Camshafts almost done

[Locobob]

Originally Posted by tpepmeie

I don't understand the hard feelings on this topic. Individuals can make a choice whether to pursue custom cams, some may decide it's cost prohibitive. Others don't.

My cams cost over $4000. most of that cost is in the machining of the blanks. It is not an insignificant machining process to go from a bar of tool steel to a finished product. Of that cost, the profile design work was about $400, and the final machining was about $800. The rest was making drawings (reverse engineering from OE shafts), the raw billet, and machining the blanks. I don't feel like I paid too much.

Of course, cast iron cores, produced in large quantities would dramatically lower the acquisition cost. But until somebody steps up with the non-recurring cost to cast blanks that's not an option. Off the shelf, generic profiles would eliminate the profile design fees, but might not be optimal for a given combo.

Horses for courses. These aren't Ecotecs, SBC's, or Modular Motors we're modifying....

I think it's more frustration than hard feelings. From what I've heard the existing cam blanks are being tightly controlled and carry a stiff price. I don't know how many exist, some say just a few, others maintain its a bunch. If the latter is true then I think the selling strategy is out of touch with current reality.
Custom, one off billet cams are going to be pricey by nature and I'm not criticizing the cost of such endeavors. I, and others I'm sure were hoping your project might bear some fruit as a new source of cams. Sadly it looks like this will be unlikely to happen.
My thought is that billet is the most logical approach for new cams as I doubt anyone will cough up the investment necessary to have a new run of blanks made up. If we could get a cam maker set up with the basic design dialed in then I think the best approach would be for those with knowledge to collaborate and come up with 2 or 3 profiles to make. If folks pool resources I think this could happen and the price point could move down enough to make it worthwhile.

[LGAFF]

Loco I think I have one of the profile options covered for everything but large strokers...

[Pete]

LocoBob,the biggest regrind i can get is like LPE's C cams .239 .440
If you think you need bigger you have to go with custom/billets $$$

I know of 2 big inch LT5's with .239 .440In .224 .415Ex one runs 132+ MPH the other is faster they drive like stock ZR-1 very docile.

I bet they would pass emissions.

Pete

[Locobob]

Originally Posted by LGAFF

Loco I think I have one of the profile options covered for everything but large strokers...

Yes I think you FBI boys are getting a pretty good handle on what works for milder applications. Wish we could get some big cams like Todd's swapped into an existing stroker to see how they do. Todd's motor is a bit too outside of the box to glean cam comparison data from.

[A26B]

Originally Posted by Locobob

I think it's more frustration than hard feelings. From what I've heard the existing cam blanks are being tightly controlled and carry a stiff price. I don't know how many exist, some say just a few, others maintain its a bunch. If the latter is true then I think the selling strategy is out of touch with current reality.

I agree.... to a point. Consider that the stockpile of cam blanks were acquired at great expense. it is a well recognized fact that the LT5 parts market is very limited, a fact that is verified by the aftermarket. None of the usual aftermarket big boys like Victor, Fel-Pro, Jegs, etc are making anything for the LT5.

I have no idea how many blanks were acquired, nor do I know what the sales have been, but I do understand rate of return economics. The acquisition justification is based on cost, projected sales, sales price and the cost to finalize machine work & grind.

I don't think it's fair to criticize the sales price, not knowing if the investment has even returned cost, let alone a reasonable return on investment. Personally, I don't think there is any gouging going on. It's just the economics of a low production volume engine with no support from the manufacturer.

I've put out a fair amount of bucks to acquire & manufacture parts for the LT5 and after 3+ years of reinvesting proceeds, I still have a pretty good list of parts to develop and seriously doubt that I will be able to permenantly bank any profits for a long while yet. It's OK for me because I am retired and don't depend on it for a living..... thank goodness.

In summary, I do acknowledge the cams are expensive especially when it takes 4 of them. That's a characteristic of the LT5, not supplier greed. LT5 cam blanks take a lot of machine work to finish, not just a simple lobe grind with the center lube system. Big difference in tooling & set up between 4 and 400 pcs.