LS-3 525 on the road!

[Gaz64]

For all the LS owners out there, FYI.

Whenever you do a cam swap, go for a higher quality tiebar lifter, and ditch the factory plastic guides.

Seen too many fail with failed lobes from roller wheel skipping, lifters turning in the guides etc. And broken springs. This is the only area that LS fails in, the valvetrain.

If I was building my own LS, albeit LS2 to LSA or LS9, I would chuck the whole valvetrain, run the recommended spring as a package with your chosen camshaft, run a forged steel roller rocker, (more compact than aluminium), correct pushrod length during dummy build etc.

I hope this doesn't scare others away.

Gary

[joyridin']

Originally Posted by Gaz64

For all the LS owners out there, FYI.

Whenever you do a cam swap, go for a higher quality tiebar lifter, and ditch the factory plastic guides.

Seen too many fail with failed lobes from roller wheel skipping, lifters turning in the guides etc. And broken springs. This is the only area that LS fails in, the valvetrain.

If I was building my own LS, albeit LS2 to LSA or LS9, I would chuck the whole valvetrain, run the recommended spring as a package with your chosen camshaft, run a forged steel roller rocker, (more compact than aluminium), correct pushrod length during dummy build etc.

I hope this doesn't scare others away.

Gary

That isn't necessarily a needed item. There are literally thousands and thousands of LS engines running around with a cam change and they are still using the factory lifters. LS3 engines had the LS7 lifters which are known to be of relatively good quality for a cheap price. Unless you are going all out and adding heads etc, I wouldn't even think about yanking everything apart for a simple cam change.

Heck, the nice thing about LS engines is you do not even have to pull the lifters to do a cam change if you do it right. As far as rocker, most people are running the factory unit with a bushing kit now. They are good to 7500 RPM or so due to their light weight. Texas Speed offers a roller tip version with the CHE busing kit if you want more.

If you are racing your engine, go for all the stuff you listed. If you just want a decent street engine without rebuilding the whole thing, do not waste your money.

[Gaz64]

Originally Posted by joyridin'

That isn't necessarily a needed item. There are literally thousands and thousands of LS engines running around with a cam change and they are still using the factory lifters. LS3 engines had the LS7 lifters which are known to be of relatively good quality for a cheap price. Unless you are going all out and adding heads etc, I wouldn't even think about yanking everything apart for a simple cam change.

Heck, the nice thing about LS engines is you do not even have to pull the lifters to do a cam change if you do it right. As far as rocker, most people are running the factory unit with a bushing kit now. They are good to 7500 RPM or so due to their light weight. Texas Speed offers a roller tip version with the CHE busing kit if you want more.

If you are racing your engine, go for all the stuff you listed. If you just want a decent street engine without rebuilding the whole thing, do not waste your money.

I have done a few, and agree that you can do a cam swap without removing the lifters. But the other side of the coin is, nobody has any idea of the lifter condition.
So it really is a gamble.

I don't do that style of work any more.

Engine out, heads off, lifters out in order, inspect as necessary, cam out etc.

Generally, an engine refresh at the same time when we have a lobe/lifter failure. Seen many with worn cam bearings.

Yes, many decent street engines out there with factory hydraulic roller lifters etc. Don't get me started about AFM lifter failure, when they rotate in the lifter guide.

Gary