Well, I read all the info I could find and watched every video on YouTube about degreeing cams and came to the conclusion I am just dumb. The more I learned the less I understood it.

So, I called the guy who did Dan's machining and asked him if he thought it would be ok to just install the cam straight up with no degreeing, like we have always done. He said if it is an Olds he wouldn't recommend it as he sees them all over the place. He suggested we throw the short block in the back of Dan's truck and run it over to him to do it for us. Last night Dan and I built an engine stand and bolted it to our utility trailer and today we took the whole thing over to his shop.

After watching him do it I still don't understand how to do it and am glad we paid him to do it for us. We found out the cam was 4 degrees advanced in the straight up position, so he moved the crank sprocket to another notch and it ended up right on.

I guess there are fabricators and there are technicians........he was amazed at the workmanship on the engine stand we built and we were in awe of his understanding of things mechanical. We feel pretty good now, knowing the cam is where it was designed to run, and next Friday we are going to take the engine back to him, once we have the heads installed, so he can check the fit of the intake. He says if he has to machine the intake a little to get a better fit he can do it while we wait.

He also has my 351 coming along pretty well so I should be able to pick that up by the first of the year.

Don