Guys/Gals,

just has the title says.. im removing components from the front of the engine to install a new opti. While everything is off, should i just pop the intake manifold off and do a cam and roller rockers?

I know that there is extra work, but i guess it just doesnt make much sense to me to put it all back together.. only to take it back off again.

any comments?

 

If you have the money and the time.......YES. These engines respond very well to cam changes.

 

money is the main factor, dont forget you will need springs, rockers, and possibly pushrods and guidplates

 

Well i the car is on jackstands... since the opti went out. Kind of sucks since i just put in a brand new transmission! I figured i would just take my time and work smarter and not harder. I know it'll delay me getting the back together... but the end result would be totally worth it!

Whats a good cam for a basically stock auto with a 2K stall ? Headers will follow next.

 

Alot of cam choices are out there, it depends on what you are looking for in terms of power gains, driveability, ect. To get the full benefit out of the cam though, you will want to open up the exhaust (headers,catback) and you will want to look into a higher stall converter down the road.

 

you should use a basically stock cam with a basically stock engine

 

you should basically learn something before you attempt to help

there is no guaranty here but there is alot of people running around with stock shortblocks with alot of power, and alot of people with cam only cars going very fast. but keep in mind a camshaft will generally raise the usable powerband and thus put greater stress on the bearings.

 

I cant reuse any of those parts?

 

alot more work involed.

I would get it running first.....out of doing a cam swap...getting the water pump and opti off is the simplest part. I would wait

 

LOL

 

you will def need new springs, and rockers. if doing that it is a good idea to upgrade to 7/16 rocker studs, and also a good idea to go with non self aligning rockers which require the use of guide plates and chromolly pushrods. but you could get by with just springs and self aligning 3/8 rockers, but even with that it would be a good idea to upgrade the pushrods for greater stability. and also dont forget that you will need at the very minimum a mail oder tune

 

There was a timwe when I asked this same question. Now that I am MUCH more experianced I will say NO. You are going to be nowhere near close to a cam swap, a huge amount more work. I actually recommend pulling the engine entirely for a cam swap. Then again pulling the engine on my b-body may be a lot easier than an f-body.

 

It's never a good idea to put new parts against old parts. If you're
going to swap the cam, you really need to do the lifters, pushrods,
rocker arms, and studs. (It's more about matching components).

Heck, you might as well put new heads on, such as from Ai

 

there is no need to replace the lifters unless you have a problem with them

 

I say before deciding what to do you need to bury yourself in research. There are plenty of pages out there and plenty of info in here to help you decide how much, how long and what parts to use.