Do It Yourself Heads/Cam Swap....
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TECH Apprentice
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Joined: Apr 2007
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From: St. Charles, IL
Do It Yourself Heads/Cam Swap.... All,
For those of you have done the Heads/Cam Swap on a 01 or 02 LS1 how mechanically difficult is it? I have the money for heads/cam/pushrods/oil pump etc etc, long tubes, ORY and tune, I would need approximately around $2,000 more to have all of this installed.....don't get me wrong I am not a mechanic but I have done quite a bit of my own work mainly on my 97 cobra, I have done numerous trans swaps, and have had the top half of that motor taken apart a couple of times by myself, just wondering if there is anything more than patience and a friend to help that I need....also if anyone has any ideas for heads/cams I would appreciate it, I was going to go with the Livernois Stage 2 heads and Stage 2 Cam, I want to go over 400 rwhp and maintain good driveability, any input would be awesome!
For those of you have done the Heads/Cam Swap on a 01 or 02 LS1 how mechanically difficult is it? I have the money for heads/cam/pushrods/oil pump etc etc, long tubes, ORY and tune, I would need approximately around $2,000 more to have all of this installed.....don't get me wrong I am not a mechanic but I have done quite a bit of my own work mainly on my 97 cobra, I have done numerous trans swaps, and have had the top half of that motor taken apart a couple of times by myself, just wondering if there is anything more than patience and a friend to help that I need....also if anyone has any ideas for heads/cams I would appreciate it, I was going to go with the Livernois Stage 2 heads and Stage 2 Cam, I want to go over 400 rwhp and maintain good driveability, any input would be awesome!
Heard awesome things about Livernois, some have heard the opposite so take it all with a grain of salt. I was gonna have a shop put my cam in first time around but decided to just go for it. Had never cracked into the interior of any motor I had, but it wasn't nearly as bad as I would've thought. First time around just take your time, read up install info here on the board, and LS1howto.com will essentially be your bible through the swap. If the car is a DD give yourself twice as much time as you think it'll take. If it's not, then just take your time. Good luck.
-J
-J
11 Second Club
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 868
Likes: 0
From: Charleston, SC
All,
For those of you have done the Heads/Cam Swap on a 01 or 02 LS1 how mechanically difficult is it? I have the money for heads/cam/pushrods/oil pump etc etc, long tubes, ORY and tune, I would need approximately around $2,000 more to have all of this installed.....don't get me wrong I am not a mechanic but I have done quite a bit of my own work mainly on my 97 cobra, I have done numerous trans swaps, and have had the top half of that motor taken apart a couple of times by myself, just wondering if there is anything more than patience and a friend to help that I need....also if anyone has any ideas for heads/cams I would appreciate it, I was going to go with the Livernois Stage 2 heads and Stage 2 Cam, I want to go over 400 rwhp and maintain good driveability, any input would be awesome!
For those of you have done the Heads/Cam Swap on a 01 or 02 LS1 how mechanically difficult is it? I have the money for heads/cam/pushrods/oil pump etc etc, long tubes, ORY and tune, I would need approximately around $2,000 more to have all of this installed.....don't get me wrong I am not a mechanic but I have done quite a bit of my own work mainly on my 97 cobra, I have done numerous trans swaps, and have had the top half of that motor taken apart a couple of times by myself, just wondering if there is anything more than patience and a friend to help that I need....also if anyone has any ideas for heads/cams I would appreciate it, I was going to go with the Livernois Stage 2 heads and Stage 2 Cam, I want to go over 400 rwhp and maintain good driveability, any input would be awesome!
coming from the mustang world let me just say u have 10x more variety in the LSx world! anything between a 224 to 23X something would be more of ur midrange cams....i personally just had the torquer 2 (232 234) done, not to extreme and not to small either! good under the curve power with oodles of top end power! honestly pick the cam u like then find some heads to compliment the cam!
and the install isnt hard! time consuming maybe but hard no! nothing u, a cooler of beer, and couple of buddies cant do. good luck
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Joined: Aug 2003
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From: England UK
Good luck.
what about tuning after the install though,,are u going to tow it to get tuned? I want to do this myself as well (i am not fortunate enough to be a check-book racer,,i have to do installs myself, cause im not a rich guy, by ANY means),,so saving on labor is the way to go,,plus that,,its fun to work on the car,,its not my DD, so if it takes me a month, it takes me a month. But have always wondered what the hell im going to do when im done, and need a tune...how are you going to get that done?
You don't need to tow it to get tuned, just go easy on it while untuned. Once it learns the idle a little bit you can go drive it to get tuned. Thats what i did after i installed my PRC heads and 228/230 cam.
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On The Tree
Joined: Sep 2006
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I'm 19 years old and I just completed my head/cam swap this past weekend. I went with the LS6 stage 1 heads and a MS4 cam, QTP headers and a double roller timing set, ARP head studs, MSD wires, ported TB and the first start up was priceless http://youtube.com/watch?v=_dbO5suLyzM
. Plan on spending a couple hundred more dollars than you originally expect, because things are going to break and you will get the "while I have the heads off, I might as well......" notion. The most important aspect in my application was a friend to come over and help. I followed this "how to" and everything pretty much fell into place.
http://www.ls1howto.com/index.php?article=2
. Plan on spending a couple hundred more dollars than you originally expect, because things are going to break and you will get the "while I have the heads off, I might as well......" notion. The most important aspect in my application was a friend to come over and help. I followed this "how to" and everything pretty much fell into place.
http://www.ls1howto.com/index.php?article=2
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Its easy enough. Honestly there hardest part is putting the pickup tube bolt back in and cleaning the bolt holes. Set a whole weekend aside for your first time, might help to have a friend there for moral support as well
,,,and a case or two of Moosehead! It will be my first time,,but,,everything ive done on this car (alot, including a new 12 bolt, all new suspension, brakes, all my engine bolt ons which is everhting but a pulley at this point) was my first time. the only things i havnt done is what Nasty Nate had left int he car when i bought it from him (Nasty Performance) was the SFC, Magnaflow catback, and the Spec 3 clutch. Once i do heads and cam,,,im done!!! (until i buy a vette)
Livernois stage2/stage2 should defiantely get you over 400 even w/ an auto, most m6 cars wee 430-440 rwhp w/ that combo. It's not horrible to do, but I would rather trust it to a top level shop myself. Too many horror stories w/ people doing it themselves.
^ exactly, if you do it read up many times on the swap and make sure ou don't have to have the car for a few days to a week. If you rush things it is more likely that something will go wrong.
No flycutting at all. My cam is a custom grind with .588/.592 lift on a 112+4. My heads are 64cc LS6 heads and I'm also running thinner cometic .040 gaskets. No ptv clearance issues whatsoever.
yeah my head/cam swap is coming up soon and rather do it myself. I've never done something like this also but will be reading up on it A LOT!! That money i'll spend having someone put it in, i could spend on the tune and other things. I figure its my car, got to learn it myself.
Besides, if you do it yourself im sure all the guys on this board will help you out
Besides, if you do it yourself im sure all the guys on this board will help you out
12 Second Club
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 1,498
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From: Corpus Christi
"you can do it". you have done some work on the stang so it's pretty much the same, just torque everything accordingly and most two important things...........dont drop the bolts from oil pump and clean head threads on block very-very-VERY good. some suggestions I'll give you is remover water pump before heads and if you can get a wet/dry vacuum suck the antifreeze out from the water jackets on the block. that way when heads come off, the antifreeze remaining in the block/heads will spew all over pistons and head bolt threads. no problem if it does just more time to clean up. get one of the longest used head bolt and cut legnth wise along the threads, 180 deg. apart. you will use this to clean out head bolt threads on the block. I ran the bolt several time till I was able to thread bolt by hand only all the way in and out. if you leave any grime,liquid,dirt in there it will crack your block when you start to torque them bolts. take your time and to it right. dont try short cuts. it aint worth it. and when it's all put together you'll know it wa done correctly. I did H/C swap and on first turn of the key, it fired right up. scared the crap out of me cause I did headers too and didn't expect it to sound as loud as it did. no fly-cutting here. comp cam 231/237 .589/.595 112+4. just take your time man. all will be great.....
Staging Lane
Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 79
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From: Missouri
i know someone who took on the head and cam swap its alot of work he actually pulled the block.....i wouldnt do it myself....im a firm believer in paying to have something done right.....that way if something is wrong im taking it right back to where i had the work done.. alot of people do it though and are just fine....
TECH Apprentice
Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 369
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From: Canton, GA
I followed the guide on ls1howto.com. It was a lot easier than I thought it would be. Took me 2-3 weeks mostly because of work and it being to cold(until found the heater in my friends garage). Just follow the guide and take you time and get a friend to help makes things a lot easier. Nothing like doing it yourself and that feeling of accomplishment, when you start it up for the first time.
Thread Starter
TECH Apprentice
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From: St. Charles, IL
what about tuning after the install though,,are u going to tow it to get tuned? I want to do this myself as well (i am not fortunate enough to be a check-book racer,,i have to do installs myself, cause im not a rich guy, by ANY means),,so saving on labor is the way to go,,plus that,,its fun to work on the car,,its not my DD, so if it takes me a month, it takes me a month. But have always wondered what the hell im going to do when im done, and need a tune...how are you going to get that done?
Yep I am going to tow the car to have it tuned, most likely going to check into having it tuned at Speed Inc.