MannyZ28

iTrader: (1)

With any luck my cam is going to arrive sometime this coming week. I was a lazy bastard and went with a TR224 .563/.563 112 LSA, simply because it seemed to fit all I wanted to accomplish, and also because it is a tried and true cam with lots of people happily running it.

Anyhow, once that thing is in, and I get the car running again, I suppose I am going to let the springs go through a few heat cycles to get them stressed. How many heat cycles are you supposed to do until you can get on the car? 2? 5? And is just letting the car idle up to operating temperature and letting it cool down enough, or do you drive the car....carefully...? Since I am changing oil pumps as well (my car is a 98 with 50k miles, so it's almost recommended, right?) I will change the oil (Mobile 1 since the car had 1500 miles on it) anyhow since I have to drop the oil pan to install the pump, should I still change oil again after about 100 miles after the cam install?

With the cam I chose, and being that my car is a M6, can I drive the car for like a week (I only drive it on weekends anyhow) until I can get it tuned, or is there a chance that this will foul up my O2's (new ones since Header install, Bosch 13111) and my new TR55IX Iridium NGK plugs?

I read the cam install guide on LS1Howto, and I read JRP's cam guide, but they don't answer these two questions completely, plus I'd like some input from people that did it before.

Thanks in advance!

Manny

5POINT7

After my cam install, we revved the motor a few times, and then pegged the speedo literally seconds later. Everything worked out fine.

An extra oil change after the oil pump install wouldn't hurt anything, I'd do it.

I rode my car around w/o a tune for two months no problem, and that was with a much bigger cam than yours.

JMBLOWNWS6

iTrader: (17)

I ran mine thru 3 heat cycles. 1 st time brought it up to temp then shut it down. Second and third time I varied the rpm's accross the band. Not going over 5k. Once I did that then I hit it. Im kinda confused on your oil pump. You should do that while your doing the cam install. Then changed the oil once your all done. Yes you can run it untuned. I wouldnt put the new plugs untill I was about to get the new tune.

MannyZ28

iTrader: (1)

Well, I was thinking that once the new oil pump is installed during the cam install, I would obviously change the oil. On LS1howto they said to change the oil 100 miles after the install, so that's like two oil changes in a short time, is that how it should be done?

I'll see about the plug change, I really don't plan to drive the car much without a tune, it's all just a matter of getting the day off to get it done. I'd probably just do the heat cycles and a bit of driving, then park it till I have to do the 30 mile trip to the tuning place.

Schantin

iTrader: (6)

1. I'd change the oil after 100 miles. It's insurance from any metallic particles that are now in the oil from the cam/ springs nreaking in as well as any crap you accidently contaminated the oil with while installing everything.

2. I'd runthe springs through 3 full heat cycles letting them cool completely before "getting on it". This is to allow the springs a proper break-in. I kept the evs below 3500RPM day one, brought it to redine the next day, but varied the throttle and RPM's and did this again on day three.

3. You can driv without a tune. However, the car will be hard to start and keep at idle when either (a.) the engine is warm or (b.) the AC is running. The car will idle fine from a cold start and after a minute of operation. Drivability is good without a tune, but is much smoother with. The tune adds air to the low RPM and adds fuel to the high RPM. My car was much more enjoyable to drive after tuning and felt a bit "peppier" too.

4. I personally wouldn't screw with the oil pump when installing a TR224 cam. The cam's installed straight-up, so no changes in timing. You run a risk of dropping the oil pump ickup tube bolt into the pan, getting a pan leak, or pinching/tearing the pump o-ring. Now, I have a 2002 and only had 15K miles on my car when swapping cams, but just pointing out the risks.

Have fun and good luck

Schantin
2002 Camaro Z28 M6

some mods, including the TR224 cam.

GuitsBoy

iTrader: (4)

Heat cycling springs is supposedly not required with todays ultra pure si cr spring material. Even still, I drove mine gradually driving harder over the course of a week. Babied it monday, and went WOT by friday. Figured the springs would heat cycle just by driving it to work and back a few days. If youre anxious, just hammer it right from the start. If you were to have a shop install and dyno tune, i highly doubt theyd take the time to heat cycle the springs a couple of times.

Timonator

iTrader: (5)

I just orderd a cam and the comp 918 springs and I was told that there is no break in."put it in and beat on it" were his exact words.And this was from a very reputable shop.

MikeGyver

iTrader: (5)

Heat cycle springs? Whoever starts internet crap like that sure has a good sense of humor. Reminds me of the kid who asked on a dirtbike forum how to break-in his new knobbie tires!

slt200mph

iTrader: (42)

Manny..do the oil pump..it is not the nightmare experience that everyone tries to scare you with.. ...put a Z06 pump in it and be done with it..just loosen the bolts on your pan till it is touching the crossmember and you will have enough room to do it..drain the oil out of the pan first and stuff some rag down in the front so you can retrieve the bolt if you drop it..you probably will..it helps if you have a magnet to pick it out of the pan ...it is not that big of a deal..just do it..98 pumps had some issues..better off to get it out..

MannyZ28

iTrader: (1)

Oh yes, I plan on doing the oil pump. I already have new ported LS6 pump sitting in my room from Thunder Racing. All in all I ordered 1277.00 worth of crap for this cam swap, including a new pump and new pulley, the cam, the pushrods, titanium retainers, the springs, a gasket kit, the new plugs...blah blah blah.

Looks like I will be changing the oil twice since I have to drain it from the oil pan when the pump goes in.

I heard of hard "hot starts".....but what do you do? Keep cranking it till she fires? I don't use my AC eventhough I live in Florida.

I read about the heat cycling on comps website....go figure....at least I think I did.

Thanks again for helping the newbie....well, I am a newbie here, but I have been on "the other LS1 site" since 2001.

slt200mph

iTrader: (42)

Good luck with the cam swap..I had just changed my oil the week before the swap..I drained the pan and when I was finished with the swap I put that oil back in ran the car for about 100 miles or so and them changed it before I had the dyno tune done..on starting before the tune you might have to gas it a little bit ..the computer is trying to figure out how to run with the new cam...beleive me it is not smart enough.. ..you may have to drive with a foot one the brake an the throttle at the same time...if you get a good tune done you will be happy

Brandon Boomhauer

iTrader: (10)

Cold start = engine is cold, hasnt been ran (ie in the morning after its sat all night, or temperatures are ambient)
Hot start = motor has been run recently, its at or near operating temperature.

The car should start just like normal, that cam wont be hard to drive at all w/o tuning.

If you do the cam swap and the oilpump swap at the same time (you should) there will be no reason to change the oil twice. You simply drain your oil, do the pump and the cam, button everything back up, pour in new oil and go...
Then if you wish you can change the oil after a hundred miles or whatever you feel like. Mine waited 2500 before it got changed...

And about heat cycling springs....... its a waste of time. You can do that if you want to, but I see no reason for it. Some will say you need to let the car warm up a bit more (off a cold start, on a new day, etc) before driving with new springs, or non OEM springs. Even then its been discussed that letting a car idle to warm up takes forever, and is harder on components. Drive the car eaaaaasy while letting it get to operating temp, then you can hammer down. (this gives all the other fluids time to warm up where needed.)

MannyZ28

iTrader: (1)

How about the alignment issue with oil pump?

What exactly do you have to look out for?

Brandon Boomhauer

iTrader: (10)

not screwing up the o-ring, not dropping the bolt in the pan, etc
www.ls1howto.com has a good writeup

MannyZ28

iTrader: (1)

I feel pretty dumb...can't believe I didn't see that they had a detailed oil pump swap on their too, I was too busy reading the intake and cam swap ones.

Thanks man!

Brandon Boomhauer

iTrader: (10)

No problem. Its very easy to overlook stuff on here and other install/info pages.

I have a mile long list of bookmarks that I need to organize. I'll go back and re-read some of the big Jrod/JRP threads and some of SStrokerAce's stuff, etc...

MannyZ28

iTrader: (1)

Did you see my post on the waterpump gaskets...any input there?

Manny

Brandon Boomhauer

iTrader: (10)

nope, didnt see it. post or PM me a link. but i'll suggest original waterpump gaskets from the dealership.

I bought a pum with regular old style pump gaskets and it took a wire wheel and sanding drums to get the crap off. The factory ones are metal with an "o-ring" style seal, which are easy to remove...

slt200mph

iTrader: (42)

You are better off using the GM gaskets on all of your installs..especially the header gaskets..much higher quality for sure..a lot of the time they are reuseable

MannyZ28

iTrader: (1)

Yeah, I was wondering if I can reuse the water pump ones. The ones that I got in the gasket kit from thunder racing look pretty cheap.....so, if the stock ones come off no problem, should I just re-use them?

Manny