I would wait and tune it with ECMLink before you drive it. I would be surprised if it will idle for more than a couple seconds if at all. If you've changed injectors with the swap, I would definitely wait.

+1 on that, better to always play it safe!

I agree with tuning it before driving, I have the stock 450's I'm going to leave on it so it will be as close to stock as possible to start and check to make sure everything is hooked up correctly. Will this at least be okay, the last thing I want is to damage this motor.

Cams essentially shift the power band, while at the same time they do also "add" power. Do you need to tune for them ? Depends on the grind and your other mods. I checked your profile and so you're essentially otherwise stock ? do you know the compression of the 6 bolt motor ? any idea on the cam grind ?

You typically want your cams to be the "last mod". I guess, in a nutshell, its like rough tuning and fine tuning. First you want the damn thing to idle/run after you get it together, that's the rough tuning. So once its running real nice, no leaks (air or oil/water), and your confident the car is tip-top, then you throw in your power-adders like cams, turn up the boost etc, so you can fine-tune on top of your already completed rough tune.

Its just more of a headache to have to get the car to run after a rebuild if it has new cams / bigger injectors / throttle body / smim, etc.

cams effectively change the VE of the engine, meaning it's behavior is much different than the factory VE, ultimately meaning you need to tune for the airflow difference. In a car with a Hz based maf, it's especially critical because of the way vacuum fluctuations from the cams can affect the resonance of the air passing through the maf

Honestly, if the car is moderately stock, I would not be looking to install cams. Money at that point is better spent on tuning choice. Cranking the boost up and tuning for it. But to answer the OP no you do not need a link to run cams. But you will need to Degree them to benefit fully from installing cams at that point you will need adjustable cam gears as well and link to compensate for the extra VE. I would defiantly do a little more research (not that you haven’t) on what all it Intel’s.

I appreciate all views here, bucken I agree with cams being a later mod but the motor I bought already have them sitting in it, so instead of putting my old ones in I wanted to leave the aftermarkets in. I just dont know if it will hurt my engine starting it to check for leaks etc. Trying to find a deal on link currently if anyone knows of any for sale that would be great. Its starting to look like I will just have to bite the bullet and buy everything new

It all depends on the specs of the cams, but if they are mild you can just drop them in and run them no problem. You might have to bump idle up a bit, but besides that just dont constantly go wot and be carefull until you can get link to tune. Also, depending upon specs, valve springs might been necessary.

Tha

lasthope05 said:

It all depends on the specs of the cams, but if they are mild you can just drop them in and run them no problem. You might have to bump idle up a bit, but besides that just dont constantly go wot and be carefull until you can get link to tune. Also, depending upon specs, valve springs might been necessary.

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Yea, if theyre mild, shouldnt cause to much of an issue. I'd attempt to find out the size of them but you should be fine to idle at the very least without hurting your motor.

I agree with some of the other members. I would definitely do some more supporting mods prior to installing cams. Fuel pump, injectors, head studs, etc would be a good idea. Especially if you are doing a swap and have it all apart anyway. If you do all of the supporting mods with the cams then a tune is definitely necessary.

OP, do you have the valve cover sealed up yet? If not, rotate the motor slowly and see if you find the engravings on the camshafts, they will help you identify what grind they are. You can then either search online or contact Comp cams as to what profile they are. They have 2 sets that are available, one is a street version good with stock motors and then "serious". With you having a stock-ish motor you should be fine, but I'd consider upgraded valve springs.