Installing a Cam in a 1974 Corvette

Clean the engine well before starting. Remember to get the sparkplug holes too.

Remove the hood.

Start by tagging any unobvious connections then remove whatever parts needed to get the intake manifold off. Bagging and labeling the fasteners is a good idea if this is going to be a leisurely project and not a New Years Eve weekend rush job like mine was. :) Remove the plugs too since you will be turning the motor quite a bit. Before removing the distributor make a drawing of it with the plug wire numbers, cap screw locations, vacuum advance location... whatever it takes to replace the body in the same position. Firing order is 1-8-4-3-6-5-7-2. The distributor is turned counter-clockwise to advance the timing.

Removing the radiator/shroud combo on these models can only be described as a bitch because of the way the shroud is molded around the upper A-arm. I start by removing the A/C condensor and removing 2 bolts that hold the hard A/C line in place along the fenderwell so it can move forward with the radiator support. Remove the 6 radiator support side bolts and the 2 lower ones. Remove the shroud and radiator brackets. Remove the 2 screws at the shroud bottom edge. Pull the radiator support backwards. Remove the radiator and shroud. My radiator comes out with the shroud partly out. Get yourself a cold one.

I'm not sure but with help maybe the entire assembly can be removed as a unit after unbolting the radiator support?

Remove the valve covers and intake manifold. Loosen all rocker arms. It is important to keep parts that have worn into themselves, like pushrod/rocker joints and rocker/ball combos, together. I cut X's into a box to push the pushrods into and marked the position of each on the box. Remove the lifters from their bores.

Pushrod holder

You will need to loosen the oil pan bolts and oil pan to get the timing cover back on. Remove the timing cover and the large gear bolts. Remove the gears and chain. I needed help from a 3-jaw puller to get the small gear off. Remove the cam being very careful not to shave the bearings with sharp lobe edges and don't let it bang down on the bearings. Bolt the gear back on the cam to give yourself a handle.

I then put the drainplug back in as well as a new filter and put 3 quarts of oil in. I used an electric drill and an oilpump primer to run the oil through the galleries then drained that oil.

Lube the new cam up with break-in lube and carefully slide it in place. Attach the gears being sure to line up the timing marks. Use a new cam bolt lock plate.

Since I was using a new timing cover with a separate timing tab I wanted to check TDC. I bolted the tab on and reinstalled the damper. I banged the guts out of a spark plug (safety glass time), epoxied a bolt through the center, trimmed the end so it stuck out about 1 inch, then smoothed the end. When this is installed in #1 the crank can be CAREFULLY turned until the piston contacts the bolt. Mine was at about 30 degrees. Mark the damper according to the zero degree tab mark then turn the crank in the opposite direction until it is stopped again by the bolt. Mark the damper again. Hold a piece of paper on the circumference of the damper and copy the mark distance to it. Trim the paper to that width and fold it in half. Use the folded paper to mark the halfway point between the marks. See if it matches the TDC scribe on the damper. I had to trim the markings off my tab to fit the Fluidampr depth so I set the engine at TDC and marked the tab at zero degrees. A hammer and chisel made the mark permanent and since the damper is marked by degrees I didn't need the tab degree markings. I did not have time to degree the cam (check that it opens valves when it should) but I would have liked to. Do it if you can.

I went cylinder-by-cylinder marking each rocker after it was adjusted. According to Edelbrock's instructions adjust the intake when the exhaust just starts opening and adjust the exhaust right when the intake closes. When you are done turn the motor until at TDC on the #1 compression stroke. On mine this was with both timing gear marks straight up.

Looking at the front of the motor it turns clockwise.

When setting the intake gaskets look at the old ones carefully for problems, I found several spots around the water passages that were barely sealed. Moving the gasket up a bit solved the problem. Do not let the gasket protrude into the air flow.

Use a good gasket like Fel-Pro's Print-O-Seal line. I like to use Edelbrock's Gasgacinch on the head side of the intake gasket and head, the end seal bottoms, timing cover mating surfaces and gaskets, and all water pump joints. If you've never used it before it's like contact cement and is easy to remove cleanly later. I use silicone in a thin bead around the water passages on both sides of the gasket, on top of the self-stick cork end seals, filling the end seal/intake gasket joint, and around the bottom of the timing cover pan seal. Nothing is used between the manifold and intake gasket except the very thin bead of silicone around the water passages.

Set the intake gaskets in place, the Gasgacinch will bond them in place on the head. I set the manifold, without the end seals, down on the motor to press the gaskets down and check for gaps indicating something warped. When done remove the manifold, stick the end seals down, apply silicone and gently set the manifold in place. Get it in the right position the first time. Coat the bolts with a non-hardening sealer like Arp's teflon one and loosely install them. Wiggle the manifold slightly to seat and check that it's centered. Follow the instructions for the torque procedure for your manifold.

Reinstall the rest of the parts and fill fluids. Lol, that little sentence said a lot! Use Armorall or similar to lube the radiator hose ends if needed for a new hose, the lower radiator hose/radiator joint is the worst to get started. Just get it inside the hose so the outside is not slippery. Get it in place from the top and carefully use a screwdriver from the bottom to slip on any part of the hose not on yet. Work from the top and bottom and push/twist until fully on.

The distributor should end up being seated with the rotor just pointing at #1 wire (check instructions/manual) when at TDC on the compression stroke for #1 with the body of the distributor in the original position and the breaker/trigger for #1 (my Hall Effect sensor has a narrow tooth for #1) lined up. Use the oil pump primer tool to turn the oil pump drive dog to the right position for distributor engagement once you figure out which teeth to engage. It might take some trial and error.

Be sure to change the oil after the break-in.