i'm pretty sure that i'm going to go ahead and get a head and cam kit from advanced induction in a couple weeks. my question is this, should i go ahead and pull the engine to do the swap? ive read up on the cam install on shoebox's page and read all about how to do the installation with the engine still inside the car. i just wanted to know which way was the easiest or most practical. I'm also a little skeptical as to how difficult this procedure will be. this will be my first time doing a head and cam swap, so any advise would be appreciated. ive gotten the motor tore down a bit now. ive got the radiator pulled out, water pump removed, crank pulley removed and a few other miscellaneous items. just got to pull the timing chain next and get to work on the cam removal. but like i said, any advice on the installation would be greatly appreciated. thanks guys.
dave

 

nooo ive done both...much easier just ull the intake...and exhaust manifolds then the heads come off..pulling the motor is much more work and ALOT ALOT ALOT more work to put back together...21ft. ib on the cam gear(i had bad luck with those 3 bolts...cost me a good set of heads
Daniel

 

After having swapped the motor in my Caprice and later done a cam swap I swear the next cam swap the motor is comming out, I think it is a whole lot easier to swap motors in a Caprice than an f-body. Wost part about the in car swap in the b-body is the motor is a couple feet from all sides of the car and it gets tiring leaning in so far. You have a lot of the work for doing it in the car already done though too, just make sure the cams stay straight going in and out and you will be good.

 

The slowest part of doing a head/cam install is trying to get your wrenches on ****. I installed heads on my car just a couple weeks ago and man it was quite and ordeal trying to get around it all with the headers in the way and bending over the fenders. I wish I would have spent 3-4 hours dropping the K-member and saved my back installing everything on the motor. Dropping the motor out the bottom sounds like a lot of work but thats the only hard part... installing heads/cam is easy once you have room to work but w/o the room it can become a nightmare!

 

I my opinion you are just making more work for your self by pulling the motor out. Since you have the radiator pulled out, water pump removed, crank pulley removed I would just say keep taking stuff apart and leave the moter in. One thing I do recomend is taking the hood off, only takes five min. it will give you more breathing room. The part that took the longest for me was installing the springs, and that you will already have done. Is this your first head and cam install?

 

Why risk getting something in the engine? save some knuckle skin and the 1/8 of an inch wrench turning crap and just pull it. its better because you can make sure its cleaner and see everything better.

 

yeah, this will be my first head/cam install. so hopefully all goes well. the hood removal idea sounds pretty practical. my only other question is that the head/cam combo will put me pretty close to ~400rwhp. ive got about 40k miles on my stock bottom end. is this a fairly safe set up with a stock bottom end? ive got everything else already setup for the heads and cam. getting larger injectors (do i need a new fuel pump for this also?), double roller chain, electric water pump, ported intake, 58mm throttle body (maybe a little overkill, but might do more mods in the future), getting an awesome hydraulic roller kit, the tuning, LT headers (with possibly a true dual exhaust setup), delteq coil pack setup (just because), and the custom grind cam and heads. anything i'm missing? thanks for the help guys.
dave

 

What kind of problem did you have? I think i torqued mine to 17 ft lb's. Whatever it says on shoeboxes site.

 

how do you go about dropping the motor out the bottom of the car in your home garage? ive been thinking of a couple different methods, but not sure on the exact method. i was thinking that you would drop the tranny and engine together, then raise the body off of the engine. but i wouldnt be able to lift the body up too high. also, is it a lot harder to pull it out the top? seems like it would be, but ive never tried either way.

 

IF you have the space, and the time. Pull the engine. You can do it without, I just did. but it's a pain, you'll be tempted to skip steps or miss stuff.
I don't care what these guys say. If you got a chain pull or a engine hoist or something, you can have that engine out faster than you can get the heads off.

 

i got access to an engine hoist and stand. thats the main reason i was asking. so did you pull your out the top then? as apposed to dropping it out the bottom like some ppl have recommended?

 

No no no....... Bottom, you CAN get it out the top. but it's not a good idea.
the hoist is to lift the frame off the k-member. You're actually removing the car from the engine, not the engine from the car

Go here ---> http://ken.lowrance.com/Projects/Hea...ineRemoval.htm