Well, ok, suit yourself, I'm just warning you now your not gonna like driving a car that runs that rough everyday, and you're not gonna be happy with the gain that it gives. Its way too much cam for your mods. Have you ever thought maybe there is a reason why the parts are so cheap. What did the person you are buying it from go with for a cam? If you're worried about the extra cost, that isn't what should be making your decision. You have to remember, that cam was designed for heads that had MAJOR P&P work on them, and had a much larger blower on it as well. I'm telling you, with the very very minor amount of mods you have, its not gonna be good at all. But I can't stop you.

I just have a feeling you're gonna be pissed when your car gets half the gas mileage, barely idles, gives you a headache because it shakes so much, and doesn't go much if any faster than it did before. I think I would talk to Intense or ZZP (talking to both would be a good idea) and tell them the kind of power you are wanting to make, and they will recommend a cam for you, and I would bet you will find that its MUCH MUCH smaller than the TEP cam.

Shawn

Well i think i will stick with people'* general wisdom and email Intense and ZZP. See what they can tell me. I wonder why there is the kit for stock heads though? Why would thrasher release the kit, if it works so poorly?

Becasue when thrasher released the kit, it was the only big cam out there. If you wanted to go fast, thats the cam you used. But they also had P&P'ed heads that they sold, and most bought those. The BADSSEi ran this cam and heads just like the ones off the salt flat car for a while IIRC, but they were designed to work together, so it was a good setup. Not only that, but the cam does provide gains over stock, just not near as much as some of the recently released cams, and the newer cams have a better idle, aren't as harsh on your valvetrain, etc... It doesn't work that poorly, on heavily modded cars, but your car is barely even modded at all. (no offense or anything) The TEP cam worked very well in the application it was designed for, the 202mph salt flat Bonnie with a blowzilla blower.

Shawn

Email I recieved from PRJ performance:

You can run the TEP cam with stock heads, provided you install 130# springs, machined retainers, and shorter valve seals to get the clearance needed for the lift. I ran the TEP cam for several years with stock heads (stock SC and TB as well) And it performed well (putting my car into the mid 12'* without intercooler) I also know several other people that have ran the TEP cam with the same setup on stock heads and they also run well, and have had no problems. I would also recomend installing Manton Racing pushrods, a double roller timing set and the Comp Cams OE-R lifters.

I was getting about 28 MPG at a steady 75 MPH cruise.

Paul Jerkatis
http://www.prjperformance.com

Did you tell them that all you have for mods is a 3.4 pulley and a intake. Obviously with a bunch of other mods it will perform, I already said that, even with stock heads (provided they have all the required hardware on them). I would reply to him and tell him in your email that the only mods you have are a 3.4 pulley and intake, and if he recommend you run that cam in addition to those mods. If he is smart (as I'm sure he is because we've dealt with Paul before) he would tell you straight out this is not the cam you want. But the thing is, yeah you CAN run that cam, but it isn't the best option for you, its actually far from it. The smaller cams that aren't as hard on your valvetrain, because they are designed more for stock heads or mildly P&P'ed heads, and because a little more research was involved in designing them, they will give you, with the mods you currently have, a gain as big, if not bigger than that cam will, except you will have a smoother idling car, and get better gas mileage. The company that sells the product isn't gonna tell you its a crappy cam. They are gonna tell you what you want to hear, and just in case you don't know, Paul works (or at least did at one time) for thrasher. I don't think you would be happy with this car at all. Of course his car ran mid 12'* with this cam, you throw enough mods on a car and its gonna run that fast no matter what cam is in it. We have the stock cam in the GTP and its running 12.0'*. Yeah, its intercooled, but with no intercooler that would put us at right around mid 12'*, huh thats funny.

Take a look at the S1X, VS, or XP cam. Those are all MUCH better choices for your setup.

Shawn

dbtk2, i never doubted you for a second, just getting opinions is all

In reply to my email of:

I am getting a really good deal on this cam, with the stock heads install
kit. My current mods include Front PEM, CAI, 3.4" pulley, aftermarket
muffler, 3" DP with stock cat. Would installing this with my current mods
be ok.

Paul has replied with this:

You may end up with issues with a plugged cat over time. The TEP cam tends
to not be Cat friendly. Quite honestly, while I loved the TEP cam when it
was on my car, I have done many XP cams for people and that have been very
happy with the results. The TEP cam had an idle to die for though! But it is
better suited to engine that will have much more extensive work done on
them.

Now then, other than P&Ped heads what other mods can I do to make this cam work for me? I will be coming into some money, and headers are next on my list. I just installed a front PEM. What else needs to be done?

I think you really gotta be able to feed that cam, air flow wise. Your car is gonna lope at idle for sure.

Honestly how fast are you looking at going here? If its not 11'*, this isn't the cam for you.

With that cam you'll need heavily P&P'ed heads, headers, 2.5+" exhaust all the way back with no cat (could be a problem with emissions, if the cam isn't already), obviously different plugs with smaller gaps (to prevent from blowing out spark with the big overlap of the cam), a custom pcm, I know theres more but I don't remember. Anyways, start adding that stuff up, decently P&P'ed heads are gonna cost you some big $, headers are 700+ (the SLP headers IMO aren't big enough for this cam setup), the exhaust isn't gonna be cheap at least a couple hundred for that, the PCM is gonna be like $200+. You'll have over $2k into the setup and your still gonna have a trany thats probably gonna need to be replaced. I can't stop you from going with that cam, but I think once you put it in you will not be at all happy with it for a daily driver. Especially since its not gonna get near the gas mileage that paul was leading on. Even Paul was hinting that an XP might be a better choice for you, he said that the TEP cam was better suited for a much more heavily modded engine. Really, it needs to go in a car with a bigger power adder, like the car it was designed for. Its duration and lift is so much that the wimpy M90 just isn't gonna flow the air for it.

IIRC there was someone on here a few months ago that had a TEP cam in their SSEi and they were swapping it out for a S1X because the figured out it was way too big for a daily driver and because it was tearing up their valvetrain.

Edit: Yup, here it is:
http://www.bonnevilleclub.com/forum/...ic.php?t=15652

Shawn

Thank you for all the info guys, I think I will just save my money for now. Might as well do the cam right, as opposed to cheap