I was in your same boat basicaly. Had been a while since I tore into a car and I was never a schooled mechanic. I did my cam and headers at the same time so it took longer. I did heads later and this past week I swapped the motor out. I've done all the work without help from anyone but a few bungee cords. You need to do valve springs at the same time but its not a big deal if you have the right spring compressor and use air/compressor to hold the valves up. You need a good 3 jaw puller as well. If you have everything lined up ( all your tools and materials in front of you) then you can do it in a weekend no problem by yourself. The write up you've been reading is what I used and it worked well. I can do it without the write up now if you need help pm me and I'll help you best I can. I would start on Friday night after work. Put the front of the car up on jack stands and drain the oil and coolant. Take off the air box and tb stuff all the way to the intake. Cover the intake hole. Take the top radiator support 4 bolts out. Bag and label all parts. Thats enough for Friday night unless you want to really get some work done on it. If you want to get some work done take out the radiator and associated hoses. Then take off the waterpump. Your halfway to the cam at this point. Hard part right here is the crank pulley. Have the right puller and its just a little work getting it off. Have the wrong one and its a nightmare. Stock pulleys come off a lot easier than aftermarket ones ( at least mine did). Once the pulleys off its timing cover, (oil pump ? replacing it?) if not then you have the cam sprocket, cam plate. Spin cam, insert rods pull cam out. Put new one in. Go have a beer thats enough for one night.

 

You could reallistically do valvesprings and pushrods one weekend and keep the stock cam in there, then swap out the cam the following week, but youll have a little repeat work, but not much... Could help out if your car is your daily ride...

 

If you have any mechanical ability a weekend is plenty of time for the whole job. The springs are the easiest part of the operation. This job is really not hard at all provided you have the right tools. Rods for the lifters, Crane dual spring tool, compressor for air to hold valves up along with adapter to feed air into cylinder and a 3 jaw puller. I can do valve springs in one hour or less. He's only doing a cam its not a long job. Have all the stuff you need before you begin and its no trouble.

 

Yep, I did my first LS1 cam swap and indeed my first-ever camswap, earlier this year and it took me around 7-8 hours.

I used the LS 'How-to' guide which didn't suit my car. a HSV, exactly, but it showed me most of what had to be done.

You need to ensure that you have all the RIGHT tools and plenty of light.

Also, take your time and triple check everything.

It was fun and I'd do it again if I had to, or if a mate needed help.

AND the big bonus is firing it up after YOU'VE done the job....sensational feeling.

Cheers,

Macca exactly t

 

Yea, This is my DD, only because I Love driving her soo much. I have two other cars that I can drive during the install. So I can take my time. I am not looking forward to dealing with the crank bolt and pulley.

Where would I get the tools that I need. The adapter to pressurize the cylinder? Valve tool?

After reading your posts, I have decided to do this myself and save the money for the tune and other mods.

Keep the advise coming!

Jason

 

I rented my gear puller for $8 from my local rental shop. I used a 1/2" breaker bar with a pipe on it for the crank bolt. IT wasnt that hard. I've read horror stories but it wasn't the case for me. Having the correct 3 jaw puller is essential. You want one that locks into place and then you turn the center screw. I used a socket in the center of the pulley. You'll see what I mean when your doing it. Go with a cheap puller and you'll have a hard time.

The adapter I got from Napa for the air into the cylinder.

I bought the Crane dual valve spring compressor from Thunder Racing. There is the not so inexpensive cheap way out with the larry tool posted here. It will take you at least twice as much time with it and for what it sells for you can make 5 of them and sell them yourself. It is also not the greatest geometric tool either. I recommend the Crane tool. Best valve spring compressor for an ls1 on the planet. I'll rent you mine if you want. PM me. I have the adapter and the rods as well. I'll rent you the lifter rods, air adapter and Crane dual tool if you want. Then you only need the puller. Pm me if interested. Combined they are over $200 new

 

I'd definitley get the Crane valvespring compressor, but you can get 5/16 wooden dowel rods from Home Depot to keep the lifters up for $1 and use the TDC method to keep the valves up (free).

 

sweet, i was trying to figure out what i could put in the hole to keep the lifter's from falling out (uhm....like a rod or somthing....yes.....a rod... ) i'll have to pick one of them bad boys up, i was so bummed out that i couldnt find one until 01formula6 said that!! and i'll be installing my cam once i get the damn tuning program!

 

did mine myself,pretty straight forword.

 

There are those who do not recommend the wooden dowels and TDC doesnt stop the valves from falling it just keeps them from falling too far. You also have people using 16 pen magnets and them returning them. I like tools. I've used my rods and air adapter a number of times as well as the spring compressor.

 

did my ms3 last night, not too hard whenever i wasnt sre about something just looked up ls1howto.com on the sidekick. sounds SICK!!!!! 112 lsa.

 

it should be standerd policy to post a video everytime someone installs a new cam to hear it! hope to hear it soon 04GTO

 

i did mine cam and it was the first time. i used rods for the lifters and TDC for the valves with no problems. a friend gave me some pointers and let me use his crane compressor tool. auto zone has a pulley puller i "rented" for $60 that they give back to you when you return it. it took me 3 days working a few hours each. the springs were the most time consuming step but not hard. it's a great feeling starting her up knowing you did it yourself.

 

heres a tip: look under the firewall where the plastic strip is under the wipers, u'll see the plastic retainer. they are pointy. I cut them off w/ diagnol cutters (pointers) only so u wont scrape up ur hand. u'll see what I mean.


cowboysfan

 

I bleed every time i open my hood because of these little bastards. One day ill evenatually cut them down.

 

Did my own cam with help from friends and from tear down to initial start up it was about 6hrs in my garage, with a little dinky air compressor......but i didnt change Oil pumps. Oh and i used the russian rullete method, spun the cam and prayed that the lifters wouldnt drop...lol....The big man upstairs heard cause it worked.

 

LPE did my install. I am mechanically inclined but I didn't have the time to do the job myself. I also didn't want the headache of tuning the combo plus there was a little bit of laziness on my part as well...

 

That wasn't hard. I used a 1/2" rachet and slipped a pipe onto the rachet for additional leverage. Try that.

 

I have done a cam install and then a heads/cam install. Like everyone has said, it's nothing to it really. Just take your time and double check everything. The right tools can make or break you. There's nothing like starting the car for the first time after working on it for hours and having it lope to life on the first turn of the key