flatlander757

Alright, my car has 195,000 miles on it so I know that a rebuild is probably in the future in the next year or so. So I got a book about rebuilding SBCs and stuff to get an understanding of what all is involved.

Something that got my attention was about cam bearings... here is the direct quote:
Because the cam turns at one-half engine speed and is subjected to only a fraction of loads of rod or main bearings, "standard" soft babbitt cam bearings work well in all applications. As long as the bearings are properly installed in the block and the cam is not bent, cam bearings will last just about forever.

I was wondering, as long as I take my time to install a cam correctly and lubricate it thoroughly upon installation, should I be okay for at least 10k miles? It will be accompanied by new lifters/roller rockers/hardened pushrods/appropriate valve springs of course.

Mid 12s is goal until I have money for a rebuild and ported heads.

RoAdRaGe912

maybe and maybe not. you can check out at least the front cam bearing when u pull the cam out and see how it looks/feels.

cam bearings are easy to change with the tool and i'd definitley get them swapped out during the rebuild. i'm not sure if i would wait to do the cam with the rebuild or not, but i probably would if i was already pretty close to rebuilding it. less time,effort, and money spent that way.

it's pretty easy to nick a cam bearing during a swap and if you don't have the money to rebuild it yet then you could end up stuck without a car. the only thing you'd probably have to worry about is if you nicked a bearing during install or if coolant had gotten into the oil.

i know you wanna go fast now, but if you can't afford to fix it, then usually it's a good idea not to do it.

flatlander757

Well if I were to get a leakdown and compression test on all the cylinders, and it's acceptable, if I changed the cam bearings do you think I'd be fine doing a H/C setup? At least one not meant to rev over 6000rpms...?

Do you need to pull the engine to change cam bearings?

Sorry for the stupid questions, I just don't know what the tool looks like or if it would work while engine is in the car

RoAdRaGe912

i think as long as you had good compression you should probably be ok. i really don't think the cam bearings would be in bad shape unless the car had lost a head gasket at one point and then you could easily see the same problems elsewhere.

i'm not trying to scare you off of it, just don't wanna see you rush it and get effed over, especially if you plan on the rebuild soon. if you spin a cam bearing you could lose yourself a good bit of money. when do u plan on the rebuild. if the engine is in good shape then i wouldn't have too many worries about it. i'd definitley pre-oil it well before starting it up again after the swap though.

i haven't ever changed cam bearings myself but have a few friends that have, so i'm not sure if the tool would fit or not. if anything you would just hafta take the extra setp and remove the front bumper and bumper support.

flatlander757

Thanks for the help

I think I'm going to get headers and a stall converter first, then I'll check compression and go from there.

Do you think it would be wise to get something like the hotcam package until I can afford a sick heads/cam setup?

And if I spin a bearing, I don't think it would phase me any(aside from car downtime) because I plan on getting a Golen shortblock so that everything is fresh when I start again.

I'll probably do the cam swap during my automotive class at school since my teacher is a big fan of Corvettes, so he has some knowledge on LT1s Plus all the tools to check crap are there too

96capricemgr

iTrader: (1)

The LT1 puts more load on particularly the front cam bearing than older smallblocks and can actually exibit cam bearing wear. If doing the full build within the next year I would save my money and not mod this engine that much unless maybe you get like a used cam and whatever rockers you get will swap over to the new motor and that sort of thing. Try to minimize cash layout and maximize the number of pieces that would be reused.

flatlander757

Thanks...

I know it would help save money to do it all at once, but I'm not even sure I'll need that much power to keep me happy.

Plus I want a bitchin lopey idle NOW

RoAdRaGe912

well if you're not worried about spinning a bearing then go for it.

i don't wanna start another hotcam argument. the hotcam is one of the smallest cams you can get and is extremely streetable. there are quite a few other cams that are just as streetable that can make your more power in different rpm ranges. your best bet would be to talk to somebody real instead of this board really. the hotcam thread that is up now is full of a lot of crap. many people will give you answers without thinking about the full situation, like you not wanting to spin over 6k, like where in the rpms what cams make what power, and the avg power across certain rpms that you're looking to spin.

the hotcam kit is a very nice price and it would make a great DD cam. it is small, but getting all that stuff for that price is hard to beat. it won't have any crazy lope to it or anything but you can definitley tell something is there. it would be a good cam to not spin over 6k rpms because it makes it's torque almost immediately and is pretty flat all the way up. if you want to go bigger, and you will especially with that golen block, then you can do that when you build that up.

96capricemgr

iTrader: (1)

There are things you can do to bring costs down with other cams too for example you could pick any cam you want say it ends up costing $250 which will get you a custom cam I have found the "cheap" ProForm rockers at $170 for SA to be suprizingly reliable put nearly 50K on a set of 1.5s with a little over 30K of that being with the cam and appropriate CM614(for iron heads) springs recently swapped half of them out in favor of a higher ration on the intake side and found the 8 I removed to be very tight yet. So we are at $370 leaving $130 to spend on springs and retainers and allowing us to hit a goal of $500 which is similar the the HOT kit. Now if you have to have Crane Golds, GMPP version of the Crane Golds, or Comp Pro Magnums then that is what pushes you over the HOT kit price. Alternately you could go $250 on the cam, $25 on new studs, $20 on GMPP guideplates, $30 on hardened pushrods(flatlander's 94 has these already) then spend $200 on somethig like a harland sharp rocker which I would think is higher quality than the ProForms which brings you to the $500 goal or a little beyond if you need the pushrods, leaving you to still need springs the LT4 springs are cheap though IF they will work with whatever cam you pick or you can spend $100 on something like the CM springs. Putting you over the HOT kit amount but not that much over and giving you a pretty stout valvetrain and allowing you to pick any cam you like rather than letting price do so.

I will admit the kit is attractively priced but feel price should not drive cam selection.
There are also brands like Scorpion that sell SA rockers for more like $220 plus $250 for a cam and $100 for CM springs again keeping you reasonably over the HOT kit price. Scorpoin are good rockers too I believe they are the choice of the guys going 1.7s and a friend used them on his dirt track car didn't see that many miles but it did see 7500rpms in a dirty nasty environment for the two years I helped him with no signs of trouble.
A little research can turn up an amazing variety of options don't let a kit narrow your focus too much.

flatlander757

Cost isn't really important, as long as it's not outrageous.

I was actually just thinking...
If I can do a cam only on a high mileage engine(provided compression is good and bearings are changed/at least in good shape), then what is preventing me from bolting on heads as well? Would an LE1 package put too much strain on it from the ~100 extra rwhp being produced? Because $1100 for the entire package would be worth saving for if my engine can take it.

I know I probably should get a rebuild first, but if assembled properly, will there be anything to worry about? I mean at worst the bottom end blows up, as long as I can transfer the heads/cam/etc over to a new motor, it won't be a total waste right?

96capricemgr

iTrader: (1)

I am a big believer in the strength of a stock bottomend but even I would worry about bearings at that milage. After doing one cam swap in car on my Caprice it is coming out for the next swap if you do the same bearings would be simple in addition.
Then I would have no reservations about heads and cam, but if it does go heads and paerticularly a cam meant for a 350 is going to be less than ideal for a 383. Will work but will peak at a lower rpm.

flatlander757

Thanks for all the info, you've been extremely helpful