For those of you w/a serpentine belt & A/C, who already swapped in your cam, can you tell me whether or not you needed to get the A/C compresser out of the way in the process of doing the cam swap?

I'm just trying to assess how long this is going to take me so I know when to do it. So, if you don't mind estimating how long the work took you, that would be cool too.

 

nope the ac stayed

 

You can unbolt the compressor from the brackets but don't remove the lines. Otherwise you'll loose all that lovely cooling gas.

You'll have to pull the radiator as the cam must come straight out.

I'd say 10 hours from start to finish... this includes beer, smoke and bathroom breaks.

 

You will also need to pull the condenser along with the radiator. Just leave the lines connected and lay it ontop of the engine, The bracket that is infront og the condenser will need to be unbolted at the top or bottem and bent out of the way in order for the cam to be R&R'd.
10 hours sounds about right for a 1st time cam swap on a thirdgen.
It takes about 2 hours to pull the cam the rest is putting it back togather.
SSC

 

Damn those oil pan bolts, that's all I have to say. If you have an oil cooler it's gonna take longer. Everything stays except water pump and radator. The A/C radator can just be turned/moved out of the way.