Swap should be complete by sept 7th. I just have to find the best weekend. Video clip of the end result will be added.

What I'm Doing:

GM Hot Cam w/ ls6 springs (yellow)
Remove and clean Intake
Single borla turndown before the axle on stock headers / Y pipe

Going In:

1999 Camaro SS M6 82,000 miles. BONE STOCK

Parts I have:

GM Hot Cam
LS6 Springs (yellow)
Intake Gasket
Front Engine Seal (gm)
Spare valve keys (gm)
RTV
Antifreeze
Oil / filter

misc

Nicely loaded toolbox and a full blown shop with a lift.


Also I am using ls1howto.com as a guide.


ANY Advice is worth mentioning as this is my first swap.
Please no comments that I am a dumbass for choosing a hot cam. Its what I decided was best for my wants/needs.

I am also on a tighter budget

Thanks Guys

 

Good Luck!!! and it will be a good experience and when your finish you will have the confidence to do anything!! also just get a new o-ring for the pickup tube and when installing the oil pump be very careful not to pinch the o-ring

 

sounds like you got it pretty much covered. dont forget water pump gaskets. and a new crank pulley bolt, you are also going to need a bolt that is 1 inch longer to get the pulley back on(at least thats the easiest way to do it). are you going to upgrade your push rods?? depending on miles now is definitely the time for a new timing chain and oil pump(which will require a new o ring) the guide on ls1howto is really really good thats what i used on my first time and it didnt do me wrong

 

make sure u degree the cam and check piston to valve clearence. i used playdough to put in the piston bore and worked great.. i also have an adjustable timing chain so i can chang the degree if i needed to.

 

degree the cam by using the dot to dot method for stock cam gears, you should only have to degree the cam if you are using adjustable cam gears, this is something i got caught up on. its not "needed" if you are reusing the stock gears.

 

Degreeing the cam is always a good idea. With stock gears you can't alter the timing but you at least know the cam is per the specification.

I don't see a new timing chain in your list of parts. Don't follow LS1howto for removal or especially installation of the pulley. Many guys have damaged their crank threads following that web site. It doesn't appear you are changing the oil pump, some of the earlier pumps had issues. At minimum change the o-ring if you pull the pump.

 

How??

 

put the balancer in the oven at 225* for 1/2 a hour to help it slip on the crank easier.and get a longer crank bolt or buy a install tool for $25.

 

How what?

 

easy way to keep those lifters up is to turn over the stock cam and push a 5/16 wood dowl in the lifter hole to hold em up so they dont drop. Just did mine and it worked great

 

How did they damage their crank threads by following LS1howto?

 

how would you know where to put it if you change the degree? Why would you want to do that?

 

use a metal dowel(unthreaded) not wood
$40 pusher tool sold on this site
Pulley puller sold at Harbor Freight(has jaws that match the serpentine belt teeth(must use a longer rod from round steel stock and a little lathe work).
Rocker bolt heads have locktite. Crack them loose with a 8mm 6 point 3/8ths drive socket on an extension and breaker bar.
Vinci/Crane spring tool($100) Best in the business as it does 2 springs at a time.
Replace the timing cover seal(don't reuse it)
Might get away without changing the WP gaskets and rocker cover "O" rings, but don't skimp on the oil pump "O" ring and timing cover crank snout seal. You can beat the old seal out with a vegtable can as long as you buck the underside around the seal edge with some small pieces of wood. Work slowly. Use a small piece of 2"X4" to seat the new seal. Work slowly and check your progress as it is installed to be SURE it is going in straight.
Don't put the pulley in the oven. That's for the pizza AFTER the job is done. The $40 pusher tool does the job just fine. There is a small recess on the leading edge of the pulley so the pulley can be partially seated onto the crank snout. Set the pulley in place and push it to the end of the recess(about 1/4"). A little lite grease wouldn't hurt. Be SURE the pulley and crank centerline are concentric as you push the pulley home.

 

do you have dexacool and your oil?

 

Now I will use the word "how"

How will this extremely complicated dot to dot procedure degree the cam?

 

Don't take the chance of damaging your crank.

Heat the balancer.

Grease the crank.

USE A PRESSING TOOL to install the balacer. Don't try to pull it on using the crank threads like they do on LS1howto.

 

you set the #1 piston at tdc the dot on the crank gear should be at high noon. once the new cam is in you line up the dot on the cam gear. It will only go on one way because the cam gear has 4 holes in it, three bolt holes and one for the dowel on the end of the cam. you have to slip the chain on with the dot on the cam gear at 6 o'clock. ls1howto does a better job of explaining it.

you can kind of see the hole for the dowel in this pic. its between the top bolt and the lower right bolt. and you can also see the dot im speaking of, its at the 5 o'clock postion out by the teeth.


once you get the front cover off you'll be able to see the dots better.

 

well this is what i did... DO THIS AT YOUR OWN RISK AND SUCH YOU COULD BURN YOURSELF OR CAR DOWN.. DONT TRY THIS AT ALL!!!! anyway lol.. i pulled an all nighter last week installing a new cam for a track day. didnt bother heating the pulley in the oven. The crank pulls the heat out of the pulley so fast its useless. i used one of the small propane torches and heated the inside of the crank pulley where it slides on the crank, but i didnt heat the outside part that touches the seal. Obviously that part will get hot but not as hot as the inside. The pulley slid all the way onto the crank without the use of any tools (had to slide it on very quickly). Plus the outer hub of the pulley remains cool to the touch so you can handle it easier. If the edge of the pulley is hot you heated it WAAAAY too much... The pulley immediately locks onto the crank in less then a second... thats how fast the heat comes out of it. Dont get it so hot it damages the front seal... anyways.. ive ran the **** out of my engine this past week and i have no leaks. anywhere. I used all the same gaskets that i installed in my last cam swap 15k ago without issues. like i said last minute midnight install... haha

this is the fastest and easiest way ive ever installed a crank pulley... i guess there is a risk you could toast the front seal if your a torch happy kind of person but mine seems great.

 

I wish there was a cheap/reliable timing cover that was a 2 piece design for those of us that have a cam ready to install every other month. The QTP piece is nice, but I dont have 500 dollars!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

 

Tips from my cam swaps:

Oil Pump Info:
- Picking up an ls6 oil pump, ported or not, would be money well spent. Earlier F-bodies were known to have inferior pumps.
- Be sure you avoid pinching the oil pump O-ring.
- Wrap thread around the oil pump pickup tube bolt. This allows you to easily prevent it from rolling back into the oil pan, and also creates upward tension while installing the bolt (thus making it MUCH easier to initially thread). Also, buy a 10mm gear wrench for this bolt. Yes. It's worth the $10.
Crank Balancer:
- Buy a new crank bolt, factory crank bolts are torqued to yield.
- As previously mentioned for crank balancer installation, DON'T use your old crank bolt. Search for the tool sold by a member on this site (the SN is something like Hawk, Tim, etc). It's a piece of long thread, a washer, and nut assembly that greatly reduces any stress placed on your precious crank threads. Around $25. Westlake/Ace Hardware would have these items as well.
Valvesprings/Rockers/Lifters:
- Definitely use dowels down the oil galley holes, as it'll prevent the lifters from falling (fishing for lifters sucks...)
- May not be common practice, but torque the rockers down in the correct sequence, not just "down the row".
- I used the TDC method of changing valvesprings, but you can also thread nylon rope into an individual cyl. sparkplug hole and turn the crank until you feel resistance. At this point the valve won't drop a significant distance, and spring removal is safe. 45psi of compressed air via the spark plug hole also suspends the valve.

-Aside from sheer curiosity, there is zero need to actually check PTV with that cam (as long as you have stock, unmilled heads). You'll have tons of clearance.
-Also, is it ideal to degree the cam? Yes. Can you do anything about the cam's position without an adj timing set? No.

Good luck. If you have any questions along the way, post em' up.