ls1 hotcam
ls1 hotcam i know many guys off the bat are going to tell me not to put the hotcam in the car but its what i decided i want and thats what going to go in the car. the cam comes with new ls6 springs and retainers. i was also going to get hardened pushrods. engine has 45k miles on it. is there anything else i should do while the cam swap is going on? (in regurads to valvetrain)
nope...i didnt even put in the pushrods...i dont think the cam is aggressive enough to need them but thats just me..also would rather bend a pushrod than a valve.. i like my hotcam..IMO you HAVE to get a tune...it will just buck and surge without one..mine with a 1/4 " hole in my tb blade still would not idle..
matt
matt
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You should check out this page:
http://www.ls1howto.com/index.php?article=23
It tells you required parts as well as recommended and optional parts. Very good information.
http://www.ls1howto.com/index.php?article=23
It tells you required parts as well as recommended and optional parts. Very good information.
i already checked it out. i looked though everything on the site there but i wanted to know what the hotcam guys did out of the recommended and optional parts. hotcam is small enough to get away with alot of things but i want to see what i should do, i would rater be safe
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Well that was what I followed. I wouldn't use hardened pushrods, so keep the stockers if they are straight. Hardened pushrods just raise your chances of bending a valve if you miss a shift. You may want to change the timing chain and oil pump while you are in there. I didn't, but my car only had about 25k miles on it and I had no trouble with oil pressure, and the chain looked fine. I did replace my valve locks, and it is a good idea to have some on hand in case you lose some. You already have the later model water pump gaskets that you can re-use. I recommend using pen magnets to hold your lifters up. Chances are that one or two will drop, and I haven't heard any great things about the different tools to hold the lifters up, and the rods that I bought would not fit. If I did it again I would buy the cool cam removal tool that Summit has instead of using the bolts. I got the cam "stuck" part of the way out...it was really weird, but not a problem. I used an inexpenside valve spring tool to install my springs. It was pretty much a flat piece of metal that looked like the cutoff end of a normal valve spring tool. It worked great, but it did put some nicks in the edge of the heads. Nothing to worry about though. Prepare for hell putting the pulley back on. While everything is apart, this is the time to put on a underdrive pulley, so you don't need to mess with it later. If you have the cash for headers, now is a good time for them too. It is much easier to get to everything. I also suspected that my alternator had a bearing that was about to fail, and I was right. Everything being apart already sure made things easier.
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jrp..should i put in the hardened pushrods. some of the other guys said that it was safer to keep it the way it is incase i do miss a shift and overrev. that way i only bend a rod?
Originally Posted by elite22xl
jrp..should i put in the hardened pushrods. some of the other guys said that it was safer to keep it the way it is incase i do miss a shift and overrev. that way i only bend a rod?
this it taken from the cam guide in my sig. take it as you will.
- The pushrod was never designed to be a fusible link in the valvetrain. Several years ago we even had a member (might have been in the old LS1.com days) that was an engineer from Jesel (don't recall his ID) and he was adamantly opposed to the notion that the LS1 pushrods were designed to break in the event of a mechanical over-rev. The job of the pushrod is to accurately transmit the motion of the cam lobe (via the rocker arm) to the valve. If it’s flexing under load, then its simply not doing its job.
Look at it this way; you CAN mechanically over-rev any engine - pushrod, OHC, rotary, or otherwise - and cause damage. There is nothing unique or special about the LS1 pushrods making them fusible.
This is like saying that you broke your ring gear on a missed shift so therefore everybody should continue using the weak 10-bolt rear ends. Just a silly, backwards argument IMO - especially when you're considered an aggressive cam with heavier valve springs (Fulton 1)
Originally Posted by elite22xl
jrp..should i put in the hardened pushrods. some of the other guys said that it was safer to keep it the way it is incase i do miss a shift and overrev. that way i only bend a rod?
You DO NOT want flex in the pushrods - period. 
SDPC is the only place i know of selling ls2 chains. they also have gaskset kits and PR's. order from them and save on shipping. if they dont have the exact "kit" your looking for PM/email Kris and he can get the PT#'s of the stuff you need. really, all you need is a crank bolt and front timing seal, all other gaskets are re-usable