Thread: degreeing cam?

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Has anyone ever heard of setting the cam at the highest cranking compression?I was told that you could do this for peak power but it just doesnt seem right.I have never read or heard of this untill a few days ago.What does everyone thing of this idea?I guees you advance or retard untill you reach the highest cranking compression and then leave it at that,I dont know.Any ideas on this.

sounds like a lot of work for not doing good homework to begin with? you would have to disassemble the front half of the motor and make a swap for every test, along with the oil issue and dropping the pan to remove the timing cover.........
a good target CR and intake closing and some math/calculator work could save you from this?
I cam that is installed retarded will have a later closing intake valve/ lower DCR. the cranking compression will be lower but the power band will be higher in the rpm. So i would say it all depends on the range you are looking for. The manufacturers have r&d departments for a reason, but you can adjust some on your own.......

people who look for power that stringently are ones who would kill for 2 or three horse power .. top end nascar teams or pro stock drag racers . unless you are such dont try so hard for so little .. sure you can lose a lot of power by messing something up but you wont likely gain gobs of power by deviating from recommended cam settings..

When I got my Coyes double roller timing chain I looked an my crank gear had three keyway notches with 5 degrees advance and retard settings so I was wondering the same thing as Camaro77 was.

I suppose it had to do with valve timing an the power band but I just left it stock anyway for the very reason of not wanting to rip off the %#$% timing cover over again.

But curiousity never left me. and I always wondered what would have happened if I dared. I know some wonderful things do happen but i'd want to have done it right the first time.

Now, I ain't wanting to start any brawl but if I may put in my unwanted comments I will have a better day if nothing else.

There are a few that would eat their own vomit for 2 to 3 more horsepower especially if we are on a budget. And we don't race. Well, not yet.

And unless them manufacturers have Carroll Shelby in their research and development department then we get frumpy pigs to drive like the one i'm trying to straighten out now.

And besides, it's sooo much fun to experiment. It's really half of Hot Rodding eh?

Now, Camaro77, If you wanna peel that timing cover then you go for it.

If my thinking is correct then advancing will work you off the line and retaring it will get you up to ramming speed on the freeway.

But what i would do is move that power curve around with simpler parts.

But that's me.

Lemme know how it goes if you do buddy!

It must have been 30 years ago that I read someone at Isky named Willie was doing this. It made sense to me at the time and still does. If you're going to play with the advance/retard of the cam, then you need to set the motor up to do it in the first place, with a Cloyes front cover....
http://store.summitracing.com/partde...1&autoview=sku
and Cloyes Hex-A-just timing set....
http://store.summitracing.com/partde...A&autoview=sku

I didn't even know that stuff existed.

Thanks Tech Inspector. I'm going to scope out a new to me speed shop anyway next Tuesday.. See if they can get em.

What I like to do is install the cam "straight up" advance it two degree's and make a pass or dyno pull.
Did the car 60 foot better or worse?
Did it mph or et better or worse??
On the dyno did it change the power-band?
Did it make more hp or torque.
I keep doing this until the mph or et changes.
Same way on the dyno.
When playing with cam timing always make sure you have enough piston to valve clearance.