I bought the car 3 years ago and the guy said the cam was replaced with a better one by the guy who owner it before him. I replaced the waterpump and the gasket was petrified on. It was like one i would expect to see on the car that never had it changed. I checked the carfax and he had the vehicle when it had 80,000 and sold it at 96,000 miles. That means if he did it the car could have 25,000 miles on it if he did it right away. My question is would the gasket look this old if it was done 5 years ago with only 25,000 miles? Is there also a way to tell the gm cam from an aftermarket one?

 

the way to tell is the grind numbers

idk about the gasket though
does it have a lopey idle? if u get a sound clip, we can probably tell u if it has a cam or not

 

The idle out of the exhaust is pretty loud. I notice almost a pounding sound that goes DUE DUE DUE DUE DUE.... Pretty hard to describe in words. Definitely not smooth like my other cars.

 

Chances are you do have a cam from what you described.

 

u got any way of getting a sound clip? Otherwise, if u REALLY want to know, i can PM u my cell #, and u can let me listen to it over the phone and i'll tell u if u have a cam or not...

 

Pull a valve cover and see what, if any, changes might indicate that an AF cam was installed. I.e. if the springs are bigger, RRs, etc. Of course that's no guarentee that the cam is AF, but evidence of the possibility.JMHO

 

Go dyno it and see what it puts down. Stock car with 6psi are typically in the upper end of the 300 rwhp range. If it has a cam to go with it then it should be more.

 

Can the cam be changed with the motor in the car? If it hasn't been done how hard would it be for me to do myself?

 

Yes, it can be done with the motor still in the car. Shoebox has a install guide on his website.