Alright I just purchased a new CC503 cam with everything to do the swap from valve springs, retainers, locks, pushrods, roller rockers, and lifters. I even got some other little goodies to enhance everything like ported polished lt1 intake, 58mm throttle body, and #30 injectors.

I been reading up on it to try and do this swap myself to save the money. Being 19 doesn't help at all when it comes to trying to have money to supply your hobby. I'm really motivated on seeing if I can do it myself but of course don't want to mess anything up who does. I found the www.shbox.com does a wonderful job on explaining and showing detailed pictures on how to remove and install the cam. Honestly though when I read all the steps and look at it looks pretty difficult. Seems like it takes someone who knows really what there doing. I'm a novice on motors as far as getting down there and doing it. What is some peoples takes on how hard it is to do? Is it for a more intermediate motor enthusiast or can an everyday joe possiblely do it? If your an average joe and you did the swap yourself give me some feedback like how long it took and how comfortable you were doing it? I don't want to jump into something that is a little to much for me. I could just be a pus and think its harder than it looks?

It all depends I know a guy that can do it all for me but its going to cost about $600 and would rather save that and spend it on my car for more parts.

and please don't say you wont learn unless you do it kind of speech because just don't want to ruin my car it runs perfectly fine how it is now.

 

I'd say you need to read up ALOT before doing a full valvetrain swap....there's a lot you can mess up. There are no local guys to help/show you how??

 

Honestly I'm not sure if there are any local guys. I live in Albuquerque, Nm and the big hype here is having an LS1 of course. I go out racing every weekend and I know quite a bit of the guys but have never seen a cammed
lt1 before while I was out. I'm about 1 of maybe 7 lt1's around here and they don't even have much done as me.

 

Not trying to be mean, but if you're asking us to "rate" the difficulty of a cam swap, you probably shouldn't be attempting to do it yourself.

If you do attempt it however, we will try to help out as much as possible.

My advice is to SLOW DOWN, and READ DETAILED instructions at least 3 times.

I have the problem myself of jumping into a project head first and just figuring it out as I go along. That's all well and good until you **** something up thant 1,000 noobs have fucked up before you and could have been easily solved through RESEARCH, instead of stubbornness..

Not saying this is the kind of person you are, just saying its human nature, especially with young people to get excited about a project and want to just jump in head first and blaze through getting it done.

You also have to consider your time budget. I could do it again in a solid weekend, hell maybe even a really long day, but for a first time cam swapper, especially if you've never done this kind of thing on any engine, you should allot at least. 3-5 WORKING days to do it.

I know that sounds like a lot, but a lot of little unforseen issues can "pop up" and eat up TONS of time.

If you have a good place to work on it, where it can be torn apart for a wk or two, and dont mind taking the time and making SURE you're doing every step of it right, I say go for it!

It's hard to find someone else who will take as much pride and care in your car as you do. I get screwed everytime I try to take something to a shop or let someone else do it.

Usually better off just doing it yourself and learning as you go, that way you gain the skills for the future and you know it's done right, or at least if it isn't you know who to blame... lol

Good luck which ever direction you choose.

 

the cam swap is the easy part, its getting to the little bugger and putting everything back is the hard part

i would say for a beginner a 9 out of 10 on difficulty. Theres a lot you can **** up, such as timing, dropping a valve or not adjusting rockers correctly or forgetting a vital piece and screwing up your engine etc....

 

I've done it, and it was not the worst thing but for certainly, if you do not have prior LT1 exp in tearing a motor down this is an easy 9 out of 10. My PITA part was having to drop the oil pan and putting in new valve springs. Also trying to get the seal on the timing chain cover not to bust out was another issue as well.

 

It is difficult for one that has very to no knowledge of building motors, as said you can screw up things. Read alot, ask alot of questions and when doing something make sure you understand and not guess. First off you need to see what kind of tools you need for everything, Disconnecting fuel lines, torx tips ect....

 

Best advice if you are on the fence, and decide to go forward with the job.
Allow a great deal of time to get the job done. Give it a month or two if needed. If this is a daily or near daily driver, don't do it without decent help.

Most important things on the cam swap.
1. Don't tear that oil pan gasket when removing the timing cover or you will end up with leaks.
2. Don't gouge the cam bearings when sliding the old cam and and sliding the new cam in or low oil pressure issue will result which will lead to pulling the motor. There is a technique to doing this the right way which includes rotating the cam, supporting its weight with bolts in the front and lots of patience.
3. When reinstalling the crank hub, ensure the arrow on the hub is pointing to 12 o clock with the #1 piston at DC. You will want this for the spring swap.

Most important things on spring swap.
1. Make damn sure the piston is at perfect or very near top dead center when removing the pair of valve springs so the valves do not drop. This is easy to do by using the arrow on the hub for reference.

2. Check your install heights and make sure they are in spec to avoid in chance of coil bind. With a CC, this most likely will not become an issue since it is not very high lift.

3. Make sure the valves are adjusted correctly with the lifters on the base circle of the cam.

ABOVE ALL. KEEP THINGS CLEAN AND DONT GET JUNK IN THE MOTOR.

 

like BSM said hardest part is valvesprings (especially if they're dual coil) and oil pan

 

the only hard part -imo- is adjusting the valves.. well that and just working in our engine bay
I swapped the heads and cam this summer and it was my 1st time doing any internal work. I got confused on a couple small things putting it all back together but thats what this place is great for
I used shbox's directions as well as my haynes manual and this is also a good read about the intake while your in there> http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/Downs/4013/ol.html

 

Alright have a few more little questions to see if I can get comfortable with this.

Is it very easy to bang up everything when you try to slowly pull out the cam? I mean like can you hit something with a little tap or just dead serious nothing has to touch?

When you change out your valve springs you make sure you get TDC on the piston your working with so that your valves dont go falling down in your motor? This is probably going to be one of the most scariest situations with my I'm not a steady guy.

 

So have majority of all you guys on here done it yourself?

 

A light touch on the bearing surfaces is okay, but a BANG is not a welcome sound. It's impossible for the lobes to not contact the bearings on the way in and out, so just be mindful there.

Truth of the matter is that there isn't enough stroke to fully lose a valve in the chamber. It will still remain in the guide so you could pull it back up with a strong magnet. It is advisable though to keep the piston up to make the valve stem easier to work with. But it's nice to know that even if you mess up, you can't lose it entirely.

I did it myself yes. Although having 2 or 3 friends and a few beers on hand will make the job MUCH easier, even if it's just for moral support.

 

The cam lobes are going to make contact with the bearings, its not possible to NOT touch them. Gotta just gotta have a soft touch and again, take your time. I just take it in sections, rather than just pull it out in one large motion.

Yes. Most of these guys, myself included, are gearheads.
I can change a cam in 2-3 hours by myself.

 

Alright wow cool really appreciate the info might just see if I could get a couple of magnets and when I do the valve springs just hold them up with a magnet and see if I could get it done a little easier. I'm definitely getting a little more comfortable with it. Going to keep reading up the tutorials and see if I got some more questions.

 

I only mentioned the magnet because that's what you'd use to retrieve the valve if it fell below the guide. The right way to do it is to put the piston at TDC. If you do it this way you won't need a magnet.

 

I have had my share of heart attacks seeing the valve drop down into the guide when removing the retainer. But I think most people lose sight of really how hard it is to totally "drop" a valve into a cylinder anyway.

Even if the valve drops below the top of the guide to the point you cant pull it out by hand assuming it hits the piston and it is still captured by the guide. It can then be pulled out with a magnetic retriever or by slowly and carefully turning the crank over by hand and allowing the piston to gently push it back up within reach.

The valve guide is a couple inches long too dont forget. You can have the piston at mid stroke and not really drop the valve into the cylinder. You just pull it back out and next time make damn sure the piston is at or very near TDC.

Now if the piston is at bottom dead center, the valve will drop completely out of the guide and then its lost in the cylinder which means the head is coming off.

The tool that pressurizes the cylinder with air is wonderful if you have access to the spark plugs. On any 4th gen, this tool is a friggin joke.

 

OEM valves are 4.91" long. Stock stroke is 3.48". I'm not sure of the distance from the top of the piston to the bottom of the valve guide, but I'm fairly sure it's less than 1.43". Maybe someone can confirm this. If it's true it's impossible to completely drop the valve.