How many of you Degree the cam in when you do a swap?

nmcgrawj

Advanced Member
Sep 28, 2003
3,651
3
68
Indianapolis, IN
Just wondering how many of you degree your camshafts in when u do a swap? Jay Allen recommend i do it when i do mine because of the inaccuracy of the stock crank shaft key and it can be off even though you line the dots up on the timing gear.

So, what do u guys say, do it or it will be ok without it? How much do the kits go for?


Thanks
 
  • Sponsors (?)


I degreed mine in (basically checks to see how far your "numbers" are off) and it was 1* off so I left it...

Also your camshaft may be ground with an advance or retard for you car usually depending on the weight of your car or powerband you are trying to achieve...and if you degree it you will know that your cam is "set" where it is supposed to be for your car...

I bought my kit from Summit Racing for around $85 bucks...

If you don't degree a custom cam there is a possibility you don't get the custom affect...
 
Nate, I didnt degree my FTI cam in but I should have. At the time I didnt have the degree set and I didnt wanna learn so we just put it in at 0*. 0* (dot to dot) is not 'straight up', straight up is the cam installed as per the specs on the sheet. I recommend you degree it in as your paying jay good money for that cam. I cant wait to see these results. How high are ya gonna rev it? What did Jay say for expected power and track times?

I was going to do a new combo (347) and I was gonna have Jay set up the cam, but after adding up the figures to do it right (400+rwhp, 10 sec potential) I was tuirned off so now im looking into boost. I might be buying a Vortech SQ S trim for a REALLY good price. I'll end up with more power for a lot less money but I gotta be real safe on my tune.

Mike
 
yeah deffently take the time to do it.. A couple degrees one way or the other will cause your rpm range to move. My FTI cam was off 2 degrees but would have been right on if i had a lighter car. (cam card had two degree settings for different weights of car)
 
what exactly is degreeing a cam, and if i got a ford racing b-303 cam would that have to be degreed? what are the effects if you dont do it as to if you do it?
 
Degreeing a cam is basically verifying the accuracy of the cam grind and the placement of the crank key. Sometimes one or both of these will be off and as a result, if you do not degree the cam, it may be retarded or advanced because of these inaccuracies. From what I have heard most people don't degree the letter cams, but will with customs and most other. I degree'd my FTI cam and it was 1/2* off, so I left it.

*Someone please chime in if thats not the best explanation, thats simply how I understood it.*
 
Jo_885o said:
NATE EMPTY UR PM BOX.


I will sir! :rolleyes:

Nate, I didnt degree my FTI cam in but I should have. At the time I didnt have the degree set and I didnt wanna learn so we just put it in at 0*. 0* (dot to dot) is not 'straight up', straight up is the cam installed as per the specs on the sheet. I recommend you degree it in as your paying jay good money for that cam. I cant wait to see these results. How high are ya gonna rev it? What did Jay say for expected power and track times?

Well, Jay will have me at the bar for sure...thats if i can get the power to the ground....thats KEY! :bang: Expected power? Track times? We will all wait and see...i cant wait, college income sucks. Jay said when im at the track, going for my best times...rev it to 6500 or rev it to 6500 when i got some money on the line. But b.s. races and such, i will probably not go past 6100 or so. We gotta wait and see what times i get with what shift points.

But i definately cant wait to break up all this AFR/EDDY PERFORMER/FTI crap.......even though it works! :p j/k Its scary going the different route, but i have faith Jay is helping me put together a stout combo for my income. I just wanna go fast like everyone else :spot:
 
Nate your car is gonna rip ass with the set up your planning. Just be sure to gear it according. Jay told me the same thing, with what I was planning, take it to 6500 when you need to. Im glad you took my recommendation. You should be well past 'the bar' with what you have planned once you get a tire on it ;)

I decided against a new engine like I was planning. Im about to order a Vortech in a few :cool:

Mike
 
I degree'd mine, even though I did it the wrong way... I assumed the lobes were symetrical which they are not, so going .050" before and after max lift is NOT the way to do it... I have NOT re-checked it though either. You know the saying, don't mess with what isn't broken.


Mike, dude you might be leaving a lot of the table without degreeing that cam. My dad didn't degree his FTI cam right and when we did he went from 109-110mph to 113-115mph... on the dyno he actially lost 10 peak HP, but it picked up all under the curve.


The beauty of the ebrock/afr/fti combo like mine is that you don't have to rev it over 6000rpms to get a 3700lb car down the 1/4 in 12.3 at 111 and still get 20mpg with 4.10's, and there is NO cam "hickup" when I let the revs drop. Nail my car at 1500 and it just starts going with no "herky jerky". It seems its uncool now to run my setup, but for as MILD and street oriented as it is, its hard to beat. Will you go faster with larger/racier parts... I sure as hell hope so, especially in a lighter car. Its all about the combo and for as streetable (not that a 6500rpm shift point 302 isn't, its just not AS streetable) as mine is and how relatively small all my parts are I couldn't ask for anything more. My dad's 91GT is a 6500rpm shiftpoint car and given the choice between his and mine, I'd take my combo ANYDAY of the week over his, mine is just much easier to drive and it doesn't lack the low end balls like my dad's does. My dad's car is faster than mine (11.95 at 115mph) but I'd still rather have my combo for a STREET CAR. If I was building a car that spent more time at the track than the street, like my dad's, then I would have built something like a high rpm NA 302. Nate, I wish you all the luck, I just hope people didn't steer you wrong in what you will end up with. I've had the liberty of drivng/riding in many H/C/I 302's and I can assure you that they all don't act and feel the same and there is a tradeoff for those high rpm combos. They "should" run quicker numbers, but on the street they just are not as much "fun" and "liveable" at least not to me, but its all in what you want. TMOSS and I have the smae feelings on this and its something you don't know until you experience both types of combos. Although my numbers are impressive, you truely need to drive my car and see how "stock like" it is... once you do THAT is the most impressive part. I'm not saying this to put down your combo, I just want you to be aware of this. There is a reason we all don't drive high RPM NA 302's, if it was all good we'd all be doing it, I mean who doesn't want to go faster!?!? Best of luck to you... DEFINTELY degree that cam per Jay's specs! :nice:
 
Killercanary said:
TMOSS and I have the same feelings on this and its something you don't know until you experience both types of combos. Although my numbers are impressive, you truely need to drive my car and see how "stock like" it is... once you do THAT is the most impressive part.

Yes we do. Nothin like a fat torque curve for the street (or track).
 
Jay has assured me that it will have great driveability. I do understand what you are saying though about where the power bands are. I told Jay as long as its still tough down low and rips ass up top...ill be happy. I told him not to make it a dog down low with some super cam'd 302 that revs to infiniti and beyond. But there is only one way to find out...but i feel just fine because Jay has explained every detail for each decision he has made that i have questioned.....i have made it crystal clear about still having low end power so he knows that.
 
What kind of timing sets are you using to degree with? On my drag bikes we have to run adjustable cam gears to get exactly what we want. All I see for my car is the typical 3 place timing set (double roller).
 
I did my FTI dot to dot to start and it came right dead nuts to the cam card. Just had my shortblock all redone & balanced and the shop that did the work degree'd it at re-assy...came in dot to dot. No to say that always works...it has to be verified. Mine was to be 108 deg and the shop came in at 109. both of us ended up dot to dot.
 
FWIW, I installed my FTI cam and had to advance the crank sprocket 8 degrees. Every timing event was 7 degrees off. Not Ed's fault, there are just so many variables that can throw things off. That's why it's so important to degree cams, even when they are installed straight up.