[SOCAL.M6.ZLE]

Originally Posted by IneedAZ

You know since you are a M6 you could go stage 3 cam since a convertor is a non issue. Believe when i spoke to BTR when i did my swap they said its appx 25-30hp difference. Don't recall if they meant crank or rwhp gain.

Thats good to know... ill have to go back and listen to some idle videos... i recall a few stage 3 cams sounded a bit to aggressive for me. I liked the Stage 2 cams i heard...

[Camaro1973]

Originally Posted by IneedAZ

You know since you are a M6 you could go stage 3 cam since a convertor is a non issue. Believe when i spoke to BTR when i did my swap they said its appx 25-30hp difference. Don't recall if they meant crank or rwhp gain.

You’ll sacrifice mid range for top end though. Depends on how you drive the car.

Stages are meaningless, rather know cam specs then silly stages they advertise.

[RamAir02]

The walkthrough is outdated since it is for an LS1, but I did heads & cam in my garage on my '00 WS6 using ls1howto.com as a rough guide.

https://www.ls1howto.com/index.php?article=23

[SOCAL.M6.ZLE]

Originally Posted by jvandy50

a couple days into it and we decided we'd pull the motor if we were to do again. there is a heat exchanger install video on youtube that makes it look fairly easy...but the radiator behind it was skipped in this video and we found out why lol. what a bitch to get around. we also used a 2 or 3 part series of another guy's at home(motor in car) cam install...once again skipping the radiator work around...but still helpful

they are likely talking about pulling the pan to change out the oil pump, might as well while you're there

Good to know... But i thought guys were only changing pumps on 2018 cars?

[SOCAL.M6.ZLE]

Ok, found a pretty good video of a guy who did the whole job solo in his garage. He tells the story and shows the issues with the oil pan, and even mentions pulling the motor may have been easier. Food for thought I suppose...
I wish GM made it easier to swap cams :(

[jvandy50]

Originally Posted by SOCAL.M6.ZLE

Good to know... But i thought guys were only changing pumps on 2018 cars?

Mine is a 2018, but I'd change in any year model to the Katech unit while I was already that close. Just my completely subjective opinion though

[el_d3sconocido]

I installed my cam at home and if I do it again I am pulling the motor for ease of access.

[jvandy50]

so he kinda hit on what our thoughts were right off the bat in that video. we ended up dropping the cradle a tad to get in/out.

also be careful of getting the LT1 cam phaser lockout kit, there are 2 springs on the LT4 gear instead of 1 like the LT1. the kit i got sent to me did not work and the spring unwound...causing us to need to buy another.

here are some links i saved that we used(it was our first time tearing the front end off this thing)











and this guy has quite a few good videos for once you're inside the motor...but again, beware that cam phaser one does not apply to LT4

[SOCAL.M6.ZLE]

Originally Posted by jvandy50

so he kinda hit on what our thoughts were right off the bat in that video. we ended up dropping the cradle a tad to get in/out.

also be careful of getting the LT1 cam phaser lockout kit, there are 2 springs on the LT4 gear instead of 1 like the LT1. the kit i got sent to me did not work and the spring unwound...causing us to need to buy another.

here are some links i saved that we used(it was our first time tearing the front end off this thing)











and this guy has quite a few good videos for once you're inside the motor...but again, beware that cam phaser one does not apply to LT4

Thanks for sharing, those are awesome/
Almost done watching this one. He was able to swap the cam without removing the bumper, pan and oil pump.


I guess this would work so long you are not wanting to replace the pump or the chain... this looks like the easiest version ive seen yet.

[SOCAL.M6.ZLE]

So... I am making a list of low cost secondary mods that I would do at the same time as the cam swap in order to budget.

So far came up with...
1. Catch Can
2. Blower Spacer and Blanket
3. Green Gates Belt
4. 160 stat.

Should I consider an ATI balancer with 15% pulley as a given?
I see Lingenfelter does them as a stage 1... thoughts on anything else I should consider? Katech Oil Pump and chain? Rocker Arms? Belt Tensioner?

I know having the blower sent out for porting makes sense as does replacing the heads with ported versions, but I want to capture the more critical options first...
Also, if I port the blower... then I need a larger TB, so that gets slippery fast...

[jvandy50]

Originally Posted by SOCAL.M6.ZLE

Thanks for sharing, those are awesome/
Almost done watching this one. He was able to swap the cam without removing the bumper, pan and oil pump.


I guess this would work so long you are not wanting to replace the pump or the chain... this looks like the easiest version ive seen yet.

you may also want to look at the katech C5R timing chain(i think it's called), as well as the LME timing cover and cam phaser gear(LS3 i think, no need to buy a lockout or even mess with that step, lighter). had i found those sooner, they'd went in my car. my father, who is the seasoned mechanic here, was concerned about the timing chain for only 11k on the clock.

good luck!

[SOCAL.M6.ZLE]

Originally Posted by jvandy50

you may also want to look at the katech C5R timing chain(i think it's called), as well as the LME timing cover and cam phaser gear(LS3 i think, no need to buy a lockout or even mess with that step, lighter). had i found those sooner, they'd went in my car. my father, who is the seasoned mechanic here, was concerned about the timing chain for only 11k on the clock.

good luck!

Good call... expensive but getting rid of the phaser sounds like a good idea... less rotational mass with better seals!


https://latemodelengines.com/lt-timi...undle-kit.html

[Evansa22]

I've heard from a good LT mechanic those ls3 type vvt deletes are the way to go. I would recommend the valvetrain when doing the cam, have heard the factory dod lifters are not great as well as the factory needle bearings in the rocker arms. I went with the 174 katech thermostat and haven't had any issues. You're list sounds good, not sure if you need the oil pump with the newer car but wouldn't hurt especially for the price of the unit.
I'd also recommend the ati balancer even if not pushing the boost, I chose the 8.6 lower to try and maintain blower temps but with the lighter balancer I feel it revs a little quicker.

[Camaro1973]

Originally Posted by SOCAL.M6.ZLE

Thats good to know... ill have to go back and listen to some idle videos... i recall a few stage 3 cams sounded a bit to aggressive for me. I liked the Stage 2 cams i heard...

I wouldn't worry to much comparing the sounds at idle, really doesn't tell you much. Also, many tuners crank up the idle for whatever reason to like 850rpm and the chop isn't as rough. So a stage 3 could idle smoother then stage 2 depending on how its tuned.