LS1BlackBird99

iTrader: (202)

Can anyone tell me what wooden dowels I need in order to hold the lifters up for a cam install? My friend told me there were some you could get at Lowe's or Home Depot for cheap but didn't know the specifics. I tried to search but the search function isn't working for me and I'm doing my install in the morning.

Joel_SS

iTrader: (8)

I think it is 5/8 dowel is what I used.

wssexorz

iTrader: (5)

i don't remember the size of dowels i used on my cam ... they are like a dollar i just guessed and bought 2 different sizes ... one of them worked

SweeTbone

iTrader: (8)

Everything I've read is that people use 5/16. I initially bought 1/4, but I have OCD so I got some 5/16, just in case that 1/16 made a difference. I'm still in the middle of my swap though, so I haven't used them yet. I've also read that with the 5/16, you might have to shave to top of one just a little to let it slide in.

rosey

iTrader: (13)

I used 5/16 wooden dowel, got a 4 foot piece at a hardware store for a buck and cut it in half and used the two 2 foot pieces. They both slid right in for me, and did there job just fine...makes me wonder why anyone would bother with pen magnets or expensive tools in the first place.

85ta383

iTrader: (18)

5/16 cut to 24mm shaved on 1 end. mine are still setting in the motor as we speak.

PREDATOR-Z

Yeah 5/16th

orangeapeel

iTrader: (18)

I used 5/16's brake line to do mine several times.

LS1BlackBird99

iTrader: (202)

Thanks a lot for the help fellas! Picked some up this morning from Lowe's and they worked like a charm!! The cam is in and the car runs like a champ!

thedudeZ

iTrader: (14)

Something to hold up the lifters besides the plastic trays?

Get pissed off from it taking so long and just spin the lifters up, jerk the stocker out and apply the "hand me the other cam you big dummy" method.

2002ws-6

iTrader: (5)

I used 5/16 but had a little trouble on the pass side. Drivers side went right in. I shaved one side a little flat on the pass side and then was trouble free.

ERIK@MASPORT

iTrader: (32)

I want to share an experience I had with these "dowels"
(this occured during the last cam swap I did at the shop)

I went over to ACE just to give this whole dowel thing a shot...I figured I have the cam install tools, but I wanted to see if they dowels really did the trick...

So, I cut the STEEL dowels (be careful using wood) down to about 20" and proceeded to slide them in.

Well the driver side went right in with little or NO effort...but the pass side was a REAL PITA...I could not for the life of me get it in...so, I pulled it out slowly to throw some oil on it to see if that helped...I noticed along the top of the dowel were some brown marks. I guessed that they were from the lifter trays rubbing on the dowel keeping me from inserting it...so, I said screw it and left it out...

Now, here is the funky part...I was curious as to why the driver side went in so easily but the pass didn't....I wanted to see if the driver side dowel was working properly...so, before I removed the cam, I took a pushrod and pushed the lifter out of the tray and down onto the dowel....or so I thought...after the lil 'clink' the dam lifter completely cleared the dowel and was riding the cam lobe...I left the PR in the hole and turned the cam only to see the P/R moving up and down!! the dowel is still in at this point!!!

.....Look, I am not here to bust any 'myths' here, but I have a VERY strong feeling that the dowels actually do not work...or only work SOME of the time...
I feel that people "think" they are working, when in fact it is only the lifter trays that are doing their jobs--it seemed that way at least in my particular install, and I definately had them in the right hole...they didn't hold up ****...

I wound up just spinning the cam and letting the trays do what they were designed to do and had no problems...

For those of you thinking about the dowel method in the future, just double an triple check that the lifters are actually going to hit the dowel before you drop one in the pan and have to remove the motor...

Also, I recommend shaving the top of the dowel a bit so they can easily slide under the lifter trays...

Good luck!
Erik

EndlessSummer85

LOL that's awesome

orangeapeel

iTrader: (18)

Been in the "big dummy" situation before. lol

01redws6ta

I was skeptical about the driver's side because it fit so loose. The passenger side was very tight (I used 5/16" wooden dowels). I thought I could hear a lifter clink back down on the cam lobe as I spun the cam after the dowels were in, so I took a pushrod and pushed down on each lifter to see how much resistance there was before removing the cam. Each lifter would drop back down on the cam lobe with not a lot of pressure (both sides). I removed dowel to try to see in the passage...couldn't see all that well. I suspect these dowels just maybe put a little pressure on the side of the lifters to create a wedge effect (?). I spun the cam and put the dowel back in and said to hell with it and yanked the cam out. I let it sit for a couple of hours like this and all went back together OK. Did the dowels help any? I can't say for sure, but I would be pissed if I didn't use them and a lifter dropped.