jayyyw

Guess I'll use this as my build thread as well. Instead of starting another post.

Just trying to make sure I have everything before I attempt to perform the head/cam swap on my car. Here is a list of what I have:

Heads:
CNC ported
CHE bronze guides
OEM intake valves
Ferrea exhaust valves
Milled 0.050"
BTR .660 springs

BTR Stage 3 cam
Morel lifters
Pushrods 7.750" (for now, need to measure)
OEM Head Gaskets
Water Pump Gasket
Crank Seal
Timing Cover Gasket
Lifter Trays
ID1000s
Walbro 450
Flex Fuel Sensor
ARP head, crank, cam bolts

Need:
Oil
Coolant
Assembly Lube
C5R Chain???
160 Degree Thermostat??? (Texas Summers)
Anything else I should consider now?

Any special tools besides a torque wrench, crank pulley puller/installer?

Thanks in advance for ANY and ALL help!

Buddy A

Crank bolt, head bolts, pushrod measuring tool to verify pushrod length. Head bolt chaser to clean the threads prior to install.
Presuming heads are assembled
Pat is pretty damn good at tuning. He tuned mine and recently spec'd me a cam. I went with ARP bolts, but OEM will work

jayyyw

Totally slipped my mind. I have ARP crank, cam, and head bolts as well.

Buddy A

Are you doing cradle drop or rack removal? Cradle requires several bottle jacks

jayyyw

I was thinking cradle drop would probably be easier

Unreal

Timing chain and tensioner
ARP cam bolts and retainer plate IMO
Skip 160 t-stat. Complete waste of money.
Locktite
Front cover alignment tool
Appropriate valve springs/retainers/locks
Need 2 water pump gaskets
RTV
Brake cleaner/etc to clean head surfaces

If heads are not assembled, spring install height tool, shims, etc to install the springs. Spring compressor.

User Omega

I would suggest not dropping the cradle. On top of it being easier to remove the rack for crank pulley removal, you will not have to align the car after the job is done. Just make sure to tape your steering wheel in a straight position before unhooking steering shaft.

C5R chain: YES

Razor blade or very hard plastic scraper for removal of stubborn gasket material.

Scotch brite for removing carbon

I used WD 40 to clean surfaces. It was 0 degrees outside so fresh air was out. I did use a couple cans of brake cleaner on a few things.

Spark plugs - call your tuner. Probably TR6 or NGK 5791

Your cam retainer plate bolts will probably be a bit tough to remove. You may want to go ahead and order 4 of those. They are super cheap and already come with loctite on them.



Warning. Opinion section

Depending on what lifters your are buying from morel I would suggest dumping them for a set of Johnson 2116 link bar lifters. They are priced very nicely and you will not need to buy new lifter trays.

Go buy a roll of tape you can write on and some cheap sandwich bags. As you take bolts off of things be sure to put them in a bag and mark them. You will regret it later if you do not.

Do not use the tq lube with the ARP crank bolt. After using crank pulley install tool. Use Red loctite and Tq ARP bolt to 230 ft lb.

ZR1 injectors big enough: NO, to put it simply and really neither is your fuel pump. I would order a set of ID 1050X injectors for E85. You really aren't going to get more than 10 or so whp going to E85 anyhow. You could always ask your tuners opinion on this one.

Best alignment tools I have used. Also double as a seal install tool. http://www.saccitycorvette.com/AlignItTools.html

jayyyw

Thanks, Omega, and everyone else.

Must_Have_Z

Get the Hinson C7R chain. Same price as C5R, but better.

jayyyw

Are you referring to the dampener, or an actual tensioner?

Unreal

The plastic little dog bone part that goes between the chain. Cheap and easy to replace while in there. I am not a fan of reusing cheap/easy/plastic parts.

injfuel

How many miles on your car ? Because if they are low just use your stock timing chain , I was told by one of the most respected vendors on here (not mentioning name) exact words mind you "I'd rock your stock chain" that's after I told him my car had 21k miles , get 60lb injectors minimum and with your mods a stock pump with racetronix hot wire will work but keep in mind your pump is not e85 guaranteed (although I know at least 2 people on stock pump for a year now with the racetronix "hot" wire kit) if your on a budget you can try it or just wait till you have the money to do it right , walbro pumps are cheap and tons of how to threads on here

injfuel

I was wondering about the 160 stat myself , why do you say waste of money ?

Unreal

All it does is make the car take longer to get to operating temp. If car is running at 180f or 200f or anything over 160 then the t-stat is fully open. I wouldn't want the car to run at 160, even if you had enough cooling capacity to run there.

Low temp stats are a cheap/easy thing that shops like to peddle to people to make a quick buck.

outhouse

Unreal is correct that it does not help keep max temps down, your cooling system only has so much capacity and when its turned on by a thermostat makes no difference when pushing the car.


I bought it because of the heat soak, I'm running it now. Car runs much cooler 90% of the time it never gets over 180. I really don't need it in the winter here, but the summer it may make daily driving not such a hot affair.


I'm tempted to put the stock one back in until spring.

meanjoe

Save your money on the C5R chain. The stock one is good for way more HP than you're going to make. The guys are also right on the thermostat, save that money too. The only other things I'd tell you are to move the rack over a bit to the passenger side, much easier that way, And no alignment when you're done, especially if you're doing it on the shop floor. And then make sure you get a LONG reach balancer puller and installer. The Auto Zone rental unit won't work. I ended up having to get a Blue Point one from Snap-On. Also plan on loosening up your oil pan so you can get the oil pump back on. You'll need 1/4" swivel sockets for that. Good luck and I hope all this info from all of us helps you out.

American Heritage

Agreed!!!

If you want lower temps; simply change the fan temp setting in the tune. You can make the fans come on earlier or at different %'s with just a few mouse clicks.

http://www.americanheritageperformance.com/

jayyyw

Thanks again for the info and suggestions.. At this point, I need to select a tuner and see what they recommend as far as spark plugs and a few other small bits.

Unreal

Its as simple as this. Does your car run at the t-stat temp now? If you have a 180F in there is the car always 180f? If no, then a 160 does nothing but make it take 1-2 minutes more to warm up, which is a bad thing. If yes, then you have excess cooling capacity and it will lower temps. That being said, there is no valid reason to run under 180F.

jayyyw

I got what you're saying. Before I read the last couple replies, I did order a new dampener, IWIS chain, and 160 degree thermostat from Brian Tooley. Starting to think about cancelling the order tomorrow.

I was able to score a set of super low mileage ID1000s off a friend of mine for a great price. If I cancel my BT order, I can piece together a fuel pump kit.