I just got a gm hotcam and z06 valve springs can I run my stock pushrods and will I be in great danger of breaking anythin if I do?

 

idk the specs on the gm hotcam, but if it was my engine, i would not risk it by skimpin out on something as simple as switching pushrods. get new ones. in the end you will thank yourself.

 

Holy crap i was about to ask this very question. I am in the exact same situation. I know that the 98 pushrods were pooptastic. My deal is that i am on an extreme budget. I am a lot more tempted to go get some used 2001 pushrods for $15 versus $100 for new 7.4s. Would this be an idiotic thing to do?

 

Hot Cam specs:
219/228 .525/.525 112LSA

 

pretty sure you guys know what will be said here! that is if you read this forum often!

stock = junk.... if you rev it to the moon, miss a shift ect ect.. your gonna wish you had spent the extra money!

no point building it if your not gonna do it right.

 

I knew that was coming, lol.

 

Your hotcam doesnt have a whole lot of lift so I wouldnt worry too much about the pushrods unless of coarse you are going to really beat on the car alot. The Hotcam is a GM product so I figure they are designed to work together and should be fine depending on how you use it. If your budget is that tight, go with the stockers and take it easy until you can afford to get the better ones IMO.

 

I dont know the size of the base circle of that cam. I would get a pushrod checker ($20) and check to see what length rods you will need.

 

Those specs are meaningless to deteremine PR length, you need the size of the base circle of the cam.

 

i know of several people who have used stockers on larger cams and have been fine, but they all eventually swapped to stiffer pr's for peace of mind.

 

why would you wanna leave stock parts in the valvetrain anyway i mean if synergistically they work to acheive more power why would you want one part to be worn or used i replaced everything when i did my cam swap

 

Stock rockers, stock pushrods, original stock 98 lifters = 9.13 @ 150mph at 7200rpm for me - thousands of times. Stock pushrods will be fine on a hotcam if you use the valvesprings that were intended with that cam.

 

damn kp always one ups people

 

Its not a one up, but I dont believe in replacing OE parts just to replace them if they are able to do the job. If you are running a huge cam with big valve springs at 7500rpm thats one thing but a hotcam and Z06 springs could probbaly use mcdonalds coffee stirrers for pushrods

 

Use stock length PR's on a big cam and your preload and valvtrain geomerty is all jacked up, there is no dispute about this, it is simple mechanics. You have a smaller base circle so to keep proper preload you need to compensate for that lost base circle diameter with a longer pushrod. Sure stock length work with a big cam, its just more noisy and wears out the parts faster.

 

I wouldnt... Pushrods are not that expensive, and if your changing your springs then just spend the $115.

 

Well thats true and it would be silly to use a stock length pushrod on something that measured way different but lot of times milled heads, different valve heights and cam base circles combined will be fine with stock length.

But we are talkiing about a hotcam, not a G5XF19SuperTomahawk, obviously if he wasnt concerned about spending the 115 bucks he wouldnt be asking the queston

Myself and hundreds of others used stock pushrods with the ole hotcam when it came out and didnt have any issues.

 

No doubt, I use 7.4's on my setup but i have small gaskets and heads that are milled quite a bit.

Like i stated I didnt know the base circle size of the hotcam so i didnt make a pushrod suggestion, but I would guess that since its made by GM the base is probably the same or very close to a stocker.

 

This is a "get me by" cam. $120 used. I've got a vinci tuner already and a friend with a tech II so i can get the tune close. Im goin with $52 LS6 valve springs from SDPC as well as the LS6 oil pump...not ported. After some $25 pushrods Im calling it quits for this engine. No head work, no bottom end work. Nothing more than i absolutely have to. Almost 100k miles.

Now, the 408 with L92/L76 combo will be different. But that budget wont be here until college is over with. I just wanted to refresh the oil pump, valve springs, and new stock PRs anyway. Heck, why wouldnt I put the hotcam in since it was only $120?

 

Will i need anything crazy with this? What are the little brass washer looking things in the hotcam kit picture? Not retainers? Are they shims?