I am new to the forums but have done plenty of research here and havnt found my answer yet. I have a 2003 cav with an ecotec. I made the mistake of letting my dad help me who thinks i dont know $%@# and he knows everything. At least im not to proud to take out the damn book and read it so I dont F things up. Anyways he took my cams out and my roller rockers: a. At TDC which i read in the book that it will damage valves and pistons. b. He took off the rocker arms and through them in a plastic baggy so they wouldnt get lost (which is a good thing) but there now not in any order... Im hoping this is not a problem (damn book says it is). Also the camshaft bearing caps arnt in any order what so ever. And so Im wondering if any of the things mentioned above are going to be an issue if so what would it be and what $ tag am i lookin at? Should I do any upgrades whilst doing this? And if anyone has a diagram or can explain in detail where the hell those camshaft bearing caps go?

never mind just talked to my mechanic everything should be fine still got to rip it off and check though. but still any advice on what i should mod swap replace and upgrade whilst the engine and tranny are out of the bay and pretty much everything else the whole car is stripped to the last bolt and shred of weather stripping. was a perfect car now its just my fun lil prject and hopefully a damn good resume.

my advice, tell your dad to stick with V8's and never go near a 4-banger again. and for you, keep reading, one of the better things you could do.

thanks my man ive been doing that for a while. and yeah told him to take his v8 and shove it up his ass. hes somewhat of a dick and knows nothing. but other than @!#$ reading what should i do while im in there obviousally almost everything is getting sand blasted and painted besides the parts you cant(duh). But yeah thanks for the input.

thanks my man ive been doing that for a while. and yeah told him to take his v8 and shove it up his a$$. hes somewhat of a dick and knows nothing. but other than f'ing reading what should i do while im in there obviousally almost everything is getting sand blasted and painted besides the parts you cant(duh). But yeah thanks for the input.

yeah, mixing up the cam bearing cams is bad. They might be numbered though.

i know all the cam bearing caps are numbered. according to my lsj build book the number coresponds to the number on the head. ive never seen numbers on the head of an l61, however iirc #1 is exhaust cam closest to the timing chain, 2,3,4 and 5 are in that order on the exhaust cam, and the intake cam starts at the timing chain with #6. the arrow on the cam caps points to the timing chain.

as for the cam followers, should be alright using them again, having them in order isnt imperitive. its not a flat tappet pushrod cam that will wipe a lobe with the wrong lifter on it.

all ecotec cam caps are numbered, and have an arrow that point towards the timing chain. they're numbered 1 through 10 with the first being on the #1 cylinder on the exhaust side.

so if you're looking at the engine from the front of the car, it goes like this

<-1 <-2 <-3 <-4 <-5
<-6 <-7 <-8 <-9 <-10

follower (rocker) order does not matter.


tighten them down evenly (you can do one cam at a time) I usually do 3 turns on each bolt and go through from one side to the other until they get snug.
torque is 10Nm or 89 in-lbs




Edited 1 time(s). Last edited Wednesday, December 10, 2008 12:44 AM

Wow bunch of help guys thanks saved me alot of hassle and some headaches. so would you advise me to break in my block again? just as an extra precaution. i guess it shouldnt matter there was not any noticeable difference between one rocker and another even from close inspection. man i was starting to loose some sleep over this. alright well my build is starting from a stripped body once i get the paint off all start taking pics and logging what i do and mods and bolt ons ect. probably a new thread though. thanks for all of your help.

no need to break anything in unless you replaced piston rings or honed cylinder walls.

one benefit of our valvetrain, there is no need for 'wear in' time. Just bolt it up, tighten it down, and go.


unless you switch to mechanical lash adjusters.. then you have to measure lash and blahblahblah but if you reused stock they adjust themselves when they get oil pressure.

SWEET SWEET ENGINEERING. i wasw kinda wanting to upgrade them. guess thats not such a good idea.