Just got back from road testing my truck after finishing the cam and spring swap. Started right up first try, idles smooth, has good vacuum, could almost pass for stock except for the sewing machine sound of the Comp 915's. Speaking of the Comp springs, now I have to work out a plan to remove the 7.9* of KR that I get every time I hit the go pedal. Kinda bummed about that...I was hoping that with the milder grind and springs that KR wouldn't be an issue for me, but I guess that you can't win with the 99 PCM.
Soon I'll be installing the 24.7lb injectors...I was gonna do them while I was in there, but I figured I'd do the cam first so if I ran into any runability issues it would be easier to diagnose...wouldn't have to wonder if it was cam or injector related.
Anyway, I know it'll have alot more pep once I can get full timing out of it, otherwise, so far, so good. Gonna go change the oil and clean my tools...it's nice to have a Monday off once in a while...perfect for truck mods and repairs.

 

Did you change the oil pump and timing chain. How long did it take? What method did you use to keep the lifters up? Ive got everything, ready for my cam install but I need time to do it it is a 215/220 .600/.532 114.5 i think it will work good in my RCSB 5.3 that weighs 4226. Anyway congrats, and get that thing tuned to get the full potential of that grind. I will update the cam install and gains from it in the future.

 

I stuck with my old oil pump and used the JP lifter tools to hold the lifters up...worked flawlessly. I started on it yesterday around 1:30 and worked at a relaxed pace until 9:30 PM. Took a couple of hours off to eat and help my neighbor move some stuff. Got back on it today at 11:00 and was driving it by 5:00, again, with some time off in between to eat lunch and hang with my mom (did the job in her townhouse parking lot). Biggest pain in the butt was the spings...took over 2 hours to do one side until I got into a groove, then I ate dinner and did the other side (passenger) in 35 minutes.
Decided to bag the oil change for a few days to let the Federal Mogul assembly lube work its way through. As I drove down the highway, it felt like the computer was already learning and adjusting...it feels stronger. Didn't have a scanner hooked up for the second run, but I could definitely feel when the PCM pulled timing. Definitely need some tuning!

 

Awesome... I think you'll really like that cam. To me, these torquey cams are a lot of fun in the trucks.

With my truck, I have to give it up to four days of driving (about 50 miles a day) after a re-flash or Fuel Trim reset before the computer settles in nicely. You should feel it start to wake up more every time you get in the truck.

How is the idle, pretty stock-like?

That's strange about the KR... My cam has never given me much of any KR trouble, until the other day when I reset FT's and immediately scanned 7-8* KR in the upper RPM's.

I'm CERTAIN it's FT related, because it didn't do it when I first dropped in the cam, reset FT's, and was running 5-6* less timing up there.

 

Thanks for the congrats! Yea, it pretty much idles like stock...I haven't touched the computer and it started right up and idles right around 550-575. If you weren't listening for it, you wouldn't even know it wasn't stock. Second day of driving and the sewing machine noise seems to have all but dissapeared...unless I was half deaf this morning before my coffe kicked in. I guess that maybe the lifters had to pump up.
Marc, I think you're onto something with the fuel trim...it's probably pretty lean with all of the extra air flowing throgh there, definitely need to compensate for that. I'm going to drive it for a few days and see how the computer learns before I go making any changes. I orderd a VHP tuner the other day, hoping I'll be able to use one of the pre-set cam tunes with a little tweaking to get it just right.
I'm so psyched that I finally got the opportunity to get it done. Had these parts sitting in my apartment for a couple of months now...was getting tired of saying "when I put my cam in..." Now I guess I'll be saying "when I tune my cam..."
Too bad it's raining today, can't really get on it safely. That's alright, still psyched anyway. I gotta thank everyone here who's knowledge and experience I utilized to do this job, definitely made my life alot easier. Thanks to ls1howto.com also, I kept that page up on the computer for reference and used it more than once.
WooHoo!!

 

True...true.

You need to look into getting an 00 or 01 PCM installed. Actually, just get your PCM flashed with the VIN from a 00 or 01 model truck with the same options (engine size, trans, 4wd, etc...). Then drop in the injectors and the PCM will be expecting them. The newer the PCM, the hotter the tune GM sent from the factory. I bet with an 01 tune, you'd cut out most of your knock issues and gain another 10 HP due to the hotter timing in the stock tune. Of course your gat more torque management, but you'd be making more torque, so its a trade off.

For reference, my 99 Z71 made 218 rwhp with a hypertech and K&N. Most 01 5.3s will put down 30 more rwhp with the same mild mods. A bit of that is the weaker 99 cam, but the rest is due to GMs base tuning between the year models.

 

hows that cam feel around town?

 

Big Tex, thanks for the info on the PCM reflash, I had a feeling that I was gonna have to go that route. I've heard alot of people talk about these issues after cam and spring swaps in the 99's, now I know what it's like first hand. I'm definitely open to input and suggestions or any wisdom or experience someone might have.

It feels great at partial throttle or in first gear, but after it shifts or if I mash the pedal, it falls flat on it's face, you can feel and hear it holding back. It actually seems like it gets power right before it shifts. I'm gonna drive it with my cheapo AutoXray today to check my fuel trims. I already checked KR and it's killing me. I'm sure that once I get the PCM ironed out it will be fun to drive.

Oh yea, I do still hear the valvetrain, it's just not as pronounced as it was at first...not very loud, but if you're listening for it, you can hear it. Not ticking...kinda like a sewing machine with a muffler on it. I hope it's normal.

 

Just did a search and answered my own question...the scissor-like sewing machine noise seems to be characteristic of an LS1 style engine after a cam swap. Whew, I'll sleep a little better tonight...just gonna have nightmares about tuning out false knock.
Checked out my fuel trims with my AutoXray and came to the conclusion that I need a better scanner. The long term trims seemed to jump around a bit, kinda like the short term trims, although at one point they were at about 4.6* There was another long term trim reading which was just a 3 digit number...it stayed between 128 and 132. If I remember correctly, this is a fuel trim average cell that should be right at 128 if all is well, if that's true, I think I'm looking pretty good and if I can lose the KR I should be ready for a tune.
Anybody know a tuner in New Jersey that can possibly do what Big Tex suggested?