dougnstein

My harmonic balancer is in need of replacement and I keep reading people say that since it is so much work to install the underdrive pulley that you should install a new cam while you are in there... The head/cam install is too far down my list of things to do it at the moment however if i can get away with installing a mild cam now and heads later I believe i could handle that... my thoughts are that you have to remove the heads anyways to remove the pushrods and lifters before you can install the cam?? If that is the case then I will have to wait on the cam until later when i can do it all at once. Has anyone else been in this delima?

99 vett babycar

I think you'll find that most people recommend changing the pulley IF you're already changing the cam.There's a great deal of work involved in changing the cam and I really don't think it's a good idea to instal a "mild" cam now and later try to find a set of heads to match up to it. Later on, when you hqve the money, what you'll probibly end up doing then is going for a bigger cam that works better with the heads you want to installand useing the original "mild" cam as a boat anchor.
For now, if you can't afford a H/C setup, I'd just change out the pulley. But, hey, what the hell do I know ?

99C5JA1

You do not have to remove the heads to install a cam. Once the rockers and pushrods are removed, rotating the engine will lock the lifters up into their plastic keepers. After the lifters are raised you can insert a dowel into the holes machined in the block to ensure that no lifters fall into the oil pan. You can then remove the cam safely. If you are going to replace the cam buy one that you will be happy with down the road (medium to large) as this isn't a job you want to repeat very often.

02gt350

from just pulley to cam, there is alot more work to do.

Check the how to on ls1howto.com

double-oh-coupe

I say replace the cam if you can find the "right" one to install now that you will be happy with when you put your new heads on. I honestly don't think it is that much more work ... the most PITA part of the H/C install when I did it was the removing the steering rack. I honestly wouldn't want to do that more than once. (I suppose the most cumbersome additional work you'd have to do is remove the radiator, but even that is not that big of a deal IMHO. Beyond that, all you have to do is lock the lifters up like the previous post said, pull the front cover, removed the timing chain, and pull the cam. While you're in there I'd go ahead and replace the timing chain and the oil pump. Thats not a whole lot more $$$ to do and its good insurance for the future.) Whatever you do, good luck!

Cajundude

I would. You have to pull the rack to get the pulley anyway.

dougnstein

Thanks everyone for the input. I think i'm just going to replace the pulley and put the left over $$$ in a fund for a 383 or 402 down the road... I'm crossing over 130k miles and figure i can get another couple years out of it before it needs something large enough to justify an overhaul/upgrade. I appreciate everyone's help.