Time for the cam to go in, I also have 918 springs / Ti retainers and Thunder pushrods. I bought the kit so I have all new gaskets, but what tools are required?

-------- 10.9's here I come----------

 

Good tool set, valve spring compressor, hub removal tool.. for an LT1, I dont know a thing about LS1's... also a GM fuel disconnect tool.

 

Hit JMX's site at http://www.ls1howto.com for his Heads and Cam swap summary. It has the list of tools and great picks to keep you moving along.

Rick

 

You will need:
spring compressor
16 pen magnets (I have)
TQ wrench (I have)
spark plug coupler (connects to air & keeps valves up while changing springs)
Metric sockets, (one big enough for pulley) (Will have to find)
Skinny 15 mm (to get that dam power stearing pump bolt) I have
Fuel hose tool (You could work around it) (I have)
Lugwrench (something to hold the flywheel when pulling pulley
Breaker bar
pulley puller (I have)

Now is the time to go to the ASP pulley, if you can afford it.

You will need red loctite, coolant, cam lube, fender covers, jack, jackstands. TQ specs. Helms manual is a big help. I can get one.

I'm sure I'm missing something. You always end up running out for something.

 

you may also want to get a 10mm ratchet wrench for the farthest back coil pack bolt on the pass side. that one pissed me off cause I have one of those wrenches at work but didnt think Id need it at home when I did the install. I felt that the worst part of the whole deal was swapping the springs w/the heads on the car. prolly most time spent to complete one step. and its a pain. also, if you replace the shims under the valve springs, you'll need to replace the valve seals too. we skiped that step cause we knew someone else w/the exact same springs/cam and he did it and it went fine. the diff. in the shim thickness is minimal and the eng. wasnt going to see 7000 rpms anyways. so unless you want to replace the valve seals while your in there, then you can prolly leave them alone.
when you first start it up expect to hear some valvetrain noise. that is normal while the springs settle down and go through a few heat cycles. make sure you torque the rockers down w/the eng. in a couple diff. positions.
you might also want to change the oil after initial startup and then after about 500 mi.s or so to make sure you get out any dirt that got in there when it was apart.

pay attention to the wire harness position infront of the rad. fan and eng. before taking the fans out.
I looked at that site link someone posted and its great. you'll want to have access to that when your goin at it. maybe just print it.

good luck
chris

 

Check this web site http://www.ls1info.com/cam_install/

Its got it all step by step with photos and tool list and parts list.


I just did mine using this site(accually a printout from there)

Smooth as silk did it in 3 easy going days.

He includes torque specks as you put it back together.

If you need a spring compressor and a airhose attachment for the cyclinder and a puller for the balancer let me know and you can use mine as long as you want. No sense you buying them like I did for one time use. I bought a good toruqe wrench if you want to borrow it. Feel free to call 8-5 (989) 774-1229 home (989) 828-6677.

 

You will need some cheap a$$ oil, and cheap filter, so you can flush that out after running the motor through it's warm up cycle. I prefer to just hold the gas down enough to keep it running, and then vary the RPM's, holding it at 2000, 2500, 3000, then back down, until everything is warmed up good. This will take about 15 min. You will smell burnt oil, and antifreeze that has gotten on the block. This is normal. I do not drive the vehicle during the warm up, it just stays in park while doing this.

Of course, you will then need good oil & filter to put on after that. After the cheap stuff, I changed filter & ran some good dino in there for 500 miles. Changed back to synthetic, and put the hammer down.

A good investment would be the valvespring from More Performance. It's makes the springs a snap!! Good luck.

 

I just did the TR224/224-112 cam in my '01 ss in October. In addition to all the other things guys have posted you will need a few other things.
(1) Go to your local GM dealer and buy some extra valve stem keepers. They are like 60 cents each - buy a half dozen. I was SUPER careful about trying not to lose them - but it still happened. The 2 hrs digging in-under-around the car for the lost keepers is just not worth it.
(2) Your gonna need a torque to angle gauge for the final install of the balancer bolt. It is like $12-14 bucks at an Autozone. You will need this otherwise you are just guessing at the correct torque.
(3) Harmonic balancer installer - in addition to the puller. The balancer is a interference fit on the end of the crank. I borrowed the installer kit from a GM tech - but it still didn't work. The adaptor was not long enough to screw into the end of the crank. If you can find the correct kit it may work. Here's what I did - soak the balancer in a bucket of hot soapy water to get any oil and grease off of it. Then put it in the oven @350 for 20min. This sounds crazy but works awesome - just don't let your wife catch you! The low temp expands the balancer just enough and doesn't damage it like a torch heating or forcing it on. I tried three different methods and this was super slick - plops right on. Use oven mits! DO NOT TRY TO USE A BOLT TO RUN THE BALANCER ON!!!!! It will strip the threads in the end of the crank and you will be completely SOL! The balancer has no key way so I suggest some sort of mark on the pan to line the balancer up in the original position. Not necesssary but good piece of mind.

The spring swapping is the worst part. Also the rear most coil pack bolt on the DRIVERS side that you cannot see and can only spin 1/8 of a turn at a time. Unless you have really low miles, upgrade the timing set. My car had 8500 miles on it and the chain was as loose as Christina Aguilera . It took the chance and left it knowing that I was going to be doing heads in the this fall. Good luck - first time you fire it and here the rump-d-rump you will have a big-'ol woody. If you need help I live in Battle Creek and enjoy working on cool stuff like this. P.S. I'm an valvetrain product engineer for Eaton Corp whom make the valves and lifters for the LS1 so I'm pretty good at this stuff .

 

will work for monkey **** and beer