I'm not sure if this is the right place to post this question or not. I was told that there are some sort of rods that are inserted into the block or heads that hold the lifters up while doing a cam swap. Has anyone ever heard of this? If so, where can I get them? I also need an on car valve spring compressor. I would like to go with something that is strong and reliable and does not screw the heads up.

 

Just get some metal dowl rods from Home Depot and cut them to fit. You can find Tim's compressions tool underneath tools of the trade on here.

 

The "Tim Tool" works great!!

 

5/16" rod. i think 2' wiil work, i dont remember.
the tim tool will work as well, i made one that was exactly the same and worked great
other than that, you need a 10mm, 8mm, and 24mm sockets, various rachets and extentions, torque wrench, crank pulley puller, spark plug socket, and an air hold3(compression tester with an air compressor)