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

[yotaman96]

Originally Posted by gorgeous-ss

I have one question when you were topping off the trans fluid how exactly did you do this?
You said you just waited for it to spill over but where would it spill over from?

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With the manual trans, the same hole used to fill it.

[Ace1USMC]

Originally Posted by gorgeous-ss

I have one question when you were topping off the trans fluid how exactly did you do this?
You said you just waited for it to spill over but where would it spill over from?

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The fill plug is a 3/8" drive ratchet square with pipe threads. It's just behind the factory hydraulic line that goes into the bell housing for the throw out bearing. You can see it here in this pic below. They are pipe threads - so make sure you use teflon tape or pipe tape on the threads before reinstalling the plug.

You can also see the little pump I used to pump the new oil in. I would recommend the Royal Purple Synchromax Manual Transmission Fluid.

[gorgeous-ss]

Ok thanks i was asking for a friend that is doing this soon... obviously it would be different for me lol im auto

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[Infern0]

Is it the square at the top of the picture? What orientation is this taken from, looking straight up from the ground?

[Ace1USMC]

Originally Posted by Infern0

Is it the square at the top of the picture? What orientation is this taken from, looking straight up from the ground?

So that picture was taken while the transmission was out of the car. The transmission is oriented exactly like it would be in your car in that picture. The left side of the picture is towards the front of the car, and the right is towards the rear. It's a manual transmission (obviously). The red square piece won't be on yours - that's a solenoid that I installed myself. The fill plug is the one that looks like the drive end of a socket tool. It's right where the two red wires are in this picture. That's where you fill it. It will take about 4 quarts on it's own. If you've also blown out the cooler lines (which you should do), then after you start up the car and run her for a little while, you'll need to top it off again. It took 5 quarts to completely fill mine.

[Infern0]

Thanks!

[PMJ]

Originally Posted by robertway

52. Reinstall the oil pump, it is a little bit tricky getting it back on the crankshaft grooves and onto the pickup tube at the same time, you have to start it out a little counter-clockwise from its installed position, angle it back onto the pickup tube, then push it back and rotate clockwise to its final position. Probably a poor explanation but you'll see what you're up against, it just takes patience and resist trying to force it. Once you get the pump back on put a little blue Loctite on its four 10mm bolts and thread them back in but not all the way, just so they barely hold the pump against the block. Crank the engine over several times by hand with the old crank bolt installed and a 24mm socket as this will allow the oil pump to center itself on the crank. Finally torque the four bolts down to 18ft/lbs. Now you can have fun reinstalling the pickup tube bolt, stuff some rags in the oil pan as a precaution, put a little blue Loctite on the 10mm bolt and thread it in as far as you can with your fingers. Finish the bolt off by tightening it down fairly snug, it calls for 9ft/lbs but you won't be fitting a torque wrench in there. Make it snug and then add a 1/4 turn, that along with the Loctite should keep it in place.

Robert, phenomenal write up! The job went smooth as can be (almost)...I had an unfortunate turn of events, but not the fault of the write up, more so just my inexperience.

So you mention when you first start your car, if you don't have oil pressure, you may do ...that was me earlier this morning...unfortunately it is still me, but that's another story.

I have a few recommendations to double check step 52 you may consider to include. First, i'd recommend securing the pickup tube bolt first. it is critical it gets seated correctly as i learned the hard way. Second you can check your work from underneath or with a mirror...you can see the pickup tube is seated flush with the pump. The first time, i did mine as you described, but i didn't get the pickup tube properly flushed up, hence no oil pressure. Doing a little double checking around this step will probably go a long way...

I was able to successfully correct that, but somehow i managed to break off the ARP balance bolt in the crank...still not sure how that happened, i used it to press on the balancer, about half way, i backed it out and put the washer back on, i torqued it to 240ft/lb, then attempted to back it out to put the pins back (pins are from the whipple kit to prevent slippage - lining up the pin holes are fun in itself). when i was backing it out, i knew something was wrong. It never broke free, and it became harder to back out than putting it in. I had to get a longer cheater bar and knew i was messing something up, and then it popped...I'll start a new thread for advice...looks like i'll be down for a while.

[rahallfly]

First off Thanks for the great write up and DIY for this. I will be using it to do my cam swap. But i will be putting in TSP VVT Cam doing the AFM/DOD delete. Does anyone have DIY for the added steps (and pictures) that goes into the VVT Cam?

[Drottie]

Robertway, thanks for an awesome write up ! I used it to install my TSP 231/236 cam, everything went smooth. I'm still waiting to get a final tune, but the install was a breeze with your help. Thanks again!

[IOM Black Diamond]

Originally Posted by Drottie

Robertway, thanks for an awesome write up ! I used it to install my TSP 231/236 cam, everything went smooth. I'm still waiting to get a final tune, but the install was a breeze with your help. Thanks again!

How long did it take you to do it? I am getting ready to do the same cam swap in mine.

[natepartlan]

Originally Posted by IOM Black Diamond

How long did it take you to do it? I am getting ready to do the same cam swap in mine.

Its funny, every single forum on the net has a guy willing to make such a great detailled, informative, and overall helpful thread, and a corresponding guy who can't read them carefully.

From Post #52:

Originally Posted by robertway

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"

Robert

Unless of course your question was directed at how long did it take Drottie to do their swap; for which case I have no smartass comment.

[IOM Black Diamond]

Originally Posted by natepartlan

Its funny, every single forum on the net has a guy willing to make such a great detailled, informative, and overall helpful thread, and a corresponding guy who can't read them carefully.

From Post #52:


Unless of course your question was directed at how long did it take Drottie to do their swap; for which case I have no smartass comment.

Well I wasn't asking you so why don't you piss offLook and see who I quoted

[Bumblebee2012]

Extreme usefull thread! I appreciate seeing the informative text with the associated pictures, and your edited photos with hot points added really makes this a win! Seriously, thanks!

[Retro69]

I just finished my cam swap following this excellent DIY. Many years ago I was a GM Master Certified tech and have built my share of small and big block Chevys. This was my first time into an LS motor and I can say with confidence that I would have done a lot of things the hard way without this DIY. My hat's off to the OP!

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