Camshaft
 

I have an 89 LX with a 2.3L and am about to change the cam to get rid of a pretty annoying tick. Does anyone have any suggestions as to what I should or shouldn't do while swapping the cam out? I have the necessary gaskets for the job but I've never done this before. Thanks alot

Well, a ticking noise from the valve train is most likely your lifters. The other possibility might be an exhaust leak. Are you changing the cam because you have a tick noise? Replacing a cam for a first timer is quite difficult. But, before i get into the how to do it, i need to know your reasonings for the cam upgrade. Let me know, thanks.

The owner before me was a mechanic and he was going to change the shaft just before he sold it to me. According to him he had checked the shaft and one or more of the lobes were mis shapen. I am going to check everything out first before I install anything though, ie lifters, lobes, exhaust leaks or gasket leaks. If it is the shaft I will just be putting in a stock shaft, nothing performance.

i had that problem with a car i bought and it was the lifters... if the car sits for a long time the lifter will tick but when i just let the engine run after a while the noise wnet away.....

Since you have to swap out the camshaft, you may as well get one from Racer Walsh with more lift and duration. You'll appreciate the added power without sacrificing major milage.

Right on, good suggestion
Thanks for the help everybody

The camshaft you'll need is $134 in Racer Walsh's catalog. That's not much more than a stock camshaft. This was the same cam I put in my 92 and can, of course, be changed without removing the head. It's about a one hour job. Be sure your timing belt is on correctly before cranking the engine over for the first time because pistons can bend valves. This is true especially with the increased lift.