Heads and cam finally going in!

[SUX2BU99]

Well it's at the shop now and I'm as nervous as a new dad! For some, putting in a cam and heads is no big whoop. For me it is, as I have a pretty limited budget and even more limited schedule. I was shopping around different shops all around the metro Vancouver area (I live about 70 miles or so east of Vancouver) and was getting all kinds of price ranges. I found a shop just outside of the city I live in and they had the best price. Small little shop but the guys there seemed to be pretty experienced and campaing their own race car so that's somewhat reassuring. But being local is a big bonus if anything is a problem.

Here's a list of parts I got for this project. Not everything was necessary to buy but since it's apart, some parts are good to just replace with new:

Cam and lifter kit: Comp Cams Xtreme Energy XE268H
Heads: Dart Iron Eagle S/S 165cc intake runner 72cc chamber volume, 1.94/1.50 valves, assembled
Timing chain: Comp Cams double roller
Timing cover: GM chrome (Proform) with Chevy logo and new seal
Head gaskets: Felpro
Intake gaskets: Felpro
Exhaust gaskets: Felpro
Distributor: Mallory Hy-fire HEI (wasn't really needed but it's pretty)
Water pump: Weiand Action Plus cast aluminum (don't ever order the polished; they are NASTY) (didn't really need, but a good idea to replace with new)
Intake bolts: Mr Gasket, allen head
Pushrods: Comp Cams Magnum series, stock-length 3-piece
Head bolts: ARP
Alt bracket: chrome GM (existing one is getting a little rusty)
Carb gasket
Shell Rotella regular 15W-40 oil
Comp Cams break-in lube
GM Engine Oil Supplement
Valve covers: Dart chrome (didn't need, but they just top it off)

Parts on the truck I will be keeping are the roller-tip rockers, intake manifold, and carb.

The cam and heads (before painting them).

[VileZambonie]

Cool, good luck with it. You forgot GOOD RTV for the intake manifold ends. Get a can of the right stuff by permatex and some good teflon thread sealant for your bolt threads.

[HAULIN IT]

Ditto on "Right Stuff", it costs two or three times the normal RTV but worth it. It comes in a whipped cream type pressurized can which makes it easy to get consistant beads

[VileZambonie]

I have an engine we put together that had .088" warpage on the head and .012" on the cylinder deck and we put it all back together with the right stuff 2 years ago. It's of course just a shop car but it runs mint! lol

[SUX2BU99]

Good advice guys. I stopped by there this morning to drop my cam off and my intake that I attempted to get clean (it kinda sorta worked lol) and it was still in the tear-down stage. I should call them and find out what kind of sealant they'll be using.

[SUX2BU99]

It's getting close to being done. I was hoping to have it yesterday but my mechanic is taking his time which is okay by me, and he has a rather rough cold he's trying to get over. But he said he's not rushing anything so that's fine. Heads, water pump, cam, distro is all in. Just has to do the small stuff up top. So Monday afternoon I'm picking 'er up! Woohoo!

[SUX2BU99]

IT'S DONE!! Wooohoo! Picked it up yesterday afternoon. So it's break-in time now so easy does it for the next 1000 kms (600 miles). That's going to be a long wait since I hardly ever drive it  But it's summer now so hopefully there will be much more opportunity to drive it. 

The install went very smoothly which I was totally nervous about. Tear down went easy, with only a few stubborn header collector bolts causing a bit issue (4 broke). Assembly went good. Had a bit of a hiccup with the timing tab but he figured that out. Distro dropped in with no problems and it fired on the 1st try! No leaks that I can see yet. And coolest of all (so far) is the CHOP at idle  Has a nice lope to it. I drove it around last night while my daily insurance permit was still valid. Didn't really get to feel how strong it was since I'm taking it real easy but I'm loving how it sounds. When I paid my bill he said he way undercharged me and wouldn't make that mistake again. Said he put about 20 hours into it and that makes sense as every other quote I got from other shops were more than 2x the quote he gave me. So the initial anxiety is over, with the install going well. Now it's just anxiety of how much power did I gain, and that it holds up well and leak-free!   lol

[VileZambonie]

Once you break in the cam (20 minutes) change the oil and drive it. You don't have to wait 600 miles. Who told you that?

[HAULIN IT]

I was just ready to say that! Once the cam is broke in, change the oil & filter, then drive it like you stole it. One concern lately is the oil, you want oil high in Zinc, diesel, additives & Joe Gibbs are all to be better than regular car type. The "break in" is one of the "old timer" things that gets passed down from the old days of soft bearings, poor oil flow & questionable clearances. I've "broke in" several engines on the drive to the dragstrip. If there is going to be a problem, it will show up either in a few days or 640 miles just the same. Just my take on it, Lorne 

[SUX2BU99]

Oh wow, really? Hm, well in that case it's already broken in as he had done 3 20-minute high-idle (2000-2200 rpm) intervals with it before I even picked it up. And then I drove it easy for about 45 minutes around the country back roads at varying RPM 1500, 2000 and 2500 rpm steady-state intervals) the other night. I was thinking about that 'break-in' thing too, since I didn't change the cam bearings. The lifters should already be fully seated on the cam by now, eh? Woohoo if so!

Yep, I know all about the high zinc thing. I started a thread on that a few weeks here http://forum.73-87chevytrucks.com/smforum/index.php?topic=8203.0. I have Shell Rotella in it right now and will probably always use it, plus the CompCams break-in additive, and some GM EOS. I have some more EOS that I'll put in with the oil after it's first change which it sounds like it's ready for!

He set the timing to 36 degrees for now. I'll probalby keep bumping it until it either pings or power falls off and then back off a bit.

[HAULIN IT]

Sux, I read that even the GM EOS stuff has been changed. I also have been running Rotella for years, but it changed a while back. I went to a few stores & got all of the old I could get, but now I'm into the new formulated stuff. I got a friend who ordered a case of Zinc/lead additive, I'll get a few bottles when it comes. Most engine builder's are pushing the roller cams now more than ever because of the oil. That is why I was wound up a month or so back when a couple guys posted about putting flat tappet cams in there Vortec engines. 36*-38* should be about all the timing it will want. Time will tell on all of this, Lorne

[SUX2BU99]

Yeah rollers have no issue with this and I'm sure they will eventually almost entirely replace flat-tappets when prices on them keep coming down. Flat tappets won't 100% go away though I'm sure and there will always be some cam manf's making additives to keep them alive. Having a good amount of zinc in oil though just makes it more convenient. There will probalby always be some specialty oil manf's out there making oil with high zinc content too. But we should save that discussion for my other thread to keep it current. I feel it's a very important topic that not a lot of us know about.

As for timing, when I was driving it around and would push on it a bit (say to about 1/2 throttle) at about 1500-2000 rpm, it wouldn't stumble persay but would kinda fall over on it's face a little. Maybe thats just the higher powerband cam that I bought, or the weak accel pump I believe my carb has, or a need for a little more advance. I did it once and it downshifted and felt like it wanted to pull strong but I backed out of it thinking I was still in a break-in stage. Next time I get a permit on it, I'm openin' 'er up!!

[SUX2BU99]

So I put a permit on it this past weekend for 3 days. Took it in Friday to the mechanic and they did another oil change, changed the diff oil and put a chrome cover on and fixed 4 exhaust leaks. Oddly, I now have a bloody oil leak I'm quite cetain I didn't have before. I suspect the front of the oil pan and/or timing chain cover. I have to track this down more definitively.

I also got to romp on it and see how it is. It has more power for sure, but it wasn't the exhilerating experience I was hoping for. I was wanting power like my 05 Magnum R/T has. It has 340 HP, 2.82 gears, 4400 lbs of heft, but also a 5 spd auto with much better gearing. Anyway, I asked them to count the ring and pinion for me to find out what gear ratio I have. Result: 2.76     That sucks but also explains alot in the performance dept. 2.76 rear and a 2.52 1st gear does not a holeshot banshee make. But it revs up to 5000 nicely and smoothly (and loudly  ) so I'm looking for perhaps a 3.42 gear set to appease my acceleration desires. 3.73 I think may be too much as my 295/50-15 tires are only 26.6" tall and I don't want more than 3000 or so RPM on the freeway. I'm pretty sure the accel pump on my Edelbrock is weak and the carb might have been tuned for weak power to get past emissions testing so that is also a suspect area.

I was checking out 3.73 rear gears and found "thick" gears for "carriers 3.42 and down" and regular gears too. I have a truck 12 bolt. Would I need "thick" gears?

[VileZambonie]

Did they lower the pan to remove the timing cover? It would have been a good time to replace the front seal and oil pan gaskets.

[SUX2BU99]

That I don't know. I wouldn't doubt if the timing cover replacement has caused a leak perhaps with the oil pan. It's been 8 years since the motor was rebuilt and the pan hasn't been touched since then and I think I see the crappy thin gaskets peeking out at the corners of the pan.