DIY: LS3 Camshaft Install (a lot of pictures, may take a moment to load)

[CamaroSpike23]

Originally Posted by Milk 1027

You're a moderator, do it yourself.

I added it into the DIY guide sticky. I take it you made the thread itself a sticky... cus I didnt...lol

[Hicompression]

Some speed shops are gonna lose business due to this thread. Props for the great write-up.

[overhaulengines]

hello Robertway, thank you for the great writeup. im getting close to doing this. a couple of questions, i read through but maybe i missed it. when going to the 3 bolt cam, is it absolutely necessary to change the timing chain? or is this something you did "while there"? if the chain does not need to be changed then does the pan still need to be lowered to do the cam install? thank you and apoligize if i missed this info.

lupe

[robertway]

Originally Posted by overhaulengines

hello Robertway, thank you for the great writeup. im getting close to doing this. a couple of questions, i read through but maybe i missed it. when going to the 3 bolt cam, is it absolutely necessary to change the timing chain? or is this something you did "while there"? if the chain does not need to be changed then does the pan still need to be lowered to do the cam install? thank you and apoligize if i missed this info.

lupe

The chain does not HAVE to be swapped out when going to the 3 bolt cam/gear but it is one of those "cheap insurance" things. I don't believe it is a 3 bolt cam issue as much as it is a more aggressive cam with higher lift, more aggressive ramp rates on the lobes, and much stiffer dual valve springs that all put a lot more demand on the timing chain. Does everyone change/upgrade the timing chain, probably not because of the extra labor of dropping the pan and dealing with the oil pump but to me it was one of those "while I'm in there" items and other than the added time to swap it. My guess is there are a lot of folks that keep the stock chain when doing a cam and never have any problems but I chose to upgrade it which I am guessing a lot of folks do as well.

[overhaulengines]

thank you very much for your time and info, its really a big help, thank you again

lupe

[robertway]

Originally Posted by overhaulengines

thank you very much for your time and info, its really a big help, thank you again

lupe

No problem lupe, good luck with whatever you do....

[KILLER74Z28]

AWESOME! BIG TIME THANK YOU...

I'll be using this in the near future...

[Blown355]

!@#$%^&* Why didn't I find this thread last week. I just did a cam install over the weekend on my LS3, and took tons of pics and six pages of notes so I could post out a DIY. I used the LS1 cam install how-to as a guide. But as you know, there are a lot of differences between the to engines.

Once again, great writeup!

[RAY-RAY]

robertway: is it safe to drive the car "untuned" to a shop and have it tuned? or is it too much of a risk to mess something up? also, do you have LT headers? and i'm also assuming that since you have a blower cam you plan on supercharging it someday. i think that'll be my plan also. great job btw!! roughly how long did it take you?

[robertway]

Originally Posted by RAY-RAY

robertway: is it safe to drive the car "untuned" to a shop and have it tuned? or is it too much of a risk to mess something up? also, do you have LT headers? and i'm also assuming that since you have a blower cam you plan on supercharging it someday. i think that'll be my plan also. great job btw!! roughly how long did it take you?

I plan on driving the car down to the shop to get tuned if it would ever stop snowing and sleeting here in Jersey. The car will run ok without it tuned for the cam it'll just burp and spit a bit and the biggest challenge is keeping it from stalling as you come to a stop because the car just can't find idle. I just wouldn't try to "stretch it's legs" on the way to the shop. I am only about 40 minutes away from the shop so not too far. The car will "learn" the fuel trims on the way so it'll be fine.

I already have Kooks 1 7/8" Long Tubes and a RotoFab CAI and am planning on a blower probably as next winter's project which is why I went with the blower cam now, plus it has a little less overlap so drivability won't suffer as much and I won't loose too much torque down low.

The cam install itself probably took me about 20-25 hours all together just taking my time and doing it a few hours a day with one long day on a weekend. The hardest part for me was figuring out what to disconnect to get the radiator out easily and then getting the oil pan dropped to swap the timing chain, it was just a case of never having done it before. If I did it all over again knowing what I know now I could probably blow through it in 8-10 hours straight working non-stop and having all the parts and necessary tools right in front of me (running out to Lowes every 15 minutes for another tool starts to add up). Hopefully the DIY thread will help folks cut the time down a lot since they don't have to "figure stuff out"

Thanks for the compliments and good luck if you're going to do this yourself (not that you'll need luck as it is pretty straight forward). Feel free to ask me for any clarification on any step in the DIY thread.

Robert

[RAY-RAY]

Originally Posted by robertway

I plan on driving the car down to the shop to get tuned if it would ever stop snowing and sleeting here in Jersey. The car will run ok without it tuned for the cam it'll just burp and spit a bit and the biggest challenge is keeping it from stalling as you come to a stop because the car just can't find idle. I just wouldn't try to "stretch it's legs" on the way to the shop. I am only about 40 minutes away from the shop so not too far. The car will "learn" the fuel trims on the way so it'll be fine.

I already have Kooks 1 7/8" Long Tubes and a RotoFab CAI and am planning on a blower probably as next winter's project which is why I went with the blower cam now, plus it has a little less overlap so drivability won't suffer as much and I won't loose too much torque down low.

The cam install itself probably took me about 20-25 hours all together just taking my time and doing it a few hours a day with one long day on a weekend. The hardest part for me was figuring out what to disconnect to get the radiator out easily and then getting the oil pan dropped to swap the timing chain, it was just a case of never having done it before. If I did it all over again knowing what I know now I could probably blow through it in 8-10 hours straight working non-stop and having all the parts and necessary tools right in front of me (running out to Lowes every 15 minutes for another tool starts to add up). Hopefully the DIY thread will help folks cut the time down a lot since they don't have to "figure stuff out"

Thanks for the compliments and good luck if you're going to do this yourself (not that you'll need luck as it is pretty straight forward). Feel free to ask me for any clarification on any step in the DIY thread.

Robert

That's good to know that running the car for a little bit won't harm it. I think before I go ahead and get a cam I need to start with the foundation and get set up for success when I go to install the cam, i.e. LT headers, exhaust, and CAI. Do you know what the differences are between a regular cam and a blower cam? I would think that the durations are wider and a wider LSA, or is it the opposite? I know exactly what you mean about having to run to the store every few minutes.

[robertway]

Originally Posted by RAY-RAY

That's good to know that running the car for a little bit won't harm it. I think before I go ahead and get a cam I need to start with the foundation and get set up for success when I go to install the cam, i.e. LT headers, exhaust, and CAI. Do you know what the differences are between a regular cam and a blower cam? I would think that the durations are wider and a wider LSA, or is it the opposite? I know exactly what you mean about having to run to the store every few minutes.

Generally speaking, and I am no professional when it comes to this, blower cams have less overlap between the intake and exhaust valves to avoid the intake charge from being "blown" out the exhaust while it and the intake are open. In an/ N/A setup, more overlap helps at the top end due to the scavenging effect (sucking) of the exhaust as it will actually jumpstart the intake charge a bit before it closes allowing for a more complete intake charge to take place but at lower rpms idle/power will suffer and if the overlap is significant enough will make the car not fun to drive on a daily basis. Exact specs I cannot recommend so suggest you get hooked up with a reputable local shop or better yet reach out to some of the shops that are more respected here on the forums (I'll reserve from calling any out as to not be biased).

[jagan323]

I have to applaud the OP on this thread. So detailed... it's mind blowing. Although I have a V6, and this mod doesn't apply to me., I am still very impressed. Thank you for taking the time to write this great DIY for the community!

[Sawyer]

Great great write up and videos. Thank you for sharing.