Hey, I'm havin a bit of a problem.... Never done a cam swap in an LS1 yet, but im tryin to right now. How do you get the lifters out? i took off the int. manifold and what i thought was the lifter valley cover, only to find out i couldnt access the lifters that way. do you get to them thru the heads with the valve covers off, or do you have to take the heads off? Any input is greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

The heads have to come off to remove the lifters. For just a cam swap, you've already went to far. There is no need to remove the intake or the valley cover. There is also no reason to remove the lifters. When you pull the timing chain, rockers and remove the pushrods, you can spin the cam over a couple of times. In 99% of the cases, the lifters stick in the lifter guides and you can now remove the cam. Be sure and have the new cam lubed and ready to throw in when you take the other one out. You don't want the lifters hanging for no longer than they have to. If you feel it is going to be a while before you put the new cam in, you can use the "lifter hold tool". It's nothing more than a long wooden/metal dowel that slides in the holes on each side of the cam. The dowel must be long enough to slide past the last lifter. Once installed, your lifters can't fall. I don't think you need them unless your gunna be a while on installing the cam. By the time you get them in there, you could have the cam in. In some cases, lifters do fall, but they are few and far between. If it does fall, happy oil pan hunting.

 

Thanks man, I got er done. A buddy of mine that was helping me found an article on LS1HowTo.com about cam swaps, and they had this neat trick about putting one of those little telescopic pen magnets in each pushrod hole to hold up the lifters, just in case one decided the oil pan looked inviting. Oh, and I kicked myself for wasting all that time on the damn intake and cover. I would've had it done in a day maybe if I hadnt done that nonsense. Thanks again!