Just curious, as I'm waiting on parts, but what did you consider (as you look back) to be the toughest part of the cam and spring swap. Pulley removal? Spring install? What one part sticks out in your mind as being the most challenging part?

 

The 2 back springs on the passenger side!! Had to fab my own tool.

 

Good question. I'm waiting for parts as well.

 

There are only two really tough parts..

-rear springs
-getting that damn pulley on and off.

 

i really didnt think the pully was that bad, you need to buy a puller or rent one, goes smooth, the springs were a pain and holing up the lifters while sawpping the cam is kinda nerve wrecking, if one fell...

 

The back springs are easy with the larry tool and probably with some of the newer ones. I thought the hardest part was the oil pump pick up tube/o-ring/double roller chain. If i'd kept the original chain and pump it would have been really easy.

 

He said it. The proper tools will make the job go smoother though. And oh yeah, pop out the weather stripping at the cowl if you can because otherwise your forearms will look like you went ten rounds with an alley cat.

 

the valvesprings are definitly the most time consuming on any single part of the job, figure out a good method to getting them off and you'll find that it really isnt as bad as everyone makes it out to be, on my first time it took me an hour per two valvesprings and then when i figured it out halfway through it took me an hour and a half to finish the last 8....my car had 93k on the clock and the pulley wasnt that hard at all...i was surprised

 

Thanks fellas, very helpful.

What about yanking the radiator?

 

i just read a magazine where they swapped a cam into an ls1 and said it was the easiest thing to do on the engine. the magazine said the ls1 has some sort of trays or somethin like that where if u twist the cam a few times before taking it out the lifters will lock into place so u dont need to hold them to take the cam out. the article also tested the crate ls1 from gmpp and dynoed 430bhp stock, the springs limit the rpm range 5800rpm, when they changed the springs over for ls6 springs the rpm band went up to 6600rpm and 451hp, w/ the gmpp hot cam it made 503hp

heres the text from the magazine:

"Before you remove the cam, spin it around a few times by hand. This pushes all of the lifters up where they are locked in place in a lifter tray. This means you do not have to pull the intake and valley cover off to remove each lifter! Removing and installing the cam is straightforward. Besure to use the supplied lube on the cam bearings and each lobe. NOte that the Gen III cams are hollow for rotating weight savings and feature largerer diameter bearing journals."

 

the valve springs are time consuming, but really not too hard... holding our breath about the lifters falling on the passenger side was an experience. We used pen magnets on that side, and the lifter still didn't feel too solid in those trays... getting the cam lined up dot-to-dot is also time consuming.

For the most part, the cam/valvespring swap isn't that hard, just takes time and patience.

 

don't believe everything you read.....


yea, that can work, or one might fall...and thats a bitch. do yourself a favor and get yourself the lifter tool from thunder(or anyone else that sells it) or make your own. ensures you don't drop a lifter(which is, again, a bitch).

 

None of it was that bad. Just busy work. The pulley will cause some trouble. With the right tool (Larry Tool), the back springs are cake to get done.

 

i didnt say i believed it, a magazine is not an ls1 bible, then again a book on ls1 performance also said ls1 camswaps are easy. im not stating this as a fact because i'd have to try it myself to make that claim. but why would somebody lie about that? would it make them feel special?

 

its pretty straight forward springs are time consuming and can be a little bit of a pain w/o the right tools

 

at least i know what to expect when all my stuff comes in

 

Definitely the oil pump, if you do one of course. Which I highly recommend on a pre-01.

 

Thanks for the replies fellas!

Did anyone struggle with the radiator removal? I have a FTRA installed and I was wondering if that will need to be removed, or if it will make it tougher to remove the radiator? It's been a few years since I installed the FTRA and I forgot how it's positioned, relative to the radiator.

 

Oh yeah, my "Larry Tool" is being shipped today, and I'm glad to hear that it will help out on the back springs.

 

the radiator is pretty easy, just get a friend to help you lift it out good luck