i wanted to see what kind of rods yall have used or found that work the best for pushing the lifters up to change the cam besides wasting 80 bucks on the ones they sell.

 

Go to Ace or somewhere like that and get some 1/4" steel rod. I got a long piece and cut it in half and it was plenty for both sides of the engine. Cost me about $4.00

 

5/16's dowl rod from the local lumber yard..im used them on 7 cam installs..works perfectly

 

i tried that trick when i did my swap but i couldent ge tthe rod in the block

what gives is there a trick to it?

does it completely hold the lifter up or does it thread throught the lifter?

 

It threads through the lifters. You have to spin the cam as you insert the rods to get the lifters to go up.

 

i was looking into this also as i am about to do a cam swap. Which is better the wood or metal, i would be afraid of the wood splintering in the block, should that be a concern?

 

That's why I bought metal, but it doesn't sound like it matters much.

 

you sure about that?

I looked at the journals when I had mine apart, it doesn't look like just any old rod pushed up in that hole will work. It looks like the rod would have to wedge up against the side of the lifter in order to hold it. Here's a pic of the cam bearings with the lifters pushed up - notice the location of the oil journals, a rod will only rest "under" them, not through them. This is just my observation...

 

that was my origional guess when i was attempting my first stab at it

 

i have never had to do this on high mileage motors you may have to do it i just release all the pressure from the rockers then roll cam over a few times and pull cam out