Need some opinions

[Ls7camaro]

I am not sure if this is the correct area, but here goes, and all opinions are welcome.

I have a 79 Camaro, currently a standard bore 454, TRW LS6 Pistons, Comp LS6+ camshaft, GM 990 Rec heads, Harland Sharp 1.7 Roller Rockers, GM 1054 forged crank, dimple rods, Edelbrock Vr in take, Proform 850 plate and main body, MSD Dist. Weiand Alum Water pump. Rear is a Moser built 10bolt, 3"driveshaft with big joints, and a TH350 trans, mild converter. Car is back halved, 4.10 gears with a spool, ran 11.80 last time out.

Here is the question. I have a GM LS7 pistons and a GM LS7 Cam, I know that would wake the combo up, but how much? If I take it out and tear it down, I know I need new bearings, Bottom end needs rebalanced. I know I'll need new lifters, is there anything else? Any other tips on getting more power? I was thinking about moving to a 496 kit, but that would put me in the hole, I am leaning towards the LS7 route and looking at possibly a set of Split mono springs and taking the converter out and having it matched to the car better

I do have a nitrous kit, its a sniper, last time I used it, the car was only running 12.00 and that moved it to 11.44. I would like to go as fast as possible on ultra 94, or is it worth it moving to E85?

I know the post is all over the place, I am trying to formulate a plan and go for that only. I just put the mopar MC in, but have some more lines/work to do, any advise or direction is greatly appreciated.

With all that, again, I know a lot here, goal is to get to track, have a good time, go rounds and in the General GS section ask for some good burger recipes.

[John_Heard]

Well there is a LOT more potential in the Nitrous system I'd say, tuning on that will give you the biggest bang for the buck. Not familiar with those camshafts or pistons really. I think you've only scratched the surface on what you already have.

What kind of racing are you doing? Is this a bracket car? Shootout car or ??

[Ls7camaro]

John, its more a weekend bracket car, there are not many restrictions at the track I go to. I do drive the car to a cruise in once in a while. Do you need more information on the combination?

Do you think its worth taking to the dyno and do a tune.

Next, the RPM Range on the cam is 1800 to 6500, do you shift at 6500? or do you shift lower? I heard some guy saying they shift 1000 rpm under the upper limit? Cam I have is part #11-671-4.

For the LS7 Pistons / Cam, they are GM parts, I think the domes on the pistons are .780 and cam is 262/273 dur. @ .050 and lift at .580/.620, its the 5140 forged crank, cam #3959180, there are different versions of what I am reading on the net about the CR, between 11.25 and 12.50. My heads are GM 990 with 118 chambers and the big intake ports.

As for the nitrous, I think if I go above the 150 mark, I have to add bigger solenoids? possibly a different plate? How important are the bottle heaters? are there any guides that you can recommend for the NOS?

I don't mind running the NOS, and work for a bottled gas company now, so I get a discount on gas, we sell NOS, so I may look into that also.

I don't have too much cash to upgrade this year, I just paid all Credit cards off and don't want to go that route, but will if I have to.

[John_Heard]

What I shift at won't apply to your car, but in general you need to test and see what it likes. I wouldn't think 6500 is that far off, but if the car repeats well try it 500 rpm higher and lower and see which one performs the best. Everything else is just guessing. If it likes 500 lower, try another 500, or 250 more and see what the results are. If you have a data logger, that would help you tell quicker, but it doesn't sound like you have one of those yet.

Yes, if you have the funds doing some dyno testing would probably yield some info on A/F ratio, timing, etc. You can also get that done making laps at the track too. Hard to do when bracket racing, but if you're test n' tuning it you can try all that stuff as well on the track.

That nitrous kit you have is a small one, what were you using for jets? NOS's instructions for that plate are still the OLD ones, they are way fat. Some of their plate instructions have been updated recently, but I don't think they did that one yet.

I wouldn't go out and spend money on it yet, I'd bet there is quite a bit of ET sitting there untapped as it is.