I must admit - I was scared as hell to do the whole swap by myself.
I've been hanging out on this board almost everyday for a few yrs, and I must say - you ******* gave me a true mod-bug

Well anyways, important things that went in past weekend:
Futral F10 cam 228/228 .576/.576 LSA 112
Patriot Gold Dual Spirngs
Yella-Terra stock ratio rockers
ASP pulley
Hypertech 160 degree thermostat
(already installed: MAC with ORY, intake with K&N, SVO 42# injectors, Loudmouth exhaust with XR-1 muffler)

Install went smoothly. It took us 2 and a half day. Me and my two friends tried not to rush anything. We were organized, and worked slowly to avoid mistakes. Afterall, none of us had done it before.

When we fired up the beast, oil pressure went to 50 psi almost instantly. Car surged a bit, but after 30 seconds it found its idle.
My friend Marcin ('redhardsupra' on this forum) is quite knowledgable with hptuners. He tuned my car before and I'm confident he'll do a good job again.

I could write assays, but I guess it's better if I post some pics with short comments. I'll be more than happy to anwser any questions
Once again, I'd like to thank all of you, and especialy my firends Adam and Marcin (redhardsupra) for great help.

P.S I have two nice videos (the very first start up, and a cruise around the block) Unfortunately I don't know how to compress the .avi files, so I can't post them here...1 minute takes 150MB Once I get the right software, I'll post them up.

Here are the pics:

Intake removed.



Here's me trying to remove the pulley.



Removing stock rockers...then timing chain cover




Removing stock cam. I used pen magnets to hold the lifters up.



F10 GOING IN !!!!!!!!!!!!


This looks like dot-to-dot to me



Swapping the springs. I used Tim's tool (very similar to Larry's tool)
It worked like a charm. Took us 3 hrs to swap those... Again, we worked very slowly.



New Yella-Terra rockers are in, but notice how tight the clearance is. As a matter of fact I have noticed grooves on the heads that were "paved" by the stock rockers. I can't imagine how GM made those heads for rockers to scrape on them that badly



My buddies. From the bottom: Adam and Redhardsupra


Time to celebrate with a nice big bottle of Heineken beer

 

Nice job, definately appreciate the pics since i'm getting ready to do my first cam swap. Still have to decide which cam to go with. Wish I had friends like yours to help me tune my car when I'm done. Closest place to get my car tuned is 4 hours away. Let us know how you like your cam.

 

My facial expression was similar cause fitting that pulley puller was a PITA. Doesn't look like there's very many miles on that car. I'm glad the pen magnets worked. I still don't like that idea. I'd rather use dowels and KNOW that the lifters won't fall.

 

You're right - only 20K miles on the clock

 

thats why i love working at the dealership i have access to all the "special" tools. but awesome pics takes alot of the fear away for first timers.

 

Congrats man!

My buddy did my cam swap for me yesterday and today....took like 12 hours all in all. We didn't have a Larry/Tim tool...I don't know why I was cheap and didn't buy it. We used a tool simililar to it, but it kinda curved up at the end. I am getting that tool though, coz when the springs have to be changed again, we want it to be easier!

Did you heat cycle your springs? Did you get on it yet?

Manny

 

Yea, I cycled the springs and I slowly get on it.
On my 1st ride I wouldn't pass 2500 rpms, then the next day I got to 3500.
Today I might go higher to 4000. After 200 miles of driving, I'll change my oil, and then it'll be ready for a real deal.

I do believe in slow conditioning. No just the springs - everything !

As soon as I get that video editing program I'll post my initial start up and a slow cruise video

 

Excellent pics. I just wanted to say i work for Chevy dealer and there is no proper tool for cam swaps, they want you to pull the heads and lifters. I was slow on a Saturday at work, so i decided to swap my 99 Silverado 5.3 cam for a stock 98 F-bod cam(more lift and duration) The truck 5.3 has 65,000 miles and i used the rotate cam to secure lifters in factory lifter guides method with no problems. Swap took 4 hours,admittadely i had crossed fingers during process but it went smooth w/out a hitch.

 

Nice pic's. I'll be doing the same thing soon. I just helped pull my first LS1 yesterday. Installing an ls2 402 next weekend. Then doing my cam.

 

very nice

 

This picture freaked me out....I was wondering what was going on and what kind of intake that was....DERR!!!!


Let us know how you like that cam!

 

nice pics... that looks like a good sized cam... good luck with the break in, i did the same cycling.... about 6 heat cycles. then a tune after that.

post up your graph when its all done!

 

ive got that cam on a 114. i wanna upgrade though, its not enough. congrats!!
Nino

 

Congrats on your cam!! Very nice pics of your install too!
Gotta love those Futral cams!!

 

Congrats on the install! By the way, what is the purpose of the new rockers??

 

I dunno about that heineken stuff, but the rest of it looks pretty good.

So how do you like it so far?

 

There are a few reasons for aftermarket rockers. On very rare occasions the stock rocker arms have been known to fail and spill their roller bearings into the engine. Another reason is that the stock rockers will flex when using stiff springs and you will give up some of your lift. Since, I'm using dual Patriot springs, it gave me a good reason for an upgrade.

 

With todays modern spring material one heat cycle is all you need..do two if it makes you feel good...but they are ready to run after one cycle..then it is time to rock and roll...kick it in the a$$ and see what it will do.. ..congrats on your install...

 

rockers are pretty expensive though arent they? Probably why most people don't get them as part of a cam install...

 

$500+