Streetable Cam for 94 Firebird

[Firehawk94]

Well its time for a question. First off, I need to replace my LIM gaskets as well as my valve cover gaskets, but here is the thing......my car has 245500 miles on it and doesnt burn any oil and doesnt have a tap to be heard. With that said while I'm down as far as the lifter valley why not go ahead and change the cam bearings, lifters and camshaft?.......245k mi is alot of miles for a stock cam and I KNOW it has to have some wear.

So here is the question......What would be the recommended cam for my bone stock 3.4L? I dont mind a lopey idle as long as tuning is not involved (it would be a hassle to have to tune a OBD1.5 car or even convert it to OBD1) I would rather not go back with a stock cam. The timing set is brand new so that is one thing that i will not have to replace. Pushrods and rockers should still be fine unless a cam swap will require them to be changed (which I would rather not have to do)

So let me have it guys voice your opinions.

[robertisaar]

as long as you're not expecting to run something radical, tuning wouldn't be "required" though it would benefit more than just the cam.

[ForcedFirebird]

A 252 or 260h would be perfect, and I just happen to have one of each for sale in the B/S/T section

[IsaacHayes]

the h260 or whatever i think will run on a stock ECM. the 272 will need tuning though.

[ForcedFirebird]

the h260 or whatever i think will run on a stock ECM. the 272 will need tuning though.

There is no more "272" shelf grind as far as I know since Crane is gone (but I can get one for you ). The 252 and 260 both will run fine on the stock tune even with 1.6 rockers, but will benefit from tuning.

[Firehawk94]

A 252 or 260h would be perfect, and I just happen to have one of each for sale in the B/S/T section

Hmmm, I might just have to check that out.......


Thanks for your input guys I was leaning toward the CC 260h cam, but I was worried about tuning issues with this cam, but now it is clear to me that tuning is not required for this cam.

[robertisaar]

required, no
suggested, yes

are you running a manual or auto?

[ForcedFirebird]

Well seeing I have sold several of the 260h cams in the past several months, and ALL of the cars are running perfectly fine without a tune, I will say 100% that your car will be fine with it

I could probably even dig up a few videos of said cars, one even had a nice port job on the heads/intakes, zero problems, zero codes set.

You have to remember the 3.4 guys have been using this cam for quite some time without the ability to tune the OBD 1.5.

[geoffinbc]

You may want to look into a regrind on your stock core so you keep the cam trigger for the SFI. Otherwise your car will revert to MPFI and you will get a CEL all the time. If it were me I would get a regrind, a set of COMP lifters, COMP 1.6:1 Magnum Rockers (which you can order with a push rod set) and a COMP Timing Set slap it all in and your done.

[Firehawk94]

required, no
suggested, yes

are you running a manual or auto?

I have an automatic. Man, it sucks that I cannot tune with the OBD 1.5 I wish there was a way.......it just baffles me that these things cant be tuned, i mean when these things were built they were flashed with a "program" why cant we just perform a reflash per say and tune the parameters to our liking? I guess Im dreaming now......

But anywho, I am purchasing the LIM and valve cover gaskets tomorrow, but Im going to hold off on the install because I'm wanting to do this cam swap while I'm in there. Ok, Comp has a High energy 264H cam listed for 79-94 173-204ci. engines 2.8-3.4. Is this the cam that I am looking for?

[bszopi]

it just baffles me that these things cant be tuned, i mean when these things were built they were flashed with a "program" why cant we just perform a reflash per say and tune the parameters to our liking?

It is that easy. The only problem is hacking the code to figure out what needs to be changed (the code isn't documented like all the OBD-1 codes), and then paying for equipment that can flash the PCM (currently, the only thing that has the ability is the TECH-2, which at around $2k+, just doesn't seem worth it... and it will currently only flash to stock).

[robertisaar]

if it was a manual we could tune it... john has been working on the f-body obd1 conversions, he's about got the 93 auto and manuals done, and we figured out that the 94 and 95 manual trans f-bodies can be tuned using a 16149396 PCM. the autos on the other hand, we have yet to figure something out other than using the stock PCM for tranny control and another PCM for fuel and spark...

you might be able to flash it using a tech 2, but be prepared to shit yourself when you see the price of the thing...

EDIT: i got ninja'd by brad

[Firehawk94]

on the other hand, we have yet to figure something out other than using the stock PCM for tranny control and another PCM for fuel and spark...

I've heard some things about this. How feasible is this approach and how would this work? I am aware that the 93 fbodies had the 4l60 non E and the 94 and up has the 4l60e tranny. I know i started this thread saying that i would rather steer away from tuning and I still feel this way, but this sounds interesting and Im not asking for an essay, just a brief rundown of this dual PCM setup.


Also, I mentioned a cam in an earlier post, is that the one I am looking for?

[robertisaar]

i can't help with cam selection, i don't know much about the flat-tappet 660s...

but for the dual PCM setup, you basically leave a couple of the sensors attached to the original PCM and the rest get attached to the tuneable PCM, essentially only allowing them to perform certain things, and certain sensors are shared between the two. the only thing preventing the auto PCM from being tuneable is that the PCM controls the line pressure for the trans, something we can't find on any other OBD1 PCM that is tuneable.

[Firehawk94]

i the only thing preventing the auto PCM from being tuneable is that the PCM controls the line pressure for the trans, something we can't find on any other OBD1 PCM that is tuneable.

Wow, and that explains why the 4l60E tranny is so year specific. When I was transmission hunting I found out that (for the 3.4 in the Fbody) a 93 will not work because it is non electronic and the 95 will not work either because the 94 has a 14 pin connector and the 93 has a 13 pin and if I tried to use a 95 tranny the transmission will burn itself up, most likely due to the pcm controlling the line pressure and the wiring being a little different. You know, this has gone a bit off subject, but this is good info, and why in the heck didnt they just leave everything the same between 94 and 95? Do you guys know how hard it is to find a year specific tranny in local junkyards? That was a pain in the ass!

Ok back on subject, my cam dilemma.