hello i was wondering what all you have to go through to put a cam in a 85 vette what are the problems will i run into.And what gain will i get and what cost will i be looking at.

i was wondering what all you have to go through to put a cam in a 85 vette .
Can be done in car but painful so easier to remove motor.
Most of the front accessories , water pump, timing cover and front of oil pan have to come off to R/R cam

what gain will i get .
How long is a piece of string?
What cam will you be running?
What other mods do you have / are going to make to suit the new cam?
A cam swap on it's own usually has little effect unless other mods are done as well

To replace the cam, you have to remove v. covers, intake, distrubutor,cooling fan, radiator, a/c condenser, water pump, harm. balancer, oil pan, timing cover. So you'll need those gaskets.
Replace timing set also (chain & gears).
Potential problems- puller/installer for balancer, getting crank gear off, getting tranny cooler lines loose (I had R&R a few C-4 rads, sometimes they are VERY siezed up).
You have some choices to make about what type of cam you want, flat tappet (original) or hyd. roller. If you go w/ hyd. roller cam, you'll have to add a thrust bearing & measure cam walk w/ the timing cover on.
If you run a flat tappet cam, be aware of proper break-in of the cam, also todays oils don't have the properties (zinc) for long cam life. You'll need an additive or use race oil. Roller cams don't have that problem.
TPI motors require a certain type of cam profile to best suit its torquey character. You need to talk to a cam manufacturer, they'll ask you some questions about your car & other mods you have/want to do.
If this sounds like alot of work, you could start w/ a set of 1.6 rockers (1.5 are stock), which will increase valve lift & duration. An exhaust up grade like headers & cat back will be a good start. A good cold air kit like a K&N and an adj. fuel press. regulator. Hope this helps you.

That is a big job, more if you try to do it with the engine in the car!!!!

hello i was wondering what all you have to go through to put a cam in a 85 vette what are the problems will i run into.And what gain will i get and what cost will i be looking at.
if you have to ask, you probably should get some help from someone w/experience or get a shop to do it, its not a job for beginners you will see improvements but to get optimum performance from it you need other upgrades to match that cam good luck w/your project

if you have to ask, you probably should get some help from someone w/experience or get a shop to do it, its not a job for beginners you will see improvements but to get optimum performance from it you need other upgrades to match that cam good luck w/your project


I agree. Changing the camshaft is a big job. As changing a cam often involves changing the valve springs too, it's often easier to pull the engine out to change the cam.

hello i was wondering what all you have to go through to put a cam in a 85 vette what are the problems will i run into.And what gain will i get and what cost will i be looking at.

First off - If your just looking for a little extra bump an easier thing to do is just install 1.6 ratio rocker arms. Usually good for an extra .030 t0 .035 lift.

But - if your going to do a cam change, for the amount of work that is involved you may as well plan out an entire engine build because most cam changes involve spring changes and the easiest way to do a spring change is to remove the heads. So while your at it your Iron heads aren't much good and to take advantage of all that lift and duration that your going to add you may as well change your heads, your headers, your cats, your exhaust. Now you will want some intake porting and throttle body enlarging to feed all this extra flow that this new cam is going to open up.

Your motor probably has some miles on it so you'll want to re-ring it. That means pulling the motor. well while it's out you may as well..... bearings, windage, oil flow etc.

or maybe just change the rockers, add a nice aftermarket exhaust like Billy Boat and empty the cat if you don't have to worry about emissions.

Hope that helped.

I just finished this job on my 85 along with adding 1.6 roller rockers, aluminum heads from an 86 and headers. from a standpoint of the number of steps involved with the job, there are fewer with leaving the engine in the car. The biggest advantage that I can see in pulling the engine is in cleaning the engine and engine bay. Putting the cam itself in with the engine in the car just has you leaning over into the engine bay. Remove the radiator and you ahve all the space you need.

Yeah, if its a one time only, then you don't need to buy/rent a cherry picker or engine stand. Hell, I even did a hone & ring job in the car, not too bad to do.

thanks for the advice

tough job.:toilet: