how hard is it to install a cam on a 95 lt1? about how long should it take and are there any special tools required?

 

Not an easy job and will take some time. Only special tools needed are a harmonic balancer puller and a fuel line disconnect tool, an extra set of hands would be usefull.

 

i left my fuel lines on the rail and just took the rail off the intake.

it could take u anywhere from a day to a week. i wouldn't depend on having the car on monday if you are gonna do a weekend job. it can be done pretty easily in a weekend, but that is if it is done correctly and there are no problems. if u can't afford to have some extra down time then i wouldn't suggest starting it. if this is your first time i wouldn't be surprised if it took 3 full days or more.

i would also suggest either making your own or somehow using an installer for the harmonic balancer. it is VERY easy to destroy the crank bolt by trying to install the balancer back on that way. i've done it myself and a guy at college that worked on LT1s to pay for schooling said he's destroyed tons. he let me use his installer when i did mine. later i made my own with a piece of badass 7/16" all thread, a nut, two stock crank bolt spacers, and some washers.

make sure the dowel pin (sticks out of the front of the cam) is the correct length so you don't destroy an opti or not be able to spin it.

on the 93-94 cars for sure i'd start the car before putting the water pump back on. it's easy to get that splined shaft off a little in the opti and taking the water pump back off to change it is annoying and you're just risking your opti dumping coolant all over it again. i'm not sure if there's any reason you would need to do this, but it might be a good idea anyway.

make sure since you're removing the radiator that you fill and bleed the system correctly. opening the bleeder screws while filling the radiator will save a lot of time and pain in bleeding, but it will still have to be done.

edit- i'm not sure about other people, but i've only done a cam swap on one 95-97 vented opti setup. we had to actually make a tool to get the water pump seal over that shaft without destroying it. we had to take a pice of pipe similar in size, grind it exactly flat on one end and then flare it out until it fit perfectly. i dind't have this problem on my 94, but we couldn't find a way to get around it on the vented setup.

 

Getting the radiator out is some work but do-able. Does the AC condenser need to come out too?
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71 Monte Carlo SS454 496 CID, 600HP
94 Formula project
89 Firebird banger

 

The AC condenser can be swiveled out of the way (no need to drian thesystem) to get the last bit of the cam out or start it in.

 

yeah, i figured that out shortly after starting my cam swap and already removing the condensor