I am going to buy a LT-1 cam for 20 bux, now what do i have to do to my 91 305 (TBI) motor to swap this,

Do i have to put in new springs, new valves, do i have to change out my hydraulic lifters,(are they a different size than the LT-1's)

Any help would be awsome

Thanx
Dan

 

Take this with a grain of salt man... but to the best of my understanding its a basic swap... just put the cam in and roll (well, maybe not as easy as it sounds, i think all that needs to change is the cam)
i'm not sure of this, but this is what i understand and or assume from all that i've read.... I look forward to reading the other replies to this so that when and if i'm proven wrong, i'll know what to answer next time
hehehe
good question btw....

 

All the valvetrain components will swap over and it will work. If your engine has a bunch of miles on it you might want to replace your springs, pushrods, and/or timing chain. Not necessary, but, not a bad idea either.

 

well i would say swap the valve springs to be safe.. the stock one will work but its real close to the max lift for stock springs.. i replaced them when i did teh lt1 cam swap.

 

I though you could only do it that if the engine is on a stand and have the engine up side down?

 

Thanks to everyone, oh by the way i went to buy a LT-1 camshaft and what do you know, I ended up getting 3 of them (I think it is because my Brother works there) And when i put the cam in, i will be sure to take the block out and put it on a stand and turn it upside down

Thank you for all the help, and have a great day

Thanx
Dan

 

You are saying that you are removing the engine to swap cams as a joke, right? Someone might get the impression that removing the engine is actually necessary. It's not. If you have a functional a/c system (as I did, with original charge of freon after 12 years) to have the system evacuated. I recommend removing the a/c condenser where the hard lines connect at the passenger side of the car. Then pull out the radiator, evaporator, water pump, timing chain cover. There is enough room in front to pull the old cam out and put the new cam in. Of course the intake will need to come off as well to allow you to loosen the rocker nuts and slip the connecting rods out. We discovered my engine wasn't assembled correctly at the factory. All the bolts that hold in the valve lifter retainer were missing. The only thing holding it in place was the bottom of the intake. We did find one of the bolts later when trying to reinstall the distributer. It was in the hole and had a wear mark on it from contacting the distributor shaft. I suppose I'll find the rest in the bottom of the oil pan when I do an engine rebuild. Lon

 

ok, so, you have three cams eh???
wanna help a fella out??? wanna sell any of the two that you can't use, cuz you can only use one at a time ya know... i'll give ya a good price on em, five or ten dollars hahaha, joking.... but really, would you like to sell one cuz i plan to do this mod as soon as its warm enough to bear being outside that long... hahaha
thanks...
you can email me if you like...
nxs055@yahoo.com
talk to you later
peace

 

YES YES YES, i was joking about the whole pulling the engine out of the car. My buddy did one once in his car (Lucky bastard had a lot of money so he got a whole lot more). Thanks for helping me though, hey how much is it to get the freon out of your A/C????

About the LT-1 cam, i have to get them checked out first by a machine shop specialist (AKA My maintanence buddy) but i will have them probably cleaned up really good, for the simple fact that they have some visible rust for right now, but once i get them i will hit you up bro!!!

Lataz
Dan

 

hey man thats great, i preciate it... just keep me in mind...
thanks

 

The shop charged $35 to suck out the Freon and recharge it after the swap. They actually had to do double the work because the scraeder valve on the a/c wouldn't hold after they had charged it, so they had to pump it down, replace the valve and recharge again. Just a fluky thing that it failed then. I recommend using a new filter/regulator after the system has been opened. I had already bought a new one from the dealer in advance.

 

lonsal........................where is hacienda hieghts at?? and what Mods have you been able to get away with in CA???

 

HH is roughly 32 miles due East of Los Angeles in what is called the San Gabriel Valley. Get away with? Not a lot done to the engine internally except for the cam swap. SLP 1-5/8" headers were in place 2 years ago when I did my smog check last. Next one coming up the end of Feb. I've swapped in a T5 tranny and the cam, also added a vafpr (vacuum adjustable fuel pressure regulator). I had trouble passing last time, failed the first 2 tries. They replaced the EGR. I think my main problem is it runs too cold with the low temp fan switch and 160 degree thermostat. I'll swap back in my 195 t'stat, put the stock chip back in, stock restrictive filter housing and most likely pull off the vafpr for the stock regulator before the smog check. Otherwise all the smog equipment is in place including the cat (Random Technologies). Lon

 

I installed my cam with out disconnecting my AC. I losened the bracket that holds the lines to the frame and pivoted the condenser up and out of the way enough to have plenty of room.I hung it from the hood with a piece of wire while I changed cams. But if you all want to take it to a shop and have them mess with your freon than have at it. I had more trouble getting the cross braces in the nose out of the way then messing with the condenser. Depending on the year of cam you buy you may have to grind the pin shorter to match the stock cam. I had to but it's not a big deal to do. Buy the way, I re-used my lifters, springs, push rods,etc. and haven't had any problems.I do run rich at idle since changing cam.I got one of those vac. afpr, I havn't got arround to installing it yet.