I am curious if the lifter retainers will hold the lifters in place on a Gen 1 engine to swap the cam.

I have done a few cam swaps on Gen 3 engines and you don't have to pull the lifters out because the lifter retainers hold them in place. I have done Gen 1 flat tappet cam swaps and obviously pulled the lifters. I haven't done a roller cam in a Gen 1 though.

I may try it anyway since I have to pull the oil pan to replace the gasket.

Anyone try it before?

 

They dont work that way... You can actually buy LS style holders for 1G roller cam blocks from GM, so they will, but they didnt exist until a few years ago.

Edit: GM calls them "quick cam" valve lifter guides... Part number 88958652. There's one in each package, so you need two to complete an engine. List price is about $20. FWIW.

 

Basically I'm trying to get away with swapping the cam without removing the intake. I don't care about using the stock spider/dogbone setup, I just dont feel like spending the time removing and installing the TPI if I don't have to.

 

You're screwed with the stock setup. You've gotta pull the intake, spider, lifter keepers, and lifters. Or else they'll fall as soon as you start moving the cam.

You can get the parts so that next time you won't have to, but this time around you're out of luck.