apples and oranges here though. Let me see if I can explain the whole thought process another way...programmers.

The stock hemi calibration tables are built off of 89 octane fuel. In order to make power, Superchips did a couple of things to the stock calibration tables, they added spark advance to them on top of leaning down the AFR and zeroing out the hot coolant and hot air charge temperature spark retard surfaces. Because of that, now your spark advance curve does not take hot coolant temperatures or hot inlet air temperatures into account for the delivered spark advance.

So what does that mean???

They are leaning out the A/F ratio in order to make better power, however, by leaning out the A/F, the engine is now more apt to get spark knock, detonation, or pinging. The knock sensors can only do so much. They can remove something like 12 degrees of spark advance to stop audible knock or pinging between 2000-3000 RPM, so if you still heard pinging or knocking the PCM had already applied the full 12 degrees of retard and it wasn't enough to stop the knocking or pinging. The pinging and knocking situation can be aggravated by hot coolant, hot inlet air, and lower octane fuel. In other words Superchips has cranked up the spark advance yet removed the stock calibration's safeguards, so you are more apt to do some engine damage.

So in order to prevent spark knock, which will result in spark retard followed by a loss in torque and HP, you need to run high octane fuel, especially when it's hot outside and keep the coolant and inlet air temperatures as cool as possible. The 180 thermo will lower your under hood temps, inlet air temps, and cylinder head temperatures. The combination of lowering these three temperatures will help out a lot in preventing spark knock, detonation or pinging. The end result with the 180 thermo installed is that you will be a little safer as well as make a little more torque and HP.

I hope that makes sense. Now you add in cams, headers and other items that change the A/F around and you can exacerbate the situation.

 

I agree with you 100% helopilot. I don't see what the argument is considered there are dyno proven gains by running a 180 t-stats when combined with a programer.