Can you swap cams with the engine in the car, or do you have have to pull he engine out?

 

You can do it with the engine in the car, but theres a bunch of stuff you have to get out of the way. Like support brace for the hood latch, x braces in front of the radiator, AC condenser (I still cant figure out how I did that without disconnecting it or bending lines, but I did) and of course the radiator and fan/s. Not easy, but doable.

 

Its really not too bad at all. I am about 3/4 done with the job now and I pulled the heads off. Just give yourself plenty of time.

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1987 Chevy Camaro IROC-Z
L98 TPI 350 (5.7L)
TH 700R-4 Transmission
Borg Warner 7.75" 9 Bolt Rear End

Current Mods: LT4 Hot Cam, Comp Cams 1.52:1 Roller Rocker Arms, Edelbrock TES 1 5/8" Headers, Hooker 3" Aerochamber Cat-Back System, Performance Resource Chip, Accel Ignition Coil, Cap, Rotor, 8.8mm Wires, K&N Filters, JET TPI Air Foil, All Free Mods, Falken ZIEX Z-Rated Tires.

Best ET (w/o LT4 cam): 14.32 @ 97.7mph
(corrected for elevation)

7.5" 10 Bolt with 3.42s soon to come!

 

Yeah, I've done it in each of my current thirdgens. No biggie. Key things are leave the A/C compressor and Condenser lines hooked up so you don't have to bleed/recharge the A/C system. Just use wire to hold the compressor over out of the way, and have someone hold the condenser out of the way while you are sliding the old cam out/new one in. Nothing tricky at all. Sometimes getting the timing cover back on after everything is annoying, but again, no biggie.

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Ray87Z
-Vortec headed 350.
86 IROC w/ a cammed 305 TPI.
Formerly Ray86IROC.
www.inter-scape.com/Ray

 

Do you guys think it would be better to pull the engine out, or do it with the engine in the car. It's a 91 Z-28 and the air is shot anyway.

 

I've changed my cam with the engine in the car about 4 times. You need to remove everything on the front of the motor as well as the radiator, AC condenser, and the x-braces in front of the AC condenser.

As for the top of the motor, you need to remove the TPI stuff, distributor, and the intake manifold.

If your AC is shot and you want to lighten the car a little, this is a good time to remove all of the AC stuff.

BTW, you do NOT have to remove the heads in order to swap cams. You do have to remove the lifters and the push rods. To do this, you need to back off the rocker lash adjustment nut and swing the rocker out of the way.



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'87 L98 TPI IROCZ, AFR190 heads, 3.70 gears, ZZ9 cam, 2400 Art Carr TC, SLP 1 3/4" headers, SLP cat-back, no cat, no AC, no MAF screens, Accel manifold base & SuperRam, Edelbrock double roller timing chain, MSD ext coil & distributor, trans cooler, 52mm TB with airfoil, TB coolant bypass, AFPR(58psi), K&N filters, Hotchkis lowering springs, Car-Pro custom chip, Lay Ind. ram air kit, 265/45R16 Kumho V700 tires.
ET 13.39sec @ 107.21mph
'90 Eagle Talon AWD, no rust thru 9 winters
'99 Camaro SS, red, 6-spd, T-tops, Mcleod clutch, Pro 5.0 shifter, MAF processor, Direct Flow airlid, K&N filter.
313.7Hp & 320.6ft-lbf, ET 13.55sec @ 105.1mph
next mod: 4.10 rear gears

 

It's alot more work to pull the engine out of the car IMO, done that too...

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Ray87Z
-Vortec headed 350.
86 IROC w/ a cammed 305 TPI.
Formerly Ray86IROC.
www.inter-scape.com/Ray

 

What are the x braces you are talking about.

 

Just some little radiator support braces or something up infront of the radiator. You can unbolt the top of both bars and pry them over by hand enough to get the cam out/in and then bolt em back up. No biggie, just takes a minute.

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Ray87Z
-Vortec headed 350.
86 IROC w/ a cammed 305 TPI.
Formerly Ray86IROC.
www.inter-scape.com/Ray

 

Okay thanks.