Julio02Formula

Been wanting to do a cam swap on my daily 02 Formula but am worried about the high miles on it! Currently 168,000 on the clock and wondering if it would even be safe to cam it. Would it be worth it or just rebuild it?


Only mods done are slp lid and tsp rumbler true duals dumped before the axle hooked up to tsp LT's!

HCI2000SS

iTrader: (2)

If it's in good working order, doesn't consume oil, good compression, etc, etc....then it should be fine theoretically. If it were me I'd rebuild it if it were mine though, just to be totally safe

SumDumKid

iTrader: (10)

I'm in the process of tearing my 167K mile motor out of my car, actually started last night. I'm doing a heads/cam swap on it. Like HCI2000SS said, as long as the motor doesn't consume oil and is in good running order, it shouldn't be a problem.

kingtal0n

iTrader: (1)

I say, leave the motor alone, add a turbo and boost low boost. It will make more power this way, the engine can stay cleaner, and when its finally done you install the next engine and BAM the turbo is already there for you.

customblackbird

iTrader: (2)

Same boat as you. My donor motor is a 99 5.3 with 150k on it. I have a supercharger that pushes 10psi and its fun to say the least. I wanted to rebuild the top end, heads/lifters/rockers and throw a cam in it to get alittle more out of it. But now I'm thinking it might not be worth it to a degree. Boost does make a huge difference though and totally recommend it.

1.) way to many threads on the LS7 lifters failing and thats all you can get now.
2.) LS2 lifter trays aren't as strong as the LS1s in the thread too
3.) People opening good motors to do a cam swap and they are spinning cam bearings (2nd from last) all the time. Or walking the bearings out.

So what is my incetive to throw 1k into a top end rebuild just to replace it with inferior parts?

kswLS1

iTrader: (1)

I'm actually in the process of a cam, springs and pushrods job as I type this. Mine has 189k on the clock and runs strong and clean. No oil consumption, no leaks, good compression. I'm confident I'll have plenty more time to have fun with the new setup before it's time for a rebuild.

DavidBoren

Welcome to the forums!

Given that it is in good working order, I honestly do not think I would touch it unless you were willing to do a full rebuild.

And you can solve both the LS7 lifters and the LS2 lifter tray with aftermarket link-bar lifters. Brian Tooley sells Morel link-bar 5290's for $380.

Anyways, I think you could benefit from a new cam, but I would hold off until you are ready to rebuild it.

customblackbird

iTrader: (2)

So your not pulling the heads to replace the lifters/trays etc with 189k on it? Since your leaving the stock cam this would be fine. I'm thinking of running a used LQ9 cam I picked up vs spending $300-400 on a cam to throw into a 150k short block lol. LQ9 cam allows the 5.3 to rev to 6500 and makes 40hp/32tq over the LM7 cam at 6500 with no real power loss below 2500-3500rpms.

kswLS1

iTrader: (1)

Not pulling heads YET. When I pull the stock cam I'll inspect everything before reassembling with the new cam. If the inspection warrants more work, then it will happen. However, a head swap is in the future. When I do the heads I will probably strip it down to bare block and start over. This swap is also partially due to selfishness. I was without a Camaro for about 12 years. Finally picked one up in May then 2 weeks later someone cut me off on way to get pizza and I hit a pole. I've been itching to drive again before the winter hits. Being in Alabama, I've got until December before it's "cold."

Chevy Guy

iTrader: (2)

Friend of mine did a cam on his 02 Vette with 150k miles. Everything is fine, and he beats the crap out of it.

RockinWs6

I wouldn't put a cam in it without changing the lifters and springs with that mileage.

fbody4everyone

lol im rockin 209k. with cam installed, and heads on the way. compression still good, no oil consumption. still a lot to go

LLLosingit

iTrader: (4)

Yep, Just what I would do, Spend a few grand putting a turbo on it rather than a few hundred for a cam swap lol

kingtal0n

iTrader: (1)

Think of the engine as trash. Its already got a death-date stamped on it. Forget about mileage; **** happens to stock, new engines, cam bearings walk and lifter rollers go awol.

So if we start off by assuming the engine is already trash, we realize that every penny we spend on it besides maintenance, is a waste. You put new parts into it and it fails and eats those parts, it becomes a total loss of engine AND parts instead of just engine.

All forms of modification, be it cam or turbo, carry some disclaimer for mileage/wear. However, the big difference here is a turbocharger is external to the engine. The engine can explode gloriously and shower the road with oil and you can still use the same turbo system for the next engine, hopefully one right after the other. It is modification which can 'stay with the vehicle' i.e. you can lose engines one after the next, and still have a 500rwhp 'setup' intact, since the turbo is what makes the power. In other words, you can choose any engine that will fit next, and use the boost controller to dial the output where you want it; as opposed to playing the guessing games with internal engine parts and taking risks with the oil system of a particular model. The only real player here is budget and desire; if you have a tiny budget and the desire for more power is strong, a camshaft swap is a fun way to get things going on that tiny budget, but if the work is done poorly the engine is moving much closer to a death date.

KCS

iTrader: (20)

Exactly! Why go to the store and buy a gallon of milk when you can just buy a cow?

DavidBoren

While I fully understand what kingtalon is saying about a turbo system being used on this engine and the next engine and the next one, etc... I see this as a colossal waste of good engines. Everyone boosts their stock LS1's until they rupture the tissue paper thin cylinder sleeves, then rinse and repeat. Meanwhile all those LS1's that you only look at as trash become nothing more than trash because careless people trashed them.

Meanwhile, all thsoe LS1's out there could live wonderful naturally aspirated lives as H/C/I motors, that could still be swapped into vehicles... and swapped out for an iron block boost motor for when you want to try break stuff.

Until then, please stop turning perfectly good N/A motors into boosted and broken trash.

If you want an aluminum block and boost, get a genIV 5.3 or an LS2, and sell your not at all trash LS1 to someone who won't trash it.

442scotty

Drive it as is and enjoy it until the motor tanks... In the meantime stash the cash you would have spent and build it up for the new engine down the road... with those miles you will push the engine to a much earlier death by tinkering with it.... patience

LLLosingit

iTrader: (4)

I guess when your engines blow all the parts magically stay out of the exhaust side huh? Seen more than one turbo trashed from parts getting pushed into the turbo. Not everyone has the money for a turbo and wants to see how fast they can make it explode lol. You must have more money than brains to suggest someone just throw several thousand dollars on a turbo kit rather than change cams. My thought has always to do it right the first time and not make the same mistake over and over. By the way showering the road with oil can be very expensive if it gets under the tires at speed.

wildcamaro

iTrader: (15)

Cam it and enjoy...gotta break eyes to make an Omlet...being afraid to upgrade your engine because of problems other people had (and may have had no idea what they were doing on install) doesn't make much sense...

kingtal0n

iTrader: (1)

Its alot easier to save a turbo from the engine than it is to save an engine from itself. Also, turbos are alot cheaper than engines. A pair of $650 turbochargers would push a stock engine to 500-600 horsepower for quite a while. Thats only a $1200 risk + the engine cost ($1000~). if you go through 3 engines, over the course of 120k miles (40kmiles/each) its still cheaper than buying a single, built engine with less horsepower. Most built engines don't even last 40k from 0k. When I remarked upon this finding, I was told simply that "most people on this forum with built engines won't even put 10k on their engine in the course of several years" which was supposed to be some kind of logical excuse to using a built engine? I digress.... Building an engine IS the same mistake, over and over. Unless you need 600+ to the wheels, I wouldn't bother even removing the head. Even a stock, all original 150k miles 2jz-gte longblock will support 500~, and thats just a 3.0L!

Consider mouting the turbos in the rear if you are afraid of the broken engine parts. There are several successful rear mount configurations, some of which use OIL-LESS cartridges to further reduce the complexity of the setup.

Here is one of my favorites
http://www.nsxprime.com/forum/showth...=1#post1859077

If you do it right, a turbo can last a loooong time. The turbo on my engine has almost 200k miles. Thats like 20 years of boost. I literally have a rebuilt trans, fresh longblock, and a next turbo waiting.. but none of the current parts in my car will quit!