We are going to make a new sticky about the LT1 cam swap since people are having problems with their searches. I am not sure what they answers they cannot find but Dimented, 90 and I get emails and PM's on a weekly basis with questions on this swap. We are not sure how extensive people have actually seached but they say they have and have come away empty.

So....

What is it that you are not finding in your searches?
What info do you still need to know?
What concerns should we address?
What is the grey area that gets people worried?

 

I've done all the searchs myself and looked over lots of post's and all though it's easy to find "best cam for TBI" and "chip burning friendly" and "I just did it and my car runs great/crap" I still would like to see something EXPLICIT detailing down to the last bolt. Only because it seems very daunting and if something went wrong wouldn't my engine die! Who wants to pay $5oo for it to be done professionally?who wants to kill there daily driver?
But we all want that extra power.
I saw that pic of yours with the intake of showing what the engine bay should look like. I'll try and find the post I was reading yesterday that had step by step intsructions..two guys talking about doing a sticky with pictures. I'll try and find it again for you.

The info I'm not finding in my searchs is a comprehensive step by step guide simlair to the open element one.
Heres a bunch of questions I think should be covered;
(these are just things I spent looking up for ages)
How much power and in what applications,
How vital is it to reburn the chip,
step by step guide from the throttle body down,
degreeing the cam and what gains,
whats so bad about crane and other manufacturers,
once I've done it will I need to replace it later with a better cam to keep up with my mods,
Do I really need to take my radiator off,
and I sort of asked this the other day but do I need to change rocker,springs,lifters,timing chain,
Heads and lift consideration?

I've found information on all of that in my searchs but it took me a lot of trawling..
I think the basic problem with some searchs is the time it takes finding what you need. Lt1 cam gives a lot of results.

I won't be doing mine for a couple of months yet but when I do I'll post as many pictures as possible.
good luck with this and I hope we can get all of it down in a thread.

 

Good stuff and I will make sure to include such topics. I have already started drafting up a how to with pics. However, I do not have pics for each step. I can go into a trememdous amount of detail however. I know 90 is writing up a how to for his intake swap which can be used for this type of thing. Thank you for speaking up. I will take each of your concerns to heart when writing this up.

 

cheers shifty. I found the thread I was reading with the 2 guys talking about doing a sticky,
https://www.thirdgen.org/techbb2/sho...threadid=88023
Heres the one I saw with your intake picture and a breif run down on whats needed
https://www.thirdgen.org/techbb2/sho...hlight=lt1+cam

 

the Ebay link so all us newbies can find them cheaply and know where. hope that works.

http://motors.search.ebay.com/lt1_Ca...ertyZ1QQsotrZ2

 

I don't really see any difficulty in the concept of a cam swap. If you know how an engine works and where things are located on it, then you should have no problems understanding how to do it, especially on an easy setup like our engines. If you don't know how or where the cam is you probaby should search for something like "how an engine works".

 

that made me laugh..

But sometimes we all need a little help
https://www.thirdgen.org/techbb2/sho...626#post938626

 

Ok guys I want people to respond in here to the LT1 sticky. I want all critisism as well as anything I messed up or goofed on. All opinions are welcome. This is for the guys that want to do this swap. Not for the ones that have. Meaning, it may seem striahgt forward in my eye but not in yours. So please speak up and let me know if it needs more.

Dimented is currently working on a similar set-up for intake selection.

 

Howabout a comprehensive parts list? I know every swap may be different, but a good list to go off of correct rockers, lifters, springs, gaskets and fitting you might need, etc.

 

I can try to be a little more organized but there are many gaskets, and valve springs to choose from. You will re-use your stock lifters and rocker arms. Upgrading the rocker arms is always a good idea but your stock ones will suffice.

 

I think most people think too much about this topic. Its nothing more than a cam swap. Not to talk smack but if you don't know how to swap a cam you might want to think twice before you do it on your daily driver car. The swap takes an expereanced person 4-6hrs with air tools. It took me all day in my carport with hand tools.If its your first time it could very easily turn in to a long weekend job.
As for as "does the radiator need to come out?", Of course, it and the A/C condensor in front of it(I didn't have to unhook any A/C parts though, just carefully hold it up & out of the way). After removing those parts you still have to battle the X-brace thats in front of them. Just be carefull and don't scar any cam lobes or knock any cam barrings loose. This is another area the novice gearhead could really mess up and have to have the A/C system recharged and or have to replace cam barrings.
I had a chip burnt and waiting for the swap. But I still drove the car(just for about a hour) before changing the chip. It ran farily well before changing the chip, but I really could tell the power after the new chip. After dataloging and three more updated chips it ran real nice(first time I'd ever saw a 305 turn 6k and up easily!).
Another area the novice might run into trouble is in replacing the timing cover. You might as well drop the oil pan(theres way around this, notching the timing cover, but most 3rd Gens have a lot of miles on the so the oil pan gasket would be a good thing to replace now. I would by all means replace the oil pump while the pan was down too. I did on mine and gained about 10-15lbs of oil pressure, and make sure you get the pickup tacked welded to the new pump. As far as the timing cover trash the stock one and go back with a 2 piece cover, that way if you do another cam swap it'll take 2-3hrs less.I got mine off E-Bay for $1+shipping. If you don't some LT1 cams have longer dowels on the front of the cam & will need to be ground down some.
The stock lifters you can reuse along with the stock rocker arms. The stock LO3 springs are right at there limits with the LT1 cam but will be fine if there not worn out or you plan on winding your engine to the moon all the time. I still have my stock springs, but I'm trying my luck at head porting on a set of "416's" that I hope to get on the car real soon and I plan on using roller rocker arms, new springs and new pushrods then. But I knew I'd be doing this as the next step when I put the cam in or I would have changed the springs with the cam. If you do a spring change with the cam swap make sure you get new valve seals & O-rings, most LO3's I've seen need new valve seals anyway.
As far as a "step by step guide" don't go by what *** knows who said do on the net(dont take this the wrong way). Get a shop manule!!! Its the best step by step guide you will find.
Oh well, thats my 2 cents worth on the LT1 cam swap. Think about what I said and buy a shop book then look at your engine and think about if you can do it or not. Don't get in over your head on the car you have to drive everyday. I really feel most people looking into this swap and asking all these Q's have never done a cam swap before.
Never-the-less get back with me if I can be of any help to you at all.

 

There are plenty of people out there with the know-how to do the swap (wrenching wise) but they may not know the specific procedure. For such a person I have written up a little something and is conveniently located in my sig (word document).

 

Get someone to stop talking about writing a tech article on the swap and actually do it... then everyone will have the right place to turn to and it would probably be one of the most helpful tech articles on the board.... IMO

 

We have. Stek has a great one and the one I recently created should be a good start.

Although all cam swaps require the same basic procedure they all require a different mindset for whatever combo you are running. I think that is why we see the need for such articles that are TBI and TPI specific.

 

What is so magical about the LT1 cam?
.....
You can score one from a junkyard for
next to nothing, or something else.

 

They are cheap
Right at the limits of the stock heads
Easy to tune via chip

Not many cams are as "bolt on and go" friendly as this one.

 

So.... make the one you wrote up a sticky, with a link to the other one inside it.

I think that would be good.