Rep Power: 875

badass dude. how much hp we lookin at now? i think he took the manifold off for the lifters and pushrods...but im not sure

 
Rep Power: 886

Its about the only way to do it is to take the intake off when you have to pull the lifters out- unless you have pop-up lifters there isn't really any other choice-You can easily pull the pushrods, but not the lifters without taking the intake off.

Its really not that hard at all- a lot of people are scarred to dive into the motor, but its nothing more than a bunch of bolts. And the wiring is nothing to be scarred of either- the connectors are all different, and the ones that are the same are labeled so as long as you can see you are all set.

Matt- well then that makes sense, I don't blame you. I did the same thing when I got my cam- I got an awesome deal on it- it was a blower/nitrous cam, but at the time I was running my car n/a.

The part I hate the most is dealing with the timing cover. I know its been that way on SBC's forever, but I can't stand it!!

 
Rep Power: 875

why dont you like dealing with the timing cover, joe?

 
Rep Power: 922

Chad, you cant keep the lifters up on an LT1 like you can on LS1s (spin the cam and hope they stay up, or put the rods through the block to hold them up) you gotta pull the intake to take out the lifters to remove the cam, which i did twice cause the first time i took it out, i needed another inch to pull it out and the hood latch was RIGHT in the way. that sucked.lol.

Joe, the biggest thing i had trouble with the getting the opti on. wasnt Terrible, but not nearly as easy as a standard SBC distro. took about 5 minutes to get it in and when i had it, i knew i was good to go. although still worried.hehe.

 
Rep Power: 0

Well I would never just spin the cam and hope the lifters stay up. That's just asking for trouble. I used Thunder Racing's little metal dowel rods that hold them up.

 
Rep Power: 922

ya thats what i was refering to. i know MANY people that just spin the cam and swap em out. hehe. i personally would buy the rods but many get away without them. o well, LT1, the mani comes off.

 
Rep Power: 886

Because of having to drop the oil pan. I know the idea is good and it works, but its a PITA, esp in the 4th gen motor bays getting to all the bolts.

The opti can be a little tough, but you know when its on there right. If it popped right on then you know its right- if it doesn't seat against the cover then its not right.

 
Rep Power: 922

yep, i was having trouble and wasnt sure if the new rubber seals i put on were causing trouble or not, so i removed them and pushed harder than before and it went on, then i took it out and put them back on and it was all good. my Dad was SO nervous that i didnt get the timing marks lined up right (him and many people i know and have talked to said its so easy to screw up and causes big problems obviously, lol) cause he was away when i did it but he got back and just prayed it was right. i was confident it was good but i know it is now cause it runs great. i had an awesome time doing the swap and im sure i could cut out a LOT of time doing it again now that i know all the shortcuts and whatnot.

and Joe, i know what you mean about the cover and oil pan, but honestly, i didnt have much trouble at all pulling the pan down. i removed all the bolts except the last 2 i left in right near the bellhousing.
whent it came time to installing the cover it was a bit of trouble but not too terrible. i pushed it onto the pins and put the top bolt in place to keep on, then stuck a big screwdriver between the block and oil pan and just worked with it, got the cover over it, then worked with the gasket(which i was extra careful with when pulling off and putting back on) and used a flatblade to get it laid down real well on the pan and timing cover. it went real well actually, i took my time and im glad i had the patience to get through it all. it is DEFFINITELY not an easy task, although i would do this again before headers i think.lol. it was much easier tho since my engine bay isnt stock, alot of things were gone and i didnt have much crap to take off or work around. one of the main problems i had after bending the condenser out of the way was getting it to fit properly again with the radiator and the shroud cover and around the radiator cap. it kinda sucked and its in there a stupid way IMO but its back how i pulled it out so thats all that matters.

 
Rep Power: 1093

looks cool.. I have to give it to you guy, Im such a about taking **** apart... Id never remember where everything goes.

 
Rep Power: 815

I definetly envy you Matt. I want a cam so bad, but my car is still my DD. I am very limited on how long she can be down for. Congrats on the completed project. Good work! I just can't wait for the vid/clip.

 
Rep Power: 795

Looks good bud! I know exactly what you went through. Get a tune on that car and see what it will really do. With mine I had a little fun before the tune, but was data logging and saw that it was really being held back. Got the tune and man, 40 miles per hour and it breaks them loose. Whole different animal. Only thing that sucks is, my new found power blew out my 2500 mile built tranny. RRRRRR! I got that covered though, will post up soon.

 
Rep Power: 922

haha nice Jim. im deciding if im gonna have Ion tune it or FLP and go with the dyno tune. im not sure if i wanna do that yet or not. im also contemplating some rear gears, but im limited to around 400 bucks right now(not for long so im gonna hold off on everything and keep pondering) but im also worried about this rearend.hehe

 
Rep Power: 805

I applaud u matt. It takes some big ***** to do a cam swap and do it right!

 
Rep Power: 1093

You must be confused... were talking about minidick matt here.

 
Rep Power: 935

Burn.