Sorry, not trying to grill you

 

you cant do that, the lifters and pushrods would fall down into the block when you pull the cam out. and youd never be able to remove the cam because the lifters would catch on the next lobe on its way out
OHC motors are a little different story, V engines with the cam inside the block you have to remove the intake manifold and take all the lifters out first.

 

Then apparently my buddies at this other forum are idiots. =] I asked them about a cam installation and they said, literally: Grill, radiator, timing.

 

They may not be "idiots", they just don't know whats involved in doing a cam swap because they have never done it before....just like you, they were fed bad info.

Yeah, your lifters and push rods will fall down into the block if you take out the cam....but you can't even get the cam out without removing them. The lobes would catch the lifters.

So like I said before, here is how you remove the cam -

Remove Radiator
Remove Grille
Remove Valve Covers
Remove Rocker Arms
Remove Push Rods
Remove Distributor (if equipped)
Remove Intake
Remove Lifters
Remove Water Pump
Remove Timing Cover
Remove Timing Chain
Remove Cam

While you have the cam out, its also a good idea to replace the cam bearings. Its not that hard if you have the proper tool for it....but the tool is upwards of 200 bucks and I still haven't found a place that will loan it out.

 

Honestly, there is no comparison to a generation 1 motor to a generation 3 motor. Everything about the two are completely different.....and with the generation 3 motors it is possible to just pull the cam without knocking out the lifters and pushrods....it would seem like that would happen but apparently its possible with a generation 3 and 4 motor. The only things you remove are grille, radiator, and timing assembly. Any way the original question was merely about reusing the stock roller lifters, not everything it takes to get the cam and components out.....little off track ya think?