Camaro396

iTrader: (14)

So im in the middle of my cam swap, following the ls1howto.com guide, since this is my first cam swap, and Im to the point where I have the retainer plate off, and the cam almost ready to come out. Now I bought some 2 foot 5/16 wooden dowl rods like everyone else uses to hold the lifters up, and with them both all the way in, when i spin the cam, it sounds like I can hear a couple of the lifters riding on the cam still. To check, I threw the pushrods back in, and there are a couple that move up and down when the cam rotates, even with the 5/16ths rods all the way in. I dont really know what to do from here, anyone have any suggestions? Im trying not to **** anything up, and this is my first time doing it. I guess if worst comes to worst, Ill just pull the intake. But I really dont want to have to do that. Thanks.

-Lance

MM98

iTrader: (13)

Pulling the intake would be a waste of time & accomplish nothing.. My advise, go buy sixteen little pin magnets & some wooden clothes hangers.

THE CHOP SHOP

iTrader: (7)

You need to spin it fast to sling them up into the lifter trays. I have 80k on my car and figured the trays would be toast but every lifter stayed up for a day untill it came time to install the push rods. I probably spun the cam forwards and backwards 20 times before I took mine out. If this still does not work go the pen magnet route. Just make sure the magnets are secure so they dont stick to the lifter.

Camaro396

iTrader: (14)

? I thought you wanted them to stick to the lifter to hold them up?

SweeTbone

iTrader: (8)

Nope. You know what you gotta do. That's sounding like a familiar story, fo sho!

Camaro396

iTrader: (14)

so even with the 5/16th rod ALL the way in, the lifter CAN still fall?

jay_lt4

iTrader: (4)

2 wooden dowels work great, i have used them many times

i have also seen 2 new straight brake lines work to hold them up just fine

Camaro396

iTrader: (14)

So can anyone answer the question? lol. Right now I HAVE two wooden 5/16 dowl rods all the way in...is there any chance of the lifters getting past the dowl rods when I pull the cam????

Jasonscott

iTrader: (10)

If you have the dowel rods in all the way the lifters cant get past them, its my understanding that they can still fall far enought to not let the cam slide out though. I bought just one strong pen magnet and used it to pull each lifter tight up into the trays one by one, then put my wood dowels in and no problems.

LS1Silverado05

iTrader: (41)

I'd go with the pen-mags

BOWTIE

This is my understanding as well. The dowel's will not keep the lifters from dropping enogh to get in the way of the camshaft, or from riding on the lobes, but should keep them from falling into the oil pan when you pull the cam out. So if you use this method, you may still have to find a way of pushing or pulling the lifter further out of the way when you get ready to slide the new cam in.

Camaro396

iTrader: (14)

thanks guys, i had the rods in and the first two lifters on the pass. side wouldnt stay up so i ran to autozone, grabbed some pen mags and had my dad come over and hold those two up while I pulled the old cam and slid the new one in. Ive done alot of cam swaps on SBC and BBC motors, and none of the ones I had done, have came out, and went back in as easy as this one did!

vettenuts

iTrader: (4)

Glad you got it done. For future reference, as stated above, dowels will prevent them from falling out but not from re-contacting the cam making it impossible to remove unless you did what you did, use a magnet to hold up the offending lifters. Also, lifters are not like a SBC, they are unfortunatley under the heads so removing the intake won't get you there.

Good luck with the rest of the installation.

eallanboggs

iTrader: (1)

If you look at the lifter(side view) you'll see a step in the center. This is the area where the rod detents the lifter during the cam removal/install process. The step is nearly 1/2" long so the lifter can travel about that far down(towards the cam) before it reaches the end of its' travel which happens when the top face of the step contacts the rod. This keeps the lifter from falling, but not from moving at least the length of the step in the side of the lifter. This is not the GM approved method of a cam swap. The GM method requires head removal. This method is a short cut so the rules are NOT cut in stone. This method works, but sometimes you have to sweat a little to get the cam out. The magnets are a gamble. The pitfalls of the magnets have already been mentioned. If the magnet comes loose from the telescoping rod(and they have on some people) it's nearly impossible to get the magnet out.