i just installed brian crower stage 2 cams and crower valvesprings/retainers on my ls. i started the car up and it barely started. the car won't idle (10-12" vacuum) and surging. and theres a tapping noise, like metal on metal from the timing belt/#1 cyl area. valve lash is adjusted to oem spec, but i found out the belt somehow got really loose cause i took the valve cover off and turned the motor over by hand, and it jumped a tooth when i was turning it.. the cam gear is rubbing against the rear cover, so i'm probably going to remove or replace it.

i'm just trying to figure out what the noise is coming from. would fixing the belt make the noise go away? or do you think theres a diff issue here?

 

help! i had nightmares about this last night

 

Well properly tensioning the belt takes 10 minutes, so why don't you start with that. Getting the belt on properly will also get rid of the surging issue if you skipped a tooth.

The noise could be normal for a big aftermarket cam, or there could have been piston/valve contact. Fix the belt first, then see what happens. And make sure you didn't put the cam gears on backwards, because they shouldn't be rubbing the timing cover.