Electromagnetic pushrods??

[RollingD]

I'm sure the title catches the eye, and hopefully I don't disappoint. I just want to see if anybody else thinks this is cool, or stupid or whatever.

As ls1 owners should know, doing a cam swap is more of a hassle than it should be. Reason being, is that the lifters cannot be accessed without pulling the heads off! So you're options are to buy the $100+ cam install tool, use 16 pen magnets to hold up the lifters, play russian roulette with the plastic stops that MIGHT work, or some other fabricated tool.

Here's where stuff gets dicey. I'm helping my buddy with his cam install. We had almost replicated the ridiculously pricey cam tool with the help of some old guys and a machine shop (we paid in cigars). But we used the wrong size rod!! He is going out to buy all sorts of stuff cheap from lowes to try in the morning, but I had an idea O_O

The 16 pen magnet method got me thinking. The stock pushrods are easily attracted by a magnet, which as far as I know makes them a perfectly fine core for an ELECTROMAGNET. The rough idea is to take a length of insulated wire and wrap it around each pushrod in a series. I'd make as many wraps as I need to get the power to pick up a lifter with the pushrods. The current would simply be provided by the car battery. The theory is that if the pushrods are magnetized then they will hold the lifters up for the cam install (possibly a little rigging to make sure the pushrods stay still).

Soooooo.....what do you think. Have I lost my mind? Is it a cool idea? Are we all going to die? Either way, I WILL attempt this tomorrow since its possible to test without dropping lifters. Please let me know your thoughts, good or bad. I'll let you know what happens later

[shady milkman]

you know 2 dollar wooden dowels will work also...

[shady milkman]

so yes..you have lost your mind.

i am not physics man..but how are you going to hook up each wire to receive the current ?

[pajeff02]

I helped my daughter make an electromagnet for a science project a few years back -- I understand the concept. I'm not sure you want to try it with a car battery though. You would be wrapping a single wire around the push rod with one end of the wire going to the positive terminal and the other end to the negative terminal. IMO you will either make some really cool sparks or end up arc welding something in your engine bay. Experiment out of the vehicle with a flashlight battery to see what kind of magnetism you achieve. The more turns the stronger the magnet, but you only have the exposed end of the push rod to work with.

[67CamaroRSSS]

I helped my daughter make an electromagnet for a science project a few years back -- I understand the concept. I'm not sure you want to try it with a car battery though. You would be wrapping a single wire around the push rod with one end of the wire going to the positive terminal and the other end to the negative terminal. IMO you will either make some really cool sparks or end up arc welding something in your engine bay. Experiment out of the vehicle with a flashlight battery to see what kind of magnetism you achieve. The more turns the stronger the magnet, but you only have the exposed end of the push rod to work with.

^This. OTOH, depending on your state of mind (psychedelics anybody?) welding sparks might be kewl!

[0rion]

go with the $2 dowel rods and be done with it but to discourage you a little further than these guys have you want those lifters up off the cam, how are you going to do that with a pushrod that's going to want to fall back down?

[Hi-Po]

Wow, that was, like, totally far out

Just use the wodden dowels and be careful installing them/removing them. Put the brain power towards something else, as this topic is cut and dry.

[Knight]

This was my last experiment with electromagnets....

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XpyT4pc_0ak[/ame]

[RollingD]

Just for some closure, YES IT WORKS, but not really :P I needed a smaller gauge wire because the big gauge I used produced far too much heat but it was just for fun anyway. I did make a pushrod into a reasonably strong magnet outside the car, but as pajeff02 said there is only the exposed end of the pushrod to work with once you insert it. With that small amount of turns I couldn't generate enough magnet strength to pick up a lifter. Soooo I guess if I were to use something the size of a pushrod that was ferromagnetic it might work. Either way, he bought 16 pen magnets and the 2 wooden dowels and we did it the normal way. I still had fun doing my science experiment though :P

[pajeff02]

It was a good thought question. And as long as you had fun with it, then that's a win in my book.

[Smittro]

This was my last experiment with electromagnets....