98Z28CobraKiller

iTrader: (17)

Alright guys, here I go again. As some of you that followed my original post on the conversion to the LS2 402 in my 98 Z28 know, it was long and painfull and I ran into quit a few snags along the way. In trying to figure out my problems, I entered into some dialogue w/ Tony Mamo from AFR (as well as others on this site that were extremely helpfull). It was amazing to me that a guy w/ Tony's knowledge and experience was so accessible and patient. Keep in mind that I didn't buy anything directly from Tony and the only thing that was right in my setup was the AFR heads . Tony went on to help me find most of my problems (all the while baiting me to buy the FAST90 and have him port it ). So some time has passed and I scrounged up the $$$ to buy the FAST 90/90 and have him port it for me. We also discussed my cam and he set me straight on the bigger is better debate. I was still sceptical, but after reading many many many threads that proved his position, I was able to set aside my misconceptions and take a leap of faith.

As with my previous post, I will try to take as many pictures and be as detailed as possible with my write-up. I will not be posting any pictures of the intake off of the car (out of respect for Tony and his art) so please don't ask.

I wish that I could say that I am excited to get started but...........I'm not and am a little nervous about taking apart the car now that I have it running pretty well and have the tune mostly worked out.

Wish me luck!!!!

Patrick G

iTrader: (14)

Look forward to your posting your new results!

ringram

Whats your new cam specs? 23x/23x?

Would love to see the pics and documented process.

Billiumss

iTrader: (11)

I'll be there some day.... Watching this...

98Z28CobraKiller

iTrader: (17)

Here's another guy that has been very helpful.

98Z28CobraKiller

iTrader: (17)

Tony recommended the following custom grind from Comp Cams:
Intake Lobe 244@0.050 .612" lift
Exh. Lobe 248@0.050 .615" lift
On a 111 LSA

I was also considering this one from Patrick G:
243/251 .653/.660 110LSA +2

But I would have had to change my springs and I didn't want to get that far into it or have the added expense of the new springs when the heads are brand new and so are the springs.

98Z28CobraKiller

iTrader: (17)

OK, so I had big plans to wake up early this morning and knock this out today. After doing some more reading about pulling the cam without pulling the heads in an LS2, I found out that the lifter cups are not as good at holding up the lifters as the LS1 cups. Looking at my previous write-ups, you can see that I wasn't about to tempt fate and go at this hoping for luck to be on my side (the bitch (Lady Luck) hates me). So I set out to buy some telescoping magnets to hold the lifters up. I went to the local autoparts and they had 4 on the shelf at $7.00 each ( times 16 = $112 ). I went to Home Depot and they had them for $6.50 each but they only had 8. Still too much money. I called Harbour Freight and they had 25 in stock at $2.00 each. Now we're talking. Took a ride across town and picked them up. Next I went to the autoparts store to get the water pump gaskets that I forgot to get at the first autoparts that I went too and they don't stock them. Went to 2 more autoparts and got the same story. I ended up having to go to the dealership and get them. An hour and a half, $2.18 (for gaskets) and $10.00 in gas later, I was on my way home to get started. By this time it is close to noon in S. Florida.



(EPA Employees and treehuggers please skip next sentence) So, I push the car out into my gravel driveway and drain the coolant. Go get changed and I dig in to the project.

First out is the airbox.


Then the plastic cover and aluminum dyer duct/intake tube


Then the stock ported TB (soon to be for sale) and the ram air cowl thingy.


Then I went after the coil packs and valve covers. The last time that I took these off, a friend suggested that I leave out the one bolt in the back of each set. That was a good move.


Then I pulled the intake. The fuel rail will require a special fuel rail tool. I used air tools this time and I had to give a warning at this point. While using an air ratchet on the back drivers side bolt for the intake, be careful not to back the bolt out all of the way. The air ratchet will get pinned to the underside of the dash there and is a bitch to get out........not that I did that as it would be sooooo stupid....I'm just saying. Also, be careful pulling out the intake and make sure to disconnect the little vaccuum line and MAP sensor plug. I disconnected the brake booster vaccuum line at the booster and pulled it out with the hose attached as it is pretty tough to get back there to remove the clamp.


Next I decided to replace the bolts in the valley cover with the lower profile allen bolts provided with the FAST Intake. I have poor short term memory and didn't want to forget this step.
Before

After


Next I pulled the rockers, pushrods, fans and radiator. Pretty easy part.


And last but not least for today, I pulled the water pump and removed the A/C belt. I should mention that the last time that I drove the car (day before yesterday) I threw the belt. I went to the autoparts and bought a new one and got on it as I was getting close to the house and threw the new belt. I was thinking that the tensioner was bad but it feels pretty strong. I shrugged it off and left the belt off knowing that I was going to tear it apart anyways. Well, I went to pull the balancer pulley bolt out as my last step and it was completely loose. By this I mean that it wasn't even finger tight. I remembered that when I put it on the last time, I had run out of loctite and just figured I would put it on REAL TIGHT and it would be good. Guess not. I have loctite now


And here is a picture of my workbench/AC Handler/AC Compressor


Stay tuned for tomorrows adventure where we will see if the cam really does come out without having to remove the AC Condensor and lose all of my freon. It looks pretty tight to me.

P.S. I stopped at this point because I wanted to let as much coolant drain from the block as possible. The coolant holes will drip into the oil pan if the coolant is still dripping out after you remove the timing cover. I will jack the front of the car about six inches before I start to keep the coolant in the motor while I have the timing chain cover off.

Haans249

iTrader: (24)

Really good way to get all of the coolant out is before you pull anything off, take the radiator cap off, open the drain plug in the bottom, then clamp the overflow tube right below the radiator top. Then, using your air compressor, and something to seal around the radiator cap pressurize the system from where the cap goes ,and just watch all of the coolant in your engine come shooting out of the little drain plug. Quick and easy =D. It might take a minute, but it'll save time and mess in the end.

Best of luck with the project!!
Adrian

98Z28CobraKiller

iTrader: (17)

Damn Haans, I never that of blowing the water out. Thanks for the tip. Hmmm, isnt the thermostat closed when the car is cold? Will the coolant still come out anyway?

98Z28CobraKiller

iTrader: (17)

The wife put me on lawn maintenance duty today so I haven't been able to get much done. I might pull the pulley and get it all out if I get a few. Sigh!

bandit_99

Thats interesting- good way to do it, sounds less messy. I just left the coolant and sucked the head bolt holes dry with a brake bleeder- then filled them up with brake cleaner and sucked that out with the brake bleeder. Seemed really easy compared to the paper towel method.

DrkPhx

iTrader: (15)

That's almost the same exact spec of my cam except mine is on a 113 lsa. This is the cam Rapid Motorsports has been using since the LS2 402 came out. Curious to see what the exhaust will show if you degree the cam.

Beast96Z

iTrader: (21)

That's what I was gunna say. That's been a pretty popular cam since the 408's started hitting the market. From what I've seen it's always made good numbers. I had the same exact spec in my 383 a while back. Still got the cam card laying here on the desk.

98Z28CobraKiller

iTrader: (17)

Well, I was able to get the old cam out and the new one in w/o dropping any lifters. I think that I was sweating more from being nervous than from the 96* outside. I will post some pics after I get back from picking up my son from day care.

98Z28CobraKiller

iTrader: (17)

Here's what I did today. I only had 2 hours available to work on it.

I pulled the balancer w/ a 3 claw puller and an old socket so as not to hurt the threads in the crank.


Next I removed the front cover. Make sure to get the bottom 2 bolts that are in the oil pan.


I took a before picture of the old cam dot to dot to have something to compare to as I did not have access to the stuff to degree the cam in.


Here is a picture of all of my pen magnets that I used to hold the lifters up.


Next I removed the 10mm bolts that hold the cam timing sprocket being really carefull not to drop any of the bolts in the oil pan. Then I removed the 4 10mm bolts that hold the cam cover plate again being really carefull not to drop any in the oil pan.


I then dropped the pen magnets down into the pushrod holes making sure that the telescope was out far enough so that the magnet made contact w/ the lifter. When they touch, you can tell. I bent the pen clips out insuring that if one of the lifters did drop from the cup, it wouldn't take the magnet with it. I spun the cam and watched the pens. As the different lifters came up, I would push the pen magnet down to where the clip was snagged on the head. This insured that they stayed all the way up. Just so you know, 3 of the lifters fell away from the cup, the second I removed the magnets after I installed the new cam. Well worth the cost.


Finally, I took a picture of the new cam in dot to dot.


Tony Mamo was kind enough to send me a PM asking me if I had a pushrod length checker. I don't. He told me that with the stock rockers, there should be between 1.5-2 turns past the point where the rocker makes contact with the valve to when it is all of the way torqued down. I had exactly 1.75 turns. I hope to finish putting it together and crank it up tomorrow. The next pictures that I will post will be of the FAST Intake portion of the install as the rest is just the reverse of what I have already posted.

PS. The condensor does have to be pulled out as far as possible but the hoses have enough slack that you don't have to actually remove it. I should have taken a picture but I was running really tight on time.

Haans249

iTrader: (24)

Hmmm, Your dots don't look lined up properly. You might be a few degrees off, does anyone else agree?

DrkPhx

iTrader: (15)

Definitely off, at least from the angle the second picture was taken.

98Z28CobraKiller

iTrader: (17)

I'll take the cover off again and double check.

See5

iTrader: (53)

Looks like it is on the right tooth to me.

You might want to slot the back side of the cam gear to allow oil to leak in behind it. There have been numerous instances of the plate wearing against the cam.

98Z28CobraKiller

iTrader: (17)

OK, I took the cover off and made sure that the crank gear was at exactly center while turning clockwise. It looks like it is right on to me. Any thoughts?