My 2002 Camaro Cam Swap/Build Thread
01-29-2015, 05:19 PM
#1
My 2002 Camaro Cam Swap/Build Thread Figured now that I'm getting close to wrapping up my cam swap, I'd start a build thread for the car. It all started when I was telling my bro (slowwssix on here) about me missing my old LS1 car and trying to talk him into buying one to replace his 04 Cobra as a toy that he sold a few weeks previously. So I started shopping around for LS1 powered vehicles within the local area to send him links to, to check out. We ended up looking at a handful of cars, and I came across this car on a dealership lot. We ended up finding a white 2001 WS6 that he bought, with a ms4 and some other bolt ons. Though I still had this car in the back of my mind, because it's my favorite color, and was so low mileage and clean. So I called the dealership and talked to them about it for a bit, and sort of jokingly made them a low ball offer. I wasn't expecting them to accept, and tell me to come get it, as my offer was several thousand less than their asking price, so I said what the hell, if this thing is as clean and mint as they say it is, for that price I CANT go wrong. So I drove a hour and a half up to the dealership to look at it. It turned out to be everything they said, and I bought it the next day.
So here I am, with a MINT 02 LS1 4l60e auto car, black ebony interior, 39k miles, and clean enough to eat off of. Initial plans were to do a few bolt ons, gear, converter, exhaust, and be done. But after constantly listening to my bro's MS4 WS6 I decided I just cannot live with a stock cammed vehicle any longer. So having driven the car only once or twice, I began to tear it all down.
So far I have done a 3.73 Motive gear, Perfect Launch brace/cover, ARP 3" wheel studs, and brand new rear brakes. I also fitted the car with a set of Weld Racing Weldstar RT wheels wrapped in MT rubber. I also sold my hood and bought a VFN "wide" Sunoco hood, in a bolt on version. I ran this hood in the pin on version on my previous car, and liked it a lot, but didn't want to mess with the pins this time around. I've also just about wrapped up my cam swap, and after the converter goes in, it will be ready to be tuned!
Mods will be as follows:
Thunder Racing TREX camshaft
PRC .650" spring kit
Comp Cams 7.400" pushrods
Morel LS1 Lifters
Melling High-Volume oil pump
Speed Engineering 1-3/4 Longtubes with 3" ORY
Mufflex 4" single cat-back (still need to purchase)
MSD plug wires
NGK TR55 plugs
ARP fasteners through-out
Circle D 5c converter (still need to purchase)
dyno tune!
Interior:
Engine bay:
Rear end all done, wheel studs installed.
Shot of the new rear tires, and diff cover. Painted black to blend in a little better. Still rocking 30 day tags with first new mods lol.
New hood on. Shot it flat black for the time being. Paint will come soon. New wheels also on all around. Fastest looking stock LS1 on the planet at the moment!
Pulled the car in the garage, ready to tear the engine down.
Valve covers off, valve train removed, intake off, water pump out, PS pump un-bolted. Man, what a PITA that power steering pump bracket is!
Cylinder heads pulled! This will make the new valve train easier to install, and I am also replacing the stock lifters with a set of new Morel lifters.
Oil pump swapped over to a high-volume Melling unit. That oil pump pick-up tube bolt is always a good time!
New Camshaft in, new double roller LS1 timing chain installed, cylinder heads cleaned up and set on the block ready for re-install.
New 7.400" comp cams chrome moly pushrods installed.
Cylinder heads fastened down with new ARP hardware, and LS6 intake back on.
Rocker arms re-installed and torqued back down.
Starting to look like an engine again. Front end buttoned back up. Drive belt is not back on yet because I still have to seat the balancer the rest of the way on, but need a second hand to lock the flywheel so I can proceed. Then replace the stock bolt with a ARP unit. From here on out, after the balancer, it will just be a radiator, coolant, and set of headers away from thunder in the pipes.
My brand new stainless steel 1-3/4 Longtubes and stainless 3" off road Y-pipe from Speed Engineering. These look to be very good quality for under 400 bucks shipped.
Also had a good buddy of mine lay some glass down on my new VFN cowl hood while I am waiting to wrap up the cam swap. Hood cam out flawless, and color looks to be spot on.
At this point, I just have to get the balancer seated the rest of the way on, and install my radiator and longtube headers, and it will be ready to fire up. After that, I need to install a converter, and it will be ready to tune. Stay tuned for more updates!!
So here I am, with a MINT 02 LS1 4l60e auto car, black ebony interior, 39k miles, and clean enough to eat off of. Initial plans were to do a few bolt ons, gear, converter, exhaust, and be done. But after constantly listening to my bro's MS4 WS6 I decided I just cannot live with a stock cammed vehicle any longer. So having driven the car only once or twice, I began to tear it all down.
So far I have done a 3.73 Motive gear, Perfect Launch brace/cover, ARP 3" wheel studs, and brand new rear brakes. I also fitted the car with a set of Weld Racing Weldstar RT wheels wrapped in MT rubber. I also sold my hood and bought a VFN "wide" Sunoco hood, in a bolt on version. I ran this hood in the pin on version on my previous car, and liked it a lot, but didn't want to mess with the pins this time around. I've also just about wrapped up my cam swap, and after the converter goes in, it will be ready to be tuned!
Mods will be as follows:
Thunder Racing TREX camshaft
PRC .650" spring kit
Comp Cams 7.400" pushrods
Morel LS1 Lifters
Melling High-Volume oil pump
Speed Engineering 1-3/4 Longtubes with 3" ORY
Mufflex 4" single cat-back (still need to purchase)
MSD plug wires
NGK TR55 plugs
ARP fasteners through-out
Circle D 5c converter (still need to purchase)
dyno tune!
Interior:
Engine bay:
Rear end all done, wheel studs installed.
Shot of the new rear tires, and diff cover. Painted black to blend in a little better. Still rocking 30 day tags with first new mods lol.
New hood on. Shot it flat black for the time being. Paint will come soon. New wheels also on all around. Fastest looking stock LS1 on the planet at the moment!
Pulled the car in the garage, ready to tear the engine down.
Valve covers off, valve train removed, intake off, water pump out, PS pump un-bolted. Man, what a PITA that power steering pump bracket is!
Cylinder heads pulled! This will make the new valve train easier to install, and I am also replacing the stock lifters with a set of new Morel lifters.
Oil pump swapped over to a high-volume Melling unit. That oil pump pick-up tube bolt is always a good time!
New Camshaft in, new double roller LS1 timing chain installed, cylinder heads cleaned up and set on the block ready for re-install.
New 7.400" comp cams chrome moly pushrods installed.
Cylinder heads fastened down with new ARP hardware, and LS6 intake back on.
Rocker arms re-installed and torqued back down.
Starting to look like an engine again. Front end buttoned back up. Drive belt is not back on yet because I still have to seat the balancer the rest of the way on, but need a second hand to lock the flywheel so I can proceed. Then replace the stock bolt with a ARP unit. From here on out, after the balancer, it will just be a radiator, coolant, and set of headers away from thunder in the pipes.
My brand new stainless steel 1-3/4 Longtubes and stainless 3" off road Y-pipe from Speed Engineering. These look to be very good quality for under 400 bucks shipped.
Also had a good buddy of mine lay some glass down on my new VFN cowl hood while I am waiting to wrap up the cam swap. Hood cam out flawless, and color looks to be spot on.
At this point, I just have to get the balancer seated the rest of the way on, and install my radiator and longtube headers, and it will be ready to fire up. After that, I need to install a converter, and it will be ready to tune. Stay tuned for more updates!!
02-01-2015, 11:27 AM
#6
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nice, if it wasn't so crappy out we could tune it sooner than later.
Please tell me you plan on doing at least a shift kit and tranny cooler. BTW, does this car have A/C.....
Please tell me you plan on doing at least a shift kit and tranny cooler. BTW, does this car have A/C.....
Last edited by JDMC5; 02-01-2015 at 11:32 AM.
02-01-2015, 12:21 PM
#7
[QUOTE=JDMC5;18645610]nice, if it wasn't so crappy out we could tune it sooner than later.
Please tell me you plan on doing at least a shift kit and tranny cooler. BTW, does this car have A/C.....[/QUOitE]
Yeah thats not going to happen any time soon lol. I have a radiator sized cooler and -6 hoses as well as a deep finned trans pan. As far as a shift kit I'm not sure what to even look for. Any suggestions? and it did have perfect working ac until I ripped a condenser hardline moving the condenser out of the way, so maybe I'll just delete the ac now.
Please tell me you plan on doing at least a shift kit and tranny cooler. BTW, does this car have A/C.....
[/QUOitE]Yeah thats not going to happen any time soon lol. I have a radiator sized cooler and -6 hoses as well as a deep finned trans pan. As far as a shift kit I'm not sure what to even look for. Any suggestions? and it did have perfect working ac until I ripped a condenser hardline moving the condenser out of the way, so maybe I'll just delete the ac now.
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02-01-2015, 05:15 PM
#8
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[QUOTE=Camaro396;18645692] I know the transgo is the one to get for the 4L80, not sure about the 60. I put the largest cooler I could fit on mine, really easy to install. I can't remember the exact one but I can take some measurements for you. I do remember I did some research on here and found my answer.
nice, if it wasn't so crappy out we could tune it sooner than later.
Please tell me you plan on doing at least a shift kit and tranny cooler. BTW, does this car have A/C.....[/QUOitE]
Yeah thats not going to happen any time soon lol. I have a radiator sized cooler and -6 hoses as well as a deep finned trans pan. As far as a shift kit I'm not sure what to even look for. Any suggestions? and it did have perfect working ac until I ripped a condenser hardline moving the condenser out of the way, so maybe I'll just delete the ac now.
Please tell me you plan on doing at least a shift kit and tranny cooler. BTW, does this car have A/C.....
[/QUOitE]Yeah thats not going to happen any time soon lol. I have a radiator sized cooler and -6 hoses as well as a deep finned trans pan. As far as a shift kit I'm not sure what to even look for. Any suggestions? and it did have perfect working ac until I ripped a condenser hardline moving the condenser out of the way, so maybe I'll just delete the ac now.
02-01-2015, 07:13 PM
#9
[QUOTE=JDMC5;18646196]
I know the transgo is the one to get for the 4L80, not sure about the 60. I put the largest cooler I could fit on mine, really easy to install. I can't remember the exact one but I can take some measurements for you. I do remember I did some research on here and found my answer. I already have my cooler and pan and new lines. I ran this cooler on my last two F bodies. It's made by Flex-a-lite part number 4126-6 it's 10" x 20" x 1" and fits in front of the radiator perfect and comes with -6 ends on it already. My old car had a th400 with a 5000 stall and the trans temp gauge never went over 150 with that cooler and the Derele pan.
I know the transgo is the one to get for the 4L80, not sure about the 60. I put the largest cooler I could fit on mine, really easy to install. I can't remember the exact one but I can take some measurements for you. I do remember I did some research on here and found my answer.
