How long will it take to change out camshaft?

I was thinking about upgrading my camshaft. My buddy told me it's going to take 10 hours. Is this true?

 

about right

I like your buddy he is a realist.

 

Takes me a month to change a valve cover gasket. Ten hours for a cam is a bargain.

 

For the first time for sure.

To do list.
Drain coolant
Pull fan and radiator (pull condensor if you have it, decharge A/C system if working)
Disconnect battery ground
Disconnect fuel line to carb, any wiring on the intake, throttle cable (and transmission cables if applicable), and vacuum lines to distributor and HVAC system.
Remove intake.
Line up balancer with timing mark 0* and the distributor rotor near #1. Mark distributor base to timing cover and rotor to distributor base.
Pull distributor (mark the what wires go to what cylinder for faster re-install)
Pull valve covers, remove rocker shaft, remove push rods and lifters (number lifters in the event you need to re-install the old cam)
Remove accessory drive belts.
Remove timing cover (find all the bolts, remember the oil pan ones, the fuel pump has to be removed as well), save oil slinger in place you'll remember to re-install it.
Remove timing gear set.
Carefully remove cam. If it gets hung up, I hear on the 350's it can rub the crank counter weights, though I believe at TDC it shouldn't (350 experts out there?)
Inspect that all is well in the cam tunnel.
Grease up the cam, install carefully.
Line up dots and bolt cam gear to cam. Degree the cam if you are inclined.
Reverse order of removal.

You will likely need to pull the oil pump apart to pack with petroleum jelly for re-priming. You could wait until after you have the timing cover back on the car and I recommend running the pump with a drill to see that oil flows through the new lifters (might not get oil through all of them without turning the engine a bit), plus will get fresh oil to the cam bearings. Do not forget the oil slinger!

 

He is charging me $350 to do it.

 

Can't beat $35/hr labor rate.

 

As said, I would yank the engine especially if it's connected to an automatic trans. If you insist on doing this "in the chassis", I would expect that the grille has to come off in order to get the cam to slide far enough forward. I could be wrong, though, might depend on the chassis and model year that the engine is installed in..

 

10 hours sound about right, albeit optimistic...as long as everything comes apart nicely. Clean-up time is substantial, especially on a greasy old motor. Water pump and thermostat housing bolts will want to break, so expect that.

 

That's one of the thing I'm worried about. Other things breaking while off.

 

necessary to change cam bearings?

 

Why would you remove the thermostat housing for this job? Or any of the water pump bolts not relating to the timing cover? And if those snap, it's generally easier to remove what is left when the timing cover comes off if it didn't break right at the threads.


If the dots are backwards, and it backfires on start up, simply line TDC up with the rotor point at #6 and pop the distributor out and rotate 180*, hardly end of the world type stuff.

If oil pressure is good, and the visual inspection is good, I'd leave the bearings.

Degree'ing the cam is obviously preferred, and it's always a gamble when you don't. I've done degree'd 4 cams and yet to have one be off on me.

 

Yep, I'd leave the cam bearings in place. You'd only be able to replace the front one anyway.

 

Unless the thermostat is new(er), letting it sit high and dry usually leads to it sticking later on. The long bolts that go through the water pump, timing cover and into the block are the ones I'm talking about. All depends on if this motor has been apart recently or not. If not, he could be in for some surprises. Just a warning from a guy that has been doing this for a living for 30 yrs.

 

I'll agree with you there, nothing ever goes according to plan with an engine that has been together 10+ years.

The thermostat shouldn't be dry for more than 48 hours if all goes well Which is less time than any old car ~2" low on coolant.

 

I guess I know 455's better than 350's, but do you still have to pull the balancer?

I ask because to me, that's the part of the job that screws me up the most. The rest is pretty much loosening & tightening bolts.

And I would also highlight it because you will need a puller to remove the balancer, and you will also have to have the proper tool to install it (although I admit to the hammer-on-a-block-of-wood technique more than I should have...)

-Bob C.

 

THe balancer has to come off in order to pull the timing cover (to state the obvious), as to if the 350 needs a puller I'm not sure. I don't recall ever needing one for my 231, and I thought the 350 was the same?

 

I have a question. I was thinking since all that stuff have to come off to replace the camshift I might as well replace the other stuff, instead if paying $350 for the camshift then later pay him to replace the rad. That's stuff has to come off any way so it shouldn't make a difference if he puts old parts back on or new. A buddy if mine told me it might be cheaper to just buy a new motor. I would like to give my motor a little bit more HP. My question is would it be cheaper to buy a new motor or new upgraded parts? What else could I do to give my car more HP beside replace the cam and intake?

 

WHy not just find a 68-70 engine, have it rebuilt with head porting and a TA212 cam and when it is ready swap it out in an afrernoon....

 

How much would that cost? I would just like to end my current motor runs fine. I just want to upgrade some of the parts and replace the other parts with new parts. I figured since some of these parts are over 30 years old I would just go ahead and replace them.

 

Incorrect. You can replace all but the rear bearing with the engine in the car.

With a good cam bearing tool, I would expect it to take an hour to replace cam bearings.