Good question..... ?

 

I did mine when i was 19, im 20 now, and this is the first car i have EVER worked on, i just got the writeup from ls1howto.com The install wasnt hard, the only part you could mess something up is if you choose to not use the jrp tool to hold the lifters up when your pulling the old cam out and putting the new one in, the jrp tool is just basically a solid tube of metal that slides in the holes in the block where the lifters are (you'll see what holes im talking about on the guide) you can go to home depot or lowes or whatever and buy tubes just like it for like $5, thats what i did, except i couldnt get one side in so i had to let the oil hold them up (which many shops do, the tool isnt required by any means its just peace of mind) They say a tune is required but i didnt get one for months, i was also on the stock converter, and manifolds at the time and it ran fine, but with the stock converter being so tight it would die very easily on a warm start when i put it in gear so you have to let it idle for a little bit before putting it in gear. The power gain was decent, although i was being chocked by the manifolds and ls1 intake, which i still have (intake). Now im building the new motor, im using the same cam, have the heads, intake, and waiting on the actual shortblock. Im going to be replacing the motor my self too, something i never ever thought i'd do, but being in college you know that the funds arent there to pay $2000 to have the old motor pulled, swap all the pumps, cam, etc. and put the new one back in, i need that 2k for the tranny build.

 

Nice, you've got me really considering it. Did you notice a dip in your gas milage after the cam install? My broke college *** can't afford that lol.

 

I know what you mean man, college is rough when trying to mod and keep a car nice. My gas milage didnt seem to drop much, maybe 2mpg, but i'm sure i picked up at least 1 mpg with the LT's, and ORY. Right now i average about 20MPG 50/50 highway and city. but thats on a 135k motor, so with the new motor i expect to pick up another 1 or 2 mpg. Honestly man look at it this way, if you do it yourself all your costing yourself is time, even if you drop a lifter if you decide not use the tool its just more time taking the head off to get it back, (there is also a pen magnet trick to hold the lifteres aswell) Really you cant "break" something unless your just aggressive w/removing and replacing the stuff, just set yourself a weekend, or if you have a 3-4 day weekend even better and just take your time, and use the money you would have paid a shop to do it and get a tune, or whatever else you want, i always figure, say it cost me $1000 for a cam swap at a shop, i just figure im paying my self that $1000 to do it myself.

 

Warm weather always make mine feel like a turd but when it cools back down Im happy again