Are pushrod V8's hard to work on?

**ls1fan74** · 04-17-2009, 06:38 PM

lol sorry for the obvious newb question....basically I've had the GTO for about 3 weeks now and am seeing so many different varieties of mods and engine changes, from fairly simple to some making rediculous power....my question is what kind of experience do you guys have, how hard is it to do certain jobs and what would/wouldnt you recommend doing? (Narrowing it down: I've never pulled an engine to date, I'd love to but dont have the garage, tools or knowhow....mostly referring to what you advanced gearheads would call "basic mods/repairs")

SO This is my 5th car(first RWD/first V8) I have basic tools (impact gun, torque wrench, socket set etc) and I've pretty much done my own pads/rotors, spark plugs, oil and manual transaxle fluid, nothing really beyond that. Been seeing a lot of "change the timing chain at xx,xxx miles, swap the valve springs if you have a cam, put on a PCV catch-can, swap in an LS6 intake manifold, bigger throttle body, change the plugs/wires/coils" Somewhat easy afternoon driveway projects? or pay the labor? Any input/comments/suggestions greatly appreciated thanks!

**Mr. Luos** · 04-17-2009, 07:00 PM

Nope. Out of the car they are very simple.

Getting to stuff with the motor in the car is the hard part.

**67rsss** · 04-17-2009, 07:35 PM

Pushrod V-8 is easier than OHC. As for what tasks to take on, what are you trying to accomplish? Go take a look at sites like ls1howto and others to get a feel for what is involved in various tasks. A lot of things are pretty straightforward, and then some things like cam and head swap are a bit more complicated. Really no harder or easier than anything else...

**0rion** · 04-17-2009, 07:43 PM

Originally Posted by Mr. Luos

Nope. Out of the car they are very simple.

Getting to stuff with the motor in the car is the hard part.

he has a GTO.....that stuff is a bazillion times easier than our f-bodies. The engine actually sits in the engine bay if you can believe that.

I changed my brothers plugs in his 06 for him Saturday and it was nice being able to actually see all 8 plugs and reach them all without being a contortionist.

If you're mechanically inclined and have a decent set of metric sockets then dive right in. Start with headers. You do your header install and you can do pretty much any of the mods you want. There are write ups all over the web that will give you step by step instructions on what to do. I say start with headers because you have to drop the steering rack a little bit to slide the headers in. You do that job and heads/cam will be a walk in the park on the GTO's. Me and qwkgto put my brothers headers in his 06 in just a couple of hours......half of that was spent on the steering rack.

**mark21742** · 04-18-2009, 04:13 AM

Originally Posted by 0rion

he has a GTO.....that stuff is a bazillion times easier than our f-bodies. The engine actually sits in the engine bay if you can believe that.

I changed my brothers plugs in his 06 for him Saturday and it was nice being able to actually see all 8 plugs and reach them all without being a contortionist.

If you're mechanically inclined and have a decent set of metric sockets then dive right in. Start with headers. You do your header install and you can do pretty much any of the mods you want. There are write ups all over the web that will give you step by step instructions on what to do. I say start with headers because you have to drop the steering rack a little bit to slide the headers in. You do that job and heads/cam will be a walk in the park on the GTO's. Me and qwkgto put my brothers headers in his 06 in just a couple of hours......half of that was spent on the steering rack.

I definately agree with the GTO being easier to work on than the F-body.

I found the key to the headers were
1 unbolt the rack and slide it back afew inches
2 slide drivers side header up in the general area (leave it unbolted)
3 bolt rack back up
4 now bolt the header in

lol half the the time to do the whole exhaust on my goat was trying to figureout how to get that one header in.
the back of my knees get sore from bending over the fender, but plugs and wires only take about 30 minutes (includes smoke breaks) on the drivers side to give you alittle more room firmly grab the heat sheild nxt to the coolant tank (flat board next to the header ) and yank up on it, it will pull right out and give you an extra inch or two to get to the plugs....make sure you put it back in when your done so you dont melt the coolant tank

**BonneRisque** · 04-20-2009, 04:54 AM

Start with basic maintenance, oil for the tranny, motor, plugs wires, air filter etc:
Then read everything you can get your hands on about your car.
Gto's are awsome,
peace Bon

**QKSLVR99** · 04-20-2009, 06:55 AM

They are a breeze to work on, to tell the truth, after all the fbodies I had worked on (cam head installs) they are cake to

good set of Metric tools goes along ways, there are always tricks but if you read the links above and do it you'll figure out things that make the upgrades easy

**NaviDyn** · 04-22-2009, 06:58 AM

To answer the original question again, no.

Originally Posted by 67rsss

Pushrod V-8 is easier than OHC.

As for easier, it depends on which motor you are talking about. Some DOHC multivalve engines are very easy. No rocker shaft, no rockers, no followers, just a direct acting cam, with shim over bucket for lash. Certain non interferance motors only need the head bolts removed to take the head off. But that is a different board.