Cam Swap without pulling the heads? Quick Question
Cam Swap without pulling the heads? Quick Question I know its been done but I have one question before I attempt it. when you spin the camshaft to push all the lifters up they are only going to move the amount of lift of the stock camshaft. when I put dowel rods in to hold the lifters up how am I supposed to maneuver a new cam with much more lift passed the lifters?
Who has experience with this? and are there any little tricks that I need to know? its an LS3 if that makes any difference at all
Thanks, Anthony
Who has experience with this? and are there any little tricks that I need to know? its an LS3 if that makes any difference at all
Thanks, Anthony
I know its been done but I have one question before I attempt it. when you spin the camshaft to push all the lifters up they are only going to move the amount of lift of the stock camshaft. when I put dowel rods in to hold the lifters up how am I supposed to maneuver a new cam with much more lift passed the lifters?
Who has experience with this? and are there any little tricks that I need to know? its an LS3 if that makes any difference at all
Thanks, Anthony
Who has experience with this? and are there any little tricks that I need to know? its an LS3 if that makes any difference at all
Thanks, Anthony
TECH Veteran
Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 4,049
Likes: 2
From: Loganville, GA
I know swapping the cams on the LS1/2 motors...all you need is 16 pen magnets to drop in the pushrod holes to hold the lifters up. just slide them in till you hear it click and feel it pop on the top of the lifter.
Ive done 2 LS3 cam swaps. One was going from the stock lift (.551) to a .621. All I did was rotate the cam 8-10 times and slide one out and the other in. The second time was much closer on lift and the result was the same. I can only imagine that .075 isn't enough to keep it from passing through. The lifters rollers have a slight bevel on the side that may give enough ramp to push the lifter up. Great question. Im glad I didn't think about that when I did my cam swaps. It would have worried the crap out of me, LOL.
Ive done 2 LS3 cam swaps. One was going from the stock lift (.551) to a .621. All I did was rotate the cam 8-10 times and slide one out and the other in. The second time was much closer on lift and the result was the same. I can only imagine that .075 isn't enough to keep it from passing through. The lifters rollers have a slight bevel on the side that may give enough ramp to push the lifter up. Great question. Im glad I didn't think about that when I did my cam swaps. It would have worried the crap out of me, LOL.
Thanks guys i feel alot better about this now
Teching In
Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 31
Likes: 0
There are @ 9 and 3 o'clock 2 small holes. You will see them when you get the timing gear off. I use a 5/16 thick, 23 inch long, round wood dowel which I slip into these holes as I rotate the cam. This holds the lifters up and thats why they put the holes their.
Yes, the lifter trays should hold the lifter up, but when you slip in the wood dowel, the lifter can not fall if the trays are worn. After the wood dowel is in place, I remove the cam and then reinsert the new cam. Remove the wood dowel and use the pushrods to push the lifters back on the cam lobes.
I found the wood dowels at Lowes or home depot.
There's several posts about this with pictures if you do a search.
Regards, Tom.
Yes, the lifter trays should hold the lifter up, but when you slip in the wood dowel, the lifter can not fall if the trays are worn. After the wood dowel is in place, I remove the cam and then reinsert the new cam. Remove the wood dowel and use the pushrods to push the lifters back on the cam lobes.
I found the wood dowels at Lowes or home depot.
There's several posts about this with pictures if you do a search.
Regards, Tom.
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There are @ 9 and 3 o'clock 2 small holes. You will see them when you get the timing gear off. I use a 5/16 thick, 23 inch long, round wood dowel which I slip into these holes as I rotate the cam. This holds the lifters up and thats why they put the holes their.
Yes, the lifter trays should hold the lifter up, but when you slip in the wood dowel, the lifter can not fall if the trays are worn. After the wood dowel is in place, I remove the cam and then reinsert the new cam. Remove the wood dowel and use the pushrods to push the lifters back on the cam lobes.
I found the wood dowels at Lowes or home depot.
There's several posts about this with pictures if you do a search.
Regards, Tom.
Yes, the lifter trays should hold the lifter up, but when you slip in the wood dowel, the lifter can not fall if the trays are worn. After the wood dowel is in place, I remove the cam and then reinsert the new cam. Remove the wood dowel and use the pushrods to push the lifters back on the cam lobes.
I found the wood dowels at Lowes or home depot.
There's several posts about this with pictures if you do a search.
Regards, Tom.
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