Golden80

I'm figuring it would be fairly expensive since you have to remove the hood, radiator, and all of the accessorie pully's. How much would this run through a shop in your area?

Matt

Corellian Corvette

I asked a similar question to the guy that works on my car. He gave me two options:

1. Pull everything off myself and have the car flat-bed to him to install the cam, go home and reassemble myself. That was only the cost of the cam and a couple hours labor, so probably less than $300.

2. Bring it to him, he'll pull the engine and then I might as well rebuild it. He said that it would be cheaper (from the standpoint of time and his labor costs), to have them pull the engine out of the car than to have remove all the crap it takes to put a cam with it inside the car. And, since you have to take everything apart anyway, you might as well do a good overhaul.

He didn't make it seem like there was much middle of the road, and I trust this guy.

So, since I have the stock cam I opted for a set of 1.6 ratio rocker arms, which cost about the same as a cam, but I could do myself until I'm ready for a rebuild. Really woke the engine up.

Your mileage may vary :)

SteveG75

I did the swap myself in 3 days working 4-5 hours each day. In my honest opinion, this is ver expensive for a shop to do since there is a lot of labor in removing and reinstalling components. At $50 or so an hour, it starts to add up.

If you plan ahead, you can do the job in a weekend so the car is running on Monday if you need it. It is daunting to do but actually simple if you take it one step at a time.

My $.02, get in touch with Lars. He is local to you and I am sure he would be willing to help someone with their first foray into the guts of the engine.

bence13_33

I did my cam installation myself (wasn't too difficult). I would recommend saving yourself A LOT of money and doing it yourself as long as you feel somewhat capable. If not, you are looking at spending a minimum of $350 for labor.

Golden80

Well I've read through the FAQ's on the Corvette FAQ regarding cam swaps. I'm pretty sure I can do all of that. Am I correct in saying that the hardest part is pulling the radiator?

Matt

MikeC

So he wants to pull the engine, because it is easier to do than remove the fanshroud and radiator? I think I might look into another mechanic.

Its an easy job, just take your time.

Corellian Corvette

Maybe I mis-wrote my post. It's also hard to comment on the attitude he had (somewhat joking) when we talked. I know he's not trying to rip me off or he'd just take my $$ and do the job. I use this guy a lot and have been very happy.

What he was pointing out to me is that, for the time it would take him (and the labor cost to me) to get everything out of the way for a cam swap, you're 99% of the way to taking the engine out. It would be more economical (he suggested) for him to go the other 1% of the way to remove the engine where he can do some REAL performance work. So, he said if I wanted to do it cheap, I should do the easy labor part and he'll do the rest. If I want him to do all the labor, my money would be better spent doing some additional engine work.

I acutally think that's really good advice and he was really honest which I appreciated.

Ryan77

I looked up a cam swap on a 1980 corvette in the Chilton's manual at the shop where i work, it said it would take roughly 11 hours to do the complete job with the engine still in the car, at about $50 an hour, that's $550 for the labor alone, plus they said you should do the timing gear and lifters too while your in there. The lifters are a must, since it will void the cam warranty if you don't put new ones in. Hope this helps.

73Ken73

I think that you mechanic is right. If you put a new GM fast burn 383 in the 73 then it would keep up with or beat that 99 Vette.

dman535

In the last three years I have done two camshafts in my car. The first one I did with the motor in the car. What a pain in the butt. Just laying underneath it trying to bolt the oil pan on was an hour long affair. When I did it the second tinme around I ended up pulling the motor out. Granted I wanted to replace the torque convertor, BUT it was much easier to pull the engine to do the cam than it was to do the camshaft replacement with the motor in the car. If my memory serves me it wwas only about 2 hours to disconnect and undress the motor to get it ready to pull, and it is so much nicer working on an engine stand as opposed to leaning over the fender of a C3.

Ryan77

I agree, it is much easier working with the engine, and a little bit quicker.