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Question since I've never torn an engine apart. If you spin the camshaft a few times it will allow you to insert the rod all the way in correct? Once you install the new cam and pull the rod out what makes the lifters go back down? It may sounds like a dumb question but I'm trying to understand this crucial step.
When you put the push rods back in and torque down the rocker arms they will return to their proper place.
do I have to remove rockers and push rods to it this way I'm not changing springs
Yes, of course, otherwise there's spring tension on the lifters against the cam, and you won't be able to slide out the cam. What's talked about above is putting the pen magnets where the pushrods go to keep the lifters from falling into the bore.
I never changed the cam in my Vettes, but I did swap one in my LS1 Trans Am. I did the "spin and pray" method - spun the cam fast to force the lifters up, slid out the old cam, and then immediately slid in the new cam. It worked like a charm.
The short version, the lifter trays are the only thing that are keeping the lifters from rotating to cause the roller to chew up the cam lobs, and with a new cam, you better be replacing the lifter trays as well.
Yes, of course, otherwise there's spring tension on the lifters against the cam, and you won't be able to slide out the cam. What's talked about above is putting the pen magnets where the pushrods go to keep the lifters from falling into the bore.
I never changed the cam in my Vettes, but I did swap one in my LS1 Trans Am. I did the "spin and pray" method - spun the cam fast to force the lifters up, slid out the old cam, and then immediately slid in the new cam. It worked like a charm.
You can also insert brake lines into the oil galleys, 1 on each side. This will hold lifters up indefinitely, to buy time should an install problem arise. There's posts and videos out there showing how to do this. I agree with posts that say if you have 40,000+ miles on your trays, it's best to just pull the heads, and install new trays, and maybe lifters, depending on how wild the new cam is. ALWAYS use GM trays.......
The short version, the lifter trays are the only thing that are keeping the lifters from rotating to cause the roller to chew up the cam lobs, and with a new cam, you better be replacing the lifter trays as well.
Question since I've never torn an engine apart. If you spin the camshaft a few times it will allow you to insert the rod all the way in correct? Once you install the new cam and pull the rod out what makes the lifters go back down? It may sounds like a dumb question but I'm trying to understand this crucial step.
The lifters will drop with gravity, and/or rocker installation. Hope this is the "second smart thing" people read here!
You mean you don't recommend the "spin and pray" method? What a shocker.
Absolutely not! Murphys law has bitten me more than once! If it works, you look great, like a genius. If it doesn't, you look like a fool. Kind of like football, and going for the 60 yard field goal. Make it, you're a genius, miss it......Well, hero to zero will never come quicker!!
03-03-2011, 01:22 AM
I found the 1/4 in dowel worked better than the 5/16.
