camming an alloytec

[oi nah]

gday ive been doing a bit of research and im planning on camming my sv6, ive done all the little mods i can, and just looking for more power. ive tried looking everywhere for guides or info on how to do it, ive got a basic rundown but its always the timing that scares me lol. just seeing if i can get some questions answered.
so is the basic rundown of it, remove the inlet manifold, remove rocker covers, align timing marks for the cams, remove cam bearing caps, and bolt that holds sprocket to cam, pull the cam out, swap new one in and reinstall. and for the timing do you just realign the timing marks with the sprocket and chain, or before hand get a paint pen and mark them?
ive seen also people put a screwdriver to release tension from the chain to remove the chain. so could this job be done without having to remove the front timing cover, because that would make it alot eaiser.
i dont have much knowledge on engines, more about diffs and gearboxes, so just looking for advice. if anyone could link a forum or video or guide on alloytec camshafts that would be awesome too.
would this be in the service manual aswell?
any helps much appreciated, cheers.

 

[someguy360]

No offence mate, if you don't know much about engines then camming an alloytec is not for you. It's absolutely not a job for beginners.

The DOHC setup on alloytecs are incredibly complex and you have 3x separate timing chains and 2 stages of cam timing that needs to be dialed in to get it right (it's not like a conventional engine where you just line up a dot to dot and slap the chain on).

It's not like doing a cam swap on a conventional pushrod LS/Ecotec/304 etc.

I've got a lot of mechanical experience, built plenty of engines, I've done high performance builds and some competition engines, and even then I'm currently doing a chain replacement on my runabout SV6 at the moment and am still getting a mate who's a GM tech to come round and make sure I've got the chains aligned right.

Don't forget you'll need $1000-1500 worth of dyno tuning to make the engine even idle after the swap too (factor that into your spend, you won't even be able to drive it to your tuner so add another $200 for towing). You'll find the cost won't reap the reward in terms of KW gained on a V6, and it will never sound like a cammed V8 (it will still sound like an alloytec, which is the noise people make after a bad curry).

Also don't forget being 17 the second a police officer hears a lumpy idle your done, license gone.

 

[oi nah]

No offence mate, if you don't know much about engines then camming an alloytec is not for you. It's absolutely not a job for beginners.

The DOHC setup on alloytecs are incredibly complex and you have 3x separate timing chains and 2 stages of mechanical timing that needs to be dialed in to get it right (it's not like a conventional engine where you just line up a dot to dot and slap the chain on).

It's not like doing a cam swap on a conventional pushrod LS/Ecotec/304 etc.

I've got a lot of mechanical experience, built plenty of engines, I've done high performance builds and some competition engines, and even then I'm currently doing a chain replacement on my runabout SV6 at the moment and am still getting a mate who's a GM tech to come round and make sure I've got the chains aligned right.

Don't forget you'll need $1000-1500 worth of dyno tuning to make the engine even idle after the swap too (factor that into your spend, you won't even be able to drive it to your tuner so add another $200 for towing). You'll find the cost won't reap the reward in terms of KW gained on a V6, and it will never sound like a cammed V8 (it will still sound like an alloytec, which is the noise people make after a bad curry).

Also don't forget being 17 the second a police officer hears a lumpy idle your done, license gone.

yeah that was my main worry ive seen ls timing it looks really simple, i just thought it may be a bit eaiser because there overhead cams and not pushrod cams, so less to take apart. im just trying to find something to add performance to it without going down the forced induction route. and yeah cops are the other thing. the only thing i can think of is saying its a ghost cam, they cant really pull the rocker covers off, not sure how well thatll hold up though. ive got people at work who have done timing chains on alloytecs so if i get stuck maybe i can ask them.
but yeah seems like the negatives are outweighing the positives.

 

[someguy360]

the only thing i can think of is saying its a ghost cam, they cant really pull the rocker covers off, not sure how well thatll hold up though.

"Ghost cam" is just a fancy way of saying your going to tune the car to make it run poorly at idle, which also won't fly with the police as you've negatively impacted emissions etc.

Forced induction, cam, poor tuning etc as a P Plater your screwed no matter what.

Legally as a P plater you are not allowed to do ANYTHING that changes the performance of the vehicle and that even includes exhausts etc.

 

[Fu Manchu]

I’ll give you the tip, @someguy360 isn’t just some guy.

It’s solid advice. Your bang for buck on the Alloytec is not the same as with an LS, any Holden V8 or any of the previous 6’s.

Keep your coin in your pocket.

 

[vemate]

No offence mate, if you don't know much about engines then camming an alloytec is not for you. It's absolutely not a job for beginners.

The DOHC setup on alloytecs are incredibly complex and you have 3x separate timing chains and 2 stages of cam timing that needs to be dialed in to get it right (it's not like a conventional engine where you just line up a dot to dot and slap the chain on).

It's not like doing a cam swap on a conventional pushrod LS/Ecotec/304 etc.

I've got a lot of mechanical experience, built plenty of engines, I've done high performance builds and some competition engines, and even then I'm currently doing a chain replacement on my runabout SV6 at the moment and am still getting a mate who's a GM tech to come round and make sure I've got the chains aligned right.

Don't forget you'll need $1000-1500 worth of dyno tuning to make the engine even idle after the swap too (factor that into your spend, you won't even be able to drive it to your tuner so add another $200 for towing). You'll find the cost won't reap the reward in terms of KW gained on a V6, and it will never sound like a cammed V8 (it will still sound like an alloytec, which is the noise people make after a bad curry).

Also don't forget being 17 the second a police officer hears a lumpy idle your done, license gone.

Hey mate can you dm me I have some questions about my ve ly7 alloytec if that's ok just one re occurring issue