Have the opti off again

[blackthunder50]

I got the water pump and opti off in 2 hrs flat. The oil from the water pump drive seal was leaking all over it. The oil looks like it went in the top of the opti and out the bttom seal of it. It ran fine though, Should I replace the opti, it barely started on me today. If you guys want pictures to help me out here, just ask.

Also, the cam is sitting right there. Do I need to pull the heads and all to put a different one in?

[94 formula]

If it barely started today I'd probably replace it. You may have luck tearing it apart and cleaning it up but putting it all back together just to have it crap out on you is such a PITA . To put in the cam you'll need to pull the timing cover, timing gears\chain, valve covers and the intake. Once you have that done loosen up your rockers pull out your pushrods than lift the lifters out of the valley. Then remove the oil pump gear from the valley and pull out your cam. You'll probably need to take out your fans and radiator to get the clearance to remove the cam I've never done an LT1 cam with the motor in the car. Once you get that all done put in the new cam button it all back together and listen to the beautiful lope .

[blackthunder50]

The pump seal is on now, however there is a tiny tear on the outside piece of it, the yellow part, does this mean I have to get a new one and try again.

[78formula78]

i've always goine by one rule on seals... if you can see a way for it to leak it will

[redws6]

If it barely started today I'd probably replace it. You may have luck tearing it apart and cleaning it up but putting it all back together just to have it crap out on you is such a PITA . To put in the cam you'll need to pull the timing cover, timing gears\chain, valve covers and the intake. Once you have that done loosen up your rockers pull out your pushrods than lift the lifters out of the valley. Then remove the oil pump gear from the valley and pull out your cam. You'll probably need to take out your fans and radiator to get the clearance to remove the cam I've never done an LT1 cam with the motor in the car. Once you get that all done put in the new cam button it all back together and listen to the beautiful lope .

sounds just about right, just remeber dont let the valves drop! its a good weekend project, i helped my buddy put in a lt4 hotcam last summer. yeh that was fun.

[TraceZ]

just remeber dont let the valves drop!

He is not removing the valve springs. Why would he have to be carefull of the valves dropping??

[94 formula]

He is not removing the valve springs. Why would he have to be carefull of the valves dropping??

I wondered that too and just figured he was thinking about doing the hot cam kit which comes along with new valve springs. If you are putting about any aftermarket cam in a LT1 you should put in new\better valve springs.

[blackthunder50]

Well, its all back together! I also cleaned the whole front of the engine bay. The opti seemed to be in good condition, its only 8000 miles old. Cleaned it up along with the water pump and they looked new. I got the new seal in perfectly, all of the bearings on th pump and gear drive were tight.

The biggest problem I ran into was at the end. I was putting the belt back onto the balancer hub, while i was pulling on the tensioner the socket got stuck on the freakin bolt! I spent a good 25 min trying to get that damn thing off. I'll fire the car up tomm and test for leaks.