After pondering this for a few days. I have come to the conclusion that the large hole (95 and up) cam can be used in a 94 and older with the correct timing gear and trimming the cam pin down.

Cam gear differences shown here:
http://www.enginebuildermag.com/Cont...0000003548.gif

The cam gear on the older models is what has the spline in it. So it should not matter that the hole in the end of the cam is larger. So long as the pin is trimmed down. And the longer pin in the cam may not matter either since there is not a large receiver on the back of the early opti.


Other pics for viewing.
http://www.enginebuildermag.com/Cont...0000003550.gif

93 & 94

95 & up

Didn't want to continue to highjack this thread
https://www.camaroz28.com/forums/sho...06#post6313806

 

yes the 95-97 LT1 cam may work on 94 and earlier LT1s as well by only triming back the dowel pin to clear the opti rotor drive unit at the back of the distributor, but i belive the 93-94 LT1 cam wont work on the later LT1s.
the vented opti on 95-97 LT1s is cam driven,while in the 94 and earlier LT1s its a non-vented opti and its driven by the cam gear.

 

Of course it can. All aftermarket cams are made with the large hole in the snout, so they can fit all years.

 

It works for all years because the vented Opti requires a "large" pilot hole in the cam nose, and the Opti pilot shaft fits in the hole to support that end of the shaft.

When you use the large pilot hole cam with an unvented Opti, the splined drive shaft engages the cam sprocket, and does not extend into the hole in the cam nose.

The dowel pin length is easilly changed.

 

Just curious, how do you all measure the opti pin? I was using a digital caliper but don't know how accurate it is to measure the opti pin I was getting .635" and the pin is installed on the comp cam..

 

Doesn't the caliper have a pointed piece that comes out of the bottom of housing as the jaws open up? You put the body of the caliper against the top of the pin, and move the jaws open until the pointed end contacts the nose of the cam.



It isn't something that needs to be measure to the nearest 1/1000th inch.


Shoebox's info:

http://shbox.com/ci/cam_install.html

 

Mine doesn't have the pointed piece at the bottom, my cam is out so I measured it with the caliper and got .635" it is a cheap digital caliper and might be off, but I did use shoebox's website as a reference. I don't think I'll have a problem with the pin hitting the opti..
Thnx
jlo

 

Wouldn't it be easier to simply bolt the timing gear on temporarily (cam out of engine) and simply grind off any of the pin that sticks out beyond the gear????? Clean the whole thing up and reinstall it?

 

He has a 95. He needs the pin to extend beyond the cam sprocket to engage the Opti, at the correct depth. I think by "hitting the Opti" he meant "bottoming out in the Opti".

 

do yalll no if i can use an early model cam with a short dowell pin on a 97 vented opti? the pin extends past the timing gear but the pin is not long enough to fit in the slot of the opti.

 

If it's a stock cam, no. The vented opti has a drive that engages the cam snout - earlier models do not have this provision for the opti drive.

If the cam in question is aftermarket and has the provision in the cam snout then all you need is the longer dowel pin. Any decent machine shop can replace the shorter pin.

 

The pilot hole on the cam for the vented Opti is larger than the hole on the cam for the unvented Opti, to accommodate the pilot shaft from the vented Opti. Look at the picture in post #4.