Bolt on C5z with a LS6 crate motor w/~15k miles. Trying to figure out what all I need/should buy to install a cam.

Cam is an EPS 226/230 .598/.609 111+2 , I have new valve springs, pushrods, retainers, valve stem seals, new harmonic balancer bolt, and an assortment of gaskets. Intake and front cover I think.

Things I think I'll be needing:

push rod length checker
new OEM harmonic balancer (mine has a wobble)
oil pump (necessary for such low miles?)
timing chain (ditto.)
dowels to hold lifters
specialty tools - I believe can be rented from vatozone or etc? Might need to get a torque wrench since the crank pulley gets torqued to like 250lbft or something in that range.

What am I missing?

 

Water pump gaskets.
Oil pump should be OK along with the waterpump.
Chain should also be OK but its not a bad idea to do the HD chain. Once your changing the chain the oil pump comes off. Its an evil circle....
The tools that will make the job a breeze.

 

Spring seats weren't mentioned but if you bought the springs as a kit those thought be in there as well. While these might not be necessary I replaced mine when I did a cam swap this summer and the stock LS6 ones may or may not be stout enough.

Will definitely need the PR length checker. Can be had from any number of sponsors for around $20.

The oil pump is not necessary but a ported pump would flow a little better, that would just be a judgement call for this one.

I would upgrade it to an LS2 timing chain if it doesn't already have one.

Some of the tools you can rent from Advanced/Autozone/Orielly's such as gear pullers torque wrenches ect.

If you are going to be replacing the crank pulley you might consider going to a 25% UD. SDPC has a great deal on a Powerbond that comes with a re-usable crank bolt and both belts.
https://sdparts.com/details/powerbon...s/kpbu1117ss25

A breaker bar is a must for getting some of those things loose. They are pretty cheap, I picked mine up from HFT for just a few bucks. It's also what I used to reinstall the crank bolt and just tightened until I couldn't move it anymore.

Other items that you will probably or that I suggest:
Front cover gasket
Crank seal
2 water pump gaskets
Valve cover gaskets
If it is an auto - Flywheel locking tool - Member Gray86hatch makes some for cheap
Spring compressor tool - May be able to rent from the auto store
Comp Cams trunion upgrade kit
Ring pliers and some type of press if doing the trunion upgrade
Blue Loctite
5/16" dowels
And depending on how you are replacing the springs, might need a leakdown tester to pressurize the cylinders if the heads will remain on, or you can use the TDC method. I pulled mine at the time to replace the springs and head gaskets with some MLS ones.

2 oil changes worth of material and alot of coolant.

Don't think I forgot anything

 

I've heard some issues with UD pulley's about overheating when sitting idle for a prolonged period and etc. Also heard issues with timing chains snapping due to the improper harmonic dampening with the cheaper aftermarket units.

Oil pump and chain I'm not sure on yet. My oil pressure is very good, and my chain should be good, but I'm not certain if it's an LS2 chain or not.

Should I bother pinning the crank for a cam-only car?

And what are the tools in the picture? I recognize some, but unsure on others...

 

I haven't heard of any issues of a car overhearing because of an UD pulley, only some instances of autos experiencing light flicker due to the idle speeds generally being lower than a manual. This can be corrected with an alternator overdrive pulley. Powerbond is essentially the same as the SLP UD pulley since they are just rebranded if I am not mistaken. The powerbond pulley is also SFI rated.

I suggested the LS2 chain because it is beefier than the LS1 chain was and is a overall upgrade. Here are the two side by side for a comparison from when I did my swap.




As I said, the oil pump is more of a judgement call. I put in a ported oil pump for the better for but I was also replacing the stock LS1 unit that had 130K miles on it. You would likely be fine with the one you already have in there.

In my opinion a crank pin is not necessary on a mild build but most aftermarket pulleys have provisions for it if you choose to do so. Just make sure the crank bolt is installed well.

As for the tools, the hose is a spark plug fitting to pressurize the cylinder with a compressor

The 2 long rods are dowels to hold the lifters up while swapping the cam. Those in the picture is a set that used to be sold my Thunder Racing and were way over priced. I used wooden dowels from Lowes.

The black pieces below the rods is the Comp Cams spring compressor. It allows you to change 2 springs at once with the heads on or off the car.

Unsure of what the blue piece is

The long bolt is a pulley install tool for getting the pulley back onto the crank. For that I went to a local hardware shop and picked up a long grade 10 bolt and used washers for the same effect

The black bolt with a claw on the end is a gear/pulley puller

And the black piece with 2 bolts is a flywheel locking tool. Looks like the one made by Gray86hatch.

 

These are the LS specific tools to do the harmonic balancer and cam. The blue piece is the "factory" tool to press the valve seals.
With people having problems hobbling tools together I wanted to collect the correct tools to do the job right.
Plus I offer them for rent to help people out.

 

It's cool of you to try to help people out by pointing out what they need, however most of what you want to rent out is available at most local auto stores for free under their "rent" policy.

 

Just ordered a valve spring compressor (tim's tool), pushrod length checker, powerbond udp + belts, and an ls2 timing chain. Pulley pullers I'm told are available to rent at autozone, as well as a spark plug air fitting. And I read that you can use the old crank pulley bolt as the install tool for the new one.

Going to buy wooden dowels for the lifters for local hardware store. And a new torque wrench since I don't think my current one is very accurate anymore, or if it even goes up to 240lb/ft which the GM bolt calls for I think.

I'm not even sure I'll change the timing chain. Since it's a relatively new crate motor, and the older LS1 timing chain has been superceded with the LS2 style, I'm thinking there's a good chance my motor already has the LS2.

Hopefully I'm all set. Not going to worry about the trunion kit, since that's not really a "while I'm in there" type of thing IMO. I think I should have all the necessary gaskets already, but hopefully if I'm missing one, a quick trip to autozone will solve that problem.

 

While there are plenty of people that have done this, there are also many who have stripped out the threads in the crank snout since when you go to re-install the pulley, it will only grip the first 2-3 threads to begin with. I would recommend either a pulley install tool or getting a grade 8 or higher bolt from a local hardware shop that is 120mm long. I picked a grade 10 up locally for $2 and used the washer that comes with the SDPC re-usable bolt to install the new pulley.

Do not try to torque a NEW GM crank bolt to 240. Those bolts are TTY and it will ruin the bolt.

When installing the new pulley using stock GM style bolts, if using the old bolt to pull the pulley on, that is where it said to go up to 240. Once the new pulley is all the way on you torque the new bolt to 37 lb ft and then turn it 140 degrees.

It's entirely possible that it does. I would just do a visual inspection when you have it off, you should be able to eyeball it and tell as the LS2 has thicker links.

I would disagree about the trunion upgrade not being a necessary part of the process if you are using stock GM rockers. The stock needle roller bearings are known to come apart and dump a bunch of the needles into your engine. In my opinion the piece of mind is worth an extra $130 to replace them.

 

Will probably just go buy a bolt to install then. I don't remember where I saw 240lb/ft, I may be thinking of the ARP bolt. I'll double check all my numbers and etc anyways.

I'll probably do the trunion upgrade at some point, but this upcoming job will be just the cam swap. I want to have minimal downtime with the car since it's my DD. I'll just cross my fingers that my rockers aren't bad at only 15k miles.


On a install related question, when I've got the cam and timing gear all assembled, as long as dots on the gear and crank are aligned, then I should be set right? As long as I can do a full rotation on the engine by hand, I should not have issues with ptv clearance or having the timing off or something? Or is it always necessary to degree the cam?

 

One thing to make sure you use is a flywheel/flexplate lock when torquing the balancer down.

 

I can't just put the car in gear?