[1970judge]

I plan to get started around mid november. This is my 7th motor but my first incar motor modding, as all my others have been on stands. First off since my car will be down for a long while any tips to keep it from locking up? I plan to change the oil in it before i start the job. Next anything i should watch out for/dont **** up on? How hard is getting new cam bearings in, never done that with a motor in the car before either. My car will be sitting from december til i finish which i would venture to say about late feb-beginning of march because i have a busy holiday schedule. Do i need to take my a/c out? if so how much does it cost to discharge?

Also will i have enough room to drop my hookers in while im at it? might as well get it knocked out too.

 

[gettinthere]

I've never even attempted to do cam bearings with a motor in a car.

But other than that, the same install is pretty straight forward. Get as much out of the way as possible. Anytime I do a swap I get all the way down to the block. Take the entire top 1/2 off and taking the headers off helps too. If you have the room, I'd recommend it. The A/C will be fine. Last winter my car was torn apart for about 8 weeks while doing H/C. No problems. Put rags in the cylinders and cover the block with a towel or sheet when you're not working on it.

 

[1970judge]

How much of the front part has to come off? Can i get by with just fans or radiator coming too?

 

[jpsartre12]

How much of the front part has to come off? Can i get by with just fans or radiator coming too?

You'll have enough room if you take the fans and rad out. We did a cam swap in my son's car in an unheated garage 2 winters ago. It wasn't fun, but it can be done. Heads don't need to be taken off, but rocker will have to be loosened, push rods and lifter taken out. You're probably replacing the lifters, at least, anyway, right? You can hand crank the engine periodically to keep the cylinders from rusting. rags in the cylinders and a towel in the valley is a great idea if you remove the heads.
Good luck. BTW, what size cam are you going with?

 

[gettinthere]

Like he said, removing the heads aren't a must. But if you are replacing the valvetrain it makes things much easier.

You'll want to yank the radiator too for clearence.

 

[1970judge]

Im undecided. I have a new motor that will go into the works soon so this cam-only thing is just for fun/sound/little extra ponies. I would like to see how much the cam itself gives, also planning to start up my own site one of these days so this can be a budget build write-up for the new guys. For now it looks like the hotcam kit. Rockers,springs, and cam cant beat it. But the hotcam just doesnt have the idle sound i was looking for. Im torn between sacrificing sound but getting most in one kit and getting more sound form say a 224/230 comp cam but having to buy everythin seperate.

 

[jpsartre12]

Im undecided. I have a new motor that will go into the works soon so this cam-only thing is just for fun/sound/little extra ponies. I would like to see how much the cam itself gives, also planning to start up my own site one of these days so this can be a budget build write-up for the new guys. For now it looks like the hotcam kit. Rockers,springs, and cam cant beat it. But the hotcam just doesnt have the idle sound i was looking for. Im torn between sacrificing sound but getting most in one kit and getting more sound form say a 224/230 comp cam but having to buy everythin seperate.

The weakness of the LT-1 is in the heads. Stock heads don't flow enough to get big gains from cam only swaps. If you're looking for radical lope, I have a .630's lift/242-244/112-114 separation on my stroker and I even get middle aged people like myself telling me that it sounds good. the only problem is when it tries to idle under 950, though, the SES light comes on and my Scanmaster code 33 registers (low MAP) just before it wants to stall.

 

[1970judge]

Im not looking for radical. I dont want to be flycutting the pistons or nothing. Just a cam that will sound damn good at a stoplight and let the neighbor hood know i just pulled into my driveway, all the while making decent gains. I know lt1 head weakness and im not looking for an ls1 type gain just some gain so i can honestly tell someone this cam gave me x amount of power with a cam only swap.

 

[1970judge]

I would like to get my hooker lt's on at the same time. Will i have enough space to put these on?

 

[Enthusiast]

How long (in hours) do you guys think this would take. I hear some people talking about 6 hours of work.

 

[1970judge]

Well it will take me a lot longer if i start while im still in school. Because some days school and work. 6hours?? Not unless this is your sevenbillionth cam swap and even then i dunno. Look at a week minimum once again if you have lots of time on your hand. Which is why my swapping date has been pushed back. My cam of choice is the 305 cam. I hear good things and i like the sound.

 

[Enthusiast]

Yah the people that say they can do it in 6 hours, have done a ton of cam swaps. I think they may be able to do it, but it would be a stretch. All of the ones I've helped on have taken a weekend with a couple of guys helping. Are you leaving the LM on with the headers and cam? Changing mufflers?

 

[1970judge]

Yah for now im going the cut out way. So yah im keeping my LM.

 

[Enthusiast]

Cats or No Cats?

 

[1970judge]

Please this is judge your talking to here, do i look like i would use cats? :lol:

 

[Enthusiast]

I'd really like an exhaust clip of you car when you get the cam and headers in.

 

[1970judge]

Ill get one.

 

[1970judge]

For now i have to decide how i am going to work this out. I want to have my stuff done by spring when my car comes out of hibernation. But i dunno im going for a barebones swap for a couple of reasons. So i have to get all my stuff ready and bought so i cna at least have a month to do the swap. So im slating to have all my parts on my floor by march. Tough suqeeze.

 

[SlowPurpleLT1]

well keep me posted... im doing heads and cam while mine is in hibernation... this is my first time doing it by myself so im a little nervous.. havent decided what im going to go with yet but ive got a lil while before i get my tax return so.... research research research

 

[gettinthere]

Kyle, if you need help just ask us.