Does anyone know a trick to prevent the lifters from falling into the engine? I have a 91 (L98) and im taking out the aftermarket cam to see exactally what it is. The engine is in the car. I just dont want to do anymore than what i have to.

Thanks!!

 

yeah take them out first, the only way if you don't have aftermarket vertical bar spring laoded solid rollers. however if you are lucky the cam snout is marked so you can identify it. No need to take it out them, just remove front cover & gear set

 

don't think it's possible w/o removing lifters . good luck .

 

I've never pulled a cam on a chevy without having to pull the lifters. You already need to pull the valve covers and rockers off to get the pushrods out. There's nothing to hook onto to pull the lifters off the cam lobes providing you can even snake something down a pushrod hole to grab a lifter.

You need to do everything required to pull the intake manifold to remove the lifters to get a cam out. You'll probably need to drop the oil pan down also to get the timing cover back on properly.

Camshafts are not simple quick evening swaps.

 

unless you have these

 

You need to pull the lifters to get the cam out anyhoo.
Heres a tool to pull them out:

 

vise grip pliers or a flathead screwdrivers works just fine. If you need a tool to get them out, I'd be worried about oiling. It shouldn't take much to pull them out.

 

Its obvious you haven't tried to pull lifters out of a high mileage small block
with the cam end of the lifter all mushroomed out and your unable to pull it
out of the valley bore. That tool makes it easier to work the lifter up and
down and finally out of the bore than to jerry-rig work it out with vice grips
or screwdrivers................

Work smarter NOT harder!

 

Jerry-rig? All you have to do is put a screwdriver underneath the square retainer in the top of the lifter and pull it out. I've pulled lifters out of a 206k block that was burnt to a crisp and it didn't take more than that.

 

alright...so i decided to take everything apart and i found out i have a lot of good upgrades...valve springs, timing chain, and some other stuff....I took the cam out and I couldnt find any markings on it except for "049" i know my stock cam says "773" and some other numbers....Is the "049" from the earlier L98's? Im assuming that its not an aftermarket cam but from the 88 IROC that I got the motor from....Im also assuming that the 773 cam can get me a few extra horses and then i can finally time the engine right. Am i right or should i just upgrade completely?

 

If its a factory roller it should have the spider hold down plate. No way of getting to it unless the intake comes off.