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cam help

3K views 8 replies 2 participants last post by  eschaider 
#1 ·
Looking for help on a set of cams to put in my car

First off it is a 96 GT with MMR 900 Street Mod shortblock, It has 2004 mild ported heads, hooker long tubes with off x-pipe, procomp three piece intake that is port matched, shark upper plenum, mac 75mm t-body, 80lbs injectors, adjustable fuel regulator, 340 liter fuel pump, sct big air 90mm maf, diablo mafia maf extender, Procharger d1sc pushing 17 psi, sct pro race pak, when I dynoed it, it pushed 525 at the wheels, my dyno guy says he feels my cams are what is holding me back, I have a set of crane regrinds in it they are roughly .550 valve lift with rocker 264 270 avertised duration 228 234duration at .50 112 lobe separation. Looking for a good cam for my motor and step this car up a bit, also this car is a 5 speed car with 3.73 gears.
 
#7 ·
My point was that you personally checked them and did not rely on someone else to inform you of the phasing. Your answer tells me you did not and you relied on someone else to inform you.

You should be aware that the OEM sprockets and timing components, other than chains, have never gone together with everything "straight up". It is not uncommon to find phasing differences of as much as 7˚ attributable to movement of just the cam drive sprockets. That does not include cam to cam positioning errors in the placement of the keyways on the cam(s).

I would suggest to you that your cams are not only not correctly phased to the crank but other than assembling pieces no one ever checked their phasing or attempted to correct or optimize it.

The very first thing I would do, before it becomes impossible, is find a set of Cloyes adjustable primary cam sprockets and 9-way adjustable secondary sprockets before it becomes they all disappear. After you have the 9-ways (be sure to get four (4) because you will need all four) then your order of battle will look basically like this;

  • Read up about cam phasing on this and other Modular sites until you understand it and understand how to do it,
  • Assemble all the tools necessary to do the job, and of course finally,
  • You (personally) actually have to do the job.

Your cams are not bad, granted there is room for improvement but they are more than adequate if properly installed.

Ed
 
#8 ·
yes they are phased properly I just put new components in it 1yr ago, as I had a guide that cracked and had slapping noise, and yes more room for improvement which was the question I was getting at, looking for recommendation on cams to compliment with the setup I am running, I built this motor about 8 yrs ago and have been running it no problems other than the chain guide, motor runs real good just looking for a little extra is all, and after my talk with mmr today he even suggested me going with stage 2 cams as my cams are little to lack there of and holding me back.
 
#9 ·
It is impossible to phase the cams correctly with OEM components unless you use offset keys and even then the corrections are very limited.

You should remember that to a carpenter everything looks like a nail, even screws (apologies to any carpenters out there). When you are talking to a retailer that sells parts you should not be surprised that he suggests you buy parts. Your problem is not parts, it is the proper use of the parts you have. Someone has already deluded you into thinking your cams are straight up. Lets assume they are.

If they are straight up can you tell me the lobe separation they were installed at, straight up? How about the intake centerline? How about the exhaust centerline? Do you have a cam card for the cams? My bet is the answer's are; LSA — don't know, ICL — don't know, ECL — don't know, cam card — don't have one. Am I right? How about the worksheet that was used to degree the cams? My suspicion is the answer is — don't have it either.

Your cams were never properly phased to your crank. Whoever told you they were was telling you what you wanted to hear. If they were ever checked them my suspicion is they would be all over the map.

If you want to spend the money for new cams and the effort to pull the engine to put them in and properly phase them, then by all means please do so. If you would like to get a boost in usable power and a much smaller dent in your wallet you should not be buying new cams, you should be reading post #7 again and beginning the learning process.


Ed
 
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