Here's the deal. Right now my 97 LT1 has a 306 camshaft, 1.6 non self aligning rockers, ported stock heads, ported intake, etc, etc.

My goal is to get a stockish cam back in there. It can be a cheater cam or it can be the stocker...I don't really care so long as it idles smooth and is good for daily driving and gas mileage.

The goal of 8 days is b/c my buddy that has the tools and the mechanical know-how is going to let me use his garage, and he's going to help, BUT, he is having ankle surgery in 8 days, and will be out of commission for about 8 weeks after that.

One of the questions I wondered about is...can I leave the aftermarket valve springs in there with a stock cam? I can't remember the exact springs I have but comp cams 908 or something comes to mind. I bought these probably around '01 or '02, so whatever was the offering at that time, and compatible with the cc306, is what's in there.

Secondly, I swapped to an OBD1 pcm back when I put the cc306 in b/c there was no obd2 lt1 edit available back then. Luckily I still have my stock obd2 pcm and I'm wondering if I can just swap it back in place. Will it work ok with the ported heads and 1.6 rockers with a stockish cam? Crap, I also have 36lb injectors. Gotta figure out what to do about those too.

Basically I'm trying to think of everything I need to purchase or find that will make this swap smooth. I need to do it as cheaply as possible, so reusing stock parts I have laying around or can easily find online, (and quickly), is a must!

Third...motor in car, vs out of car. Last time I did this we dropped the motor out the bottom, but I was also doing the heads and headers and all that. This time I am just (hopefully) swapping the cam and nothing else,
(if I can get by with it). I read shoeboxes writeup on swapping the cam and it seems pretty straight forward. With the radiator out of the way, it looks like there is plenty of room.

Any advice?

Right now my list of things to buy is:
1. cam
2. all related gaskets
3. new opti (might as well freshen up everything while I'm in there)
4. assembly lube
5. 10 qts of oil and 2 filters

I think I have my stock injectors somewhere, I'll have to dig em up.

 

buy a 4 cylinder car.lol what kind of mpg are you getting now?

 

great advice! lol

umm, about 14mpg. I'm not swapping cams just for gas mileage. I'm doing it b/c this thing is not fun to daily drive. It's loud, it shakes everything, and it smells. It was great when I was 21...at 30, not so much.

 

Talk to SpeedInc they have a custom grind called the Cadillac cam I think you will like

 

I run a Crane 227 with good MPG... Around 20~22 highway....

 

I hear ya!
I'm thinking of doing the same.

 

Bah! I am looking at making mine get less gas milage and hopefully shake even more! It could stand to be a bit louder as well. It smells ok but it couldn't hurt to be a bit richer so at idle your eyes burn, other than that I have no complaints.

 

I can only speak for the hot cam in lt1's and it drives just like stock no shaking or lack of vacume. I'm sure you can find a better cam but if your trying to get it done in 6 days have summit send you one over night and enjoy. mpg really don't suffer much too which is a plus. Just don't go back with the stock one. even at 30 you'll hate yourself for it. Remember the new cars are getting faster while our lt1's are getting older.

 

Let me guess...you have no cats. That is the only reason I can think of as to why it would smell(unless you have a major exhaust leak, the EVAP system is screwed up, or you have some kind of rich condition). It will still smell without cats.

I agree with the gent above on going back stock. You will regret the missing ponies. Stick a CC503 or LT4 Hotcam in it. I have some light throttle cam surge(bucking that requires clutching in every now and again in a parking lot) at ~5mph that I'm still trying to work out of the programming, but other than that it is a nice cam. Idles with no problem....nice pickup on the top end.

I'd bet your springs are comps 918....do you remember if they are beehive style?

On the loud part....what kind of exhaust are you running?

 

Yeah that CC306 is not a baby cam so just step down to a Hotcam, leave your springs on, keep the injectors, add a set of mufflers and get the PCM reflashed for the smaller cam. The cars hould only lose 25-30HP, be much more quiet and get much better fuel mileage. I daily drove the Hotcam with zero problems and I had a cutout for track days. LOL Goodluck either way but the stock cam will suck.

 

I do have a cat now, and the exhaust doesn't smell like a stock car with a cat...it still smells stronger and rich.

Without the cat it smells very strong and rich, but I don't know why b/c when I had it dyno'd years ago they said my a/f ratio (measured with wideband) was almost spot on. My tune is a mailorder from one of the recommended guys on the board.

Anyway, my exhaust setup currently is:

LPP longtubes, LPP ory, 3" I-pipe with Magnaflow cat, SLP 2OTL catback (cone of silence removed...wish it was still in there lol).

I am looking at the Speedinc Cadillac cam or the LE sleeper cam. Both are supposed to idle smooth, and provide good power. The LE sleeper cam is a 212/222 .544/.544 114 LSA. I don't know the specs on the Cadillac cam, and I'm hesitant to buy it without knowing.

As far as the valvesprings go, I think 918 is right....? I don't think they are beehive springs. Would I benefit greatly by going to a beehive spring?

 

If you have the 918's then they are beehive.

I wonder if others with that cam on this board have an issue with it smelling bad? I've been doing some reading and most say the smell comes from the overlap, but my 503 has the same overlap as the 306 and I don't have a really bad smell.