Hey Guys,

So I am expecting my first child in August and I just got my annual bonus check from work, so I figured this is the perfect time to do the cam swap I have always wanted. My last hurrah before the little one takes up all my time/money. I bought my 97 Z in high school and have been wanting to do this ever since. I dont plan on reinventing the wheel, figured I would go withe the most popular/typical setup. I am going to do a CC503, 3600 stall, and 3.73 gears. This is not a DD, but is mostly just a street car, will take it to the track once or twice for fun. Motor was rebuilt maybe 15k miles ago with a master rebuild kit, so i feel confident in the bottom end. I will also get a tune after work is completed. My questions are regarding the supporting components for the cam.

I followed the advice on the Cam sticky here https://ls1tech.com/forums/lt1-lt4-m...ion-guide.html as well as the suggested components on the Comp Cams website here http://www.compcams.com/Company/CC/c...csid=1107&sb=2. Could you guys please take a look at my shopping list and let me know if all these work together and are the right ones to buy? Hyper links are included.

Cam - CC 07-53-8
Springs - CC 26918-16 I know new springs are a must.
Rockers - CC 1418-16
Lifters - CC 850-16
Push Rods - which ones do I need? I know chromoly is good, will need 3/16 for the rockers, but is 7.2 in the right length? Part number suggestions would be great.
Others - Do I also need to get valve locks, valve seals, & steel retainers? If so, what part numbers. Are all these items necessary to upgrade for my setup?

Thanks in advance for your responses.

 

Everything looks ok except for two questionable choices (IMO):

Roller rockers....IMO get the "good ones" FULL roller rockers, not "roller tip rockers" Comp cam Ultra Pro Magnums (or lunati ones); nearly twice as expensive as the ones you listed. Less friction though, and better quality. You get what you pay for...

Measure the pushrod length manually with a pushrod measuring tool as opposed to just guessing what length is needed.

 

Also, if your stock lifters are good, you don't need new ones. If you do, go with the GMPP LS7 lifters for almost half the cost.

Congrats on the kid! The back seats suck for child seats, but work great for booster seats and even better for the youngans after they get out of the booster (8 y.o). It's sized perfect for them, lol.

 

Thanks for the quick input guys. For the Ultra Pro Magnums, they look nice, but do you really think it is needed for my setup and the extra money? The GMPP LS7 lifters are a good idea, always up for options that can cut down on costs. I will check out the pushrod measuring tool as well.

 

The benefit is less friction. I also like the full rollers for setting lash because the locks screw on by hand. I set zero lash with those by spinning my rocker nut by hand until it stops, then adding my 1/8 turn with nut and lock with wrench.

 

Agree with the rocker comments. Don't waste your money on the roller-tip-only ones. The only reason they sell those is because they're cheap to manufacture.
Also agree with the lifter comments. If your stock lifters show no signs of distress, keep them. They'll probably outlast the Comp ones.

 

I've used the roller tip comps before with no issue, but honestly for the price if you want to save money just pick up some proform or scorpions full roller. My favorite thing about having a full roller like another poster mentioned is ease of setting valve lash.

As far as push rods go if stock length measures fine and you are using self aligning rockers you can reuse stock push rods as well.

 

Are the 97 LT1 pushrods factory hardened too?

 

503 cam, 3600 converter, and 3.73's is going to be a stout combo. I ran that same setup a ways back, felt as though it was a very well matched combination of parts.

I'm not up on the latest and greatest with LT1's anymore but here's what I used about 10 years ago when I did the 503 swap: Trickflow hardened pushrods, I was using 7.2" stock length. It is always good to check however. I used Crane 10308-1 springs and Comp Cams SA rockers but I forget which. I now have Comp Ultra Pro Mags NSA and recommend the NSA just in case you do future mods. I used the stock lifters but they literally had like 10k miles on them, the LS7's are a great replacement for those who need new ones.

 

IIRC some years are forget which. Picking some aftermarket hardened ones is cheap insurance though. Also I believe hardened or chromemoly are more of a necessity when running guide plates and nsa rockers some have done so with no issue on sa rockers.

 

Derek

I would run the Comp Ultra RR and the Crane 10308-1 spring kit vs the 918 bee hive

Comp 7608-16 5/16" hardened PR or the Trick Flo PR. Likely 7.200 but measure first

You are going to need new valve stem seals for the spring swap. You need ones for 11/32" valves that are .562 Viton. Fel Pro makes them or Lunati # 78562-16

The Ultra's RR you need to trim the drip baffle of the Valve covers. No big deal. Or get Crane Gold "narrow body" RR for the 3/8" stud. Those do not require any VC mod...although again that is simple

 

The rockers I was looking at and the Pro Magnums (1618-16) are both SA. How do I know whether to get SA or NSA?

 

they will have a small tab on the bottom tip side next to the "roller tip" or on Crane a washer on either side of the roller

that keeps the RR on the valve tip. NSA you need to use guide plates

the part # description of the part should note SA or NSA (self aligning or non self aligning)

 

95 pushrods should be hardened. I had a set out of a late 94 and they were also hardened. I still wouldn't use them though, they are still 3 piece.

You can't just order pushrods, the only way to really know what size you need is by measuring. This is especially true if heads/block has been decked, non stock lifters, etc.

Roller tip rockers are pointless IMO. A roller trunnion is where most of the gain comes from. GM realized this which is why the 3800 S2 and LS engines have roller trunnions only from the factory.

 

IIRC when I bought pushrods for my cam only setup hardened were about 1/3 the price of chromoly

 

Thanks everyone for the input. So it looks like I will go ahead with the Pro Magnum rockers, will switch to the Crane 10308-1 with the Lunati 78562-16 valve stem seals. I am also going to get this pushrod length checker. The extra expenses of the springs & rockers can be offset if I dont need new lifters, hopefully mine are still good. Is there anything else that I need to order? What about gaskets??

 

That's the length checker I use, should work for you. Are your lifters working now? No ticking? If so, a visual inspection is all that is needed. Mine went 175K with 27K since rebuild on a fairly aggressive cam and stiff springs before one started ticking.

 

I dont beleive they are ticking now, there is a little bit of noise but I suspect the headers arent quite sealed up perfectly, I am going to take them off and put a new gasket on while I do this. But I will plan on pulling the lifters out and doing a visual inspection.

 

The PR length tool noted is also the one I have...

But I also got one of these http://www.summitracing.com/parts/pro-66789/overview/
which showed = results as the adjustable but was very simple to use. Especially if you don't have a soft spring and solid lifter.

They make them in 7/16" also if that is your RR stud size

On header gaskets, I have hand excellent results with the FelPro 1470...but any gasket will fail if you don't keep your header bolts tight

 

Hey everyone, question on the Crane 10308-1 springs, Shouldnt the retainer be sitting flush with the top? Seems like this doesnt fit very good.