when I did mine I used rods

and I turned the engine over to have the cyl hold the valves up when I was changing the springs on that cyl, then rotate and do it again...if the valve slides down a bit pull it back with the pen mag.

get ready the springs are fun

 

If you spin the cam to throw the lifters up,pull the old cam out and immediatly put the new cam in,do not go have a lunch break.LOL

 

+1, or have some subwoofers hittin hard real close by, or fall and rock the truck... all could equal a bad day.

 

Not necessarily so. My buddies 99 ws6 dropped a lifter in the oil pan and I was able to take a flex magnet and go down the driver side of the engine oil pan and fish out the lifter. so try that before you start to pull the pan off.

 

this is what repeated 7000 rpm shifts on nitrous does to a lifter in a 94000 mile motor

 

Ive always had two people so we could have the new cam oiled up and ready when we pulled the old one out.

 

i used these instructions http://www.ls1howto.com/index.php?article=23

 

I was looking at the instructions and it seems it would be pretty easy to make some of those lifter tools. Anybody know how long they have to be? Why does it say there is a left and a right? They look the same to me.

 

just use a dowel rod..cheap easy and never fails

 

only thing I worried about was if the wooden dowel rod shed off any wood while sliding it in or out of there. I can usually get aluminum dowel rod fairly easily, but wasn't sure how long it has to be. When you put the dowel rod in, is there a matching hole it goes in on the back side or is there something it rides on all the way back? Thanks.