Cooper01Z28

Has anyone on here that is not a mechanic installed a cam on their own? is it really hard to do? anything to watch out for when doing it?

even if you are a mechanic, what are some tips on doing it, if you do it your self?


i want to get a cam for my car, but i dont want to dish out $600 for the install, my brother in law is a mechanic, so he would be able to help.....

any info would help out alot! thanks!

Blk97WS6

iTrader: (19)

do it yourself, its not that hard at all. Check out the cam/valvespring swap on LS1howto.com

Im not a professional mechanic and did mine by myself, and helped 2 other friends with theres. You said your brother-in-law can help out and is a mechanic so whatever you cant do, im sure he will be able to.

shouldaboughttheZ

iTrader: (8)

I also did mine myself. Print out the how to on LS1howto.com and do it like it says. Piece of cake.

It took me all weekend to do mine. I did cam, and springs.

Cooper01Z28

i guess i will give it a shot, would it be easier to do this if i had access to a lift? or is it easy enough to do with the car on the ground?

it took you a weekend to do it? thats not to bad....once it warms up here in chicago, ill give it a shot!

shouldaboughttheZ

iTrader: (8)

I did it on a set of ramps, you should be good then. Get a friend to help if possible, makes it go faster.

brad8266

iTrader: (23)

Im not a mechanic by trade but i can do about anything to my car that i need to.

2 SSlow

iTrader: (26)

I did mine on jackstands. I go to school for automotive, but i did my cam before i got into any kind of engine mechanics. As long as you know how to use basic hand tools, and grasp the basic concept of how an engine works, you will be fine. Take your time and follow the directions.. (LS1howto.com) Also i reccomend the Crane Cams $115 valve spring tool. it has made my life, and several of my friends lives a lot easier lol. Set aside probably a good 10 hours your first time start-to finish.

I STRONGLY RECCOMEND a longer crank bolt to seat the crank pulley, and an M16 x 2.0 tap to clean the thread on the crank before re-installing the pulley...

Cooper01Z28

thanks for all the input guys!

Krab

iTrader: (28)

No mechanic here either and I still managed to do the cam swap on my car. Now I have several more under my belt along with other things. Just take your time with it and use that write up posted earlier and you should be ok. You'll never know until you try!

orangeapeel

iTrader: (18)

I have done several cams as well as a few sets of heads. Everytime I do it I print out that write-up that Stephen linked you on.

Killer_Bluebird

iTrader: (23)

I did mine myself also and I used the ls1howto.com writeup. Having a friend around will make things go much easier and faster. The two areas that having a friend where specially helpful where:

1. Taking turns threading the cylinder air filling tool to do the valve springs on the last to cylinders on the passenger side it takes a bit of patience. If you do the TDC method ingnore this.
2. Taking the radiator out. The extra pair of hands will keep cursing to a minimun
3. Having someone to send under ther car to do some of the dirty work. Unfortunatly since my friend is a mechanic, I had the honors to do all the ground work myself, as he claimed that I need the experiece.

Take your time and it will be fine. I did mine over a holiday weekend. Spend 2 days working take the third to enjoy the fruits of your labors and doing a few celebratory burnouts.