How much do I have to tear apart my engine 2 put a new cam in?
Would a novice (not a moron, though lol) be able to do this with a little guidance?

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1991 Camaro RS 5.0 TBI

 

You need to remove the distributor, intake, valve covers, harm. balancer, water pump, timing cover, timing chain & gears, raditor, move the AC condenser out of the way, loosen the rockers, remove the push rods, remove the lifter retainers and pull the lifters out. You might be able to leave the Alt/PS pump, AIR pump and AC compressor in place, but not 100% sure on that one.

Can a normal person do it? Sure. It's putting it all back together in spec is the hard part (not really).

Best bet, go get a Chilton's book for your car. Everything is described in there on how to change a cam with the motor in the car.

Good luck...

Mike

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89 T-Top Firebird 305 TBI Project Car (with approval from my wife!)

 

you need to take off your intake, Carb/TBI, distributor,rocker arms,lifters,pushrods, thermostat housing, waterpump (drain the coolant first), then your going to have to remove your radiator, condenser (if equipped with A/C), also remove your timing chain cover (may require you to drop the oil pan), timing chain and Cam sproket, you'll need a heavy duty gear puller for the crank sproket, then unbolt he cam retainer plate

 

you make it sound simple. But will just removing the radiator give you enough clearence to pull the cam out?

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1991 Camaro RS 5.0 TBI

 

If you have A/C, then no. You will have to move the A/C condensor (the thing in FRONT of the engine coolant radiator that looks like a second radiator). You will then have enough room to slide the cam out and a new one back in.

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89 T-Top Firebird 305 TBI Project Car (with approval from my wife!)

 

You also need a three-jaw puller to remove the harmonic balancer, a REALLY long fine-thread bolt to re-install the balancer (or a balancer installer) some long bolts to properly remove/insert the camshafts and a long nights sleep.

Don't forget to buy the necessary gaskets (oil pan, intake, thermostat, H2O pump, valve cover, Distributor base [comes with intake] and a tube of Permatex Ultra Black)

Clean/paint the intake when off, too. Plenty of time for it to dry while dicking around with the valvetrain

[This message has been edited by fast_broker (edited December 12, 2001).]

 

DO NOT use a 3-arm puller on the outside of the harmonic balancer - you can damage it. Instead, buy the proper puller ($7 at my local parts store).

 

Autozone has the tool for free but you need to let them hold a deposit...you don't return it they keep the money.

 

Yep - pretty cool. I had to use their "loan-a-tool" for a ball joint press one time - over $100 tool... cost to me: ZERO (after the return, of course).