I want to tune my cam gears on my own for now. Im not going to go to a dyno until summer when I am finshed with my mods. But for now, what is a good way to adjust my cam gears. I was going to do runs from 5-60 mph and the 60-90 on the highway, and record all of my data. Also, should I start advancing my intake and retarding my exhaust or the other way around. And can you guys post yourt settings and mods that use guys use. Im going to be doing all of this tuning with a non cut valve cover. is this a bad idea cause it is going to take forever?? or will i be all set. thanks for your help.

 

oh my goodness dude buy a cut valve cover or have yours cut, i picked up a cut cover for $60 off ebay and it was powder coated too

 

Just leave your cam gears the way they are and wait til your on the dyno to adjust them...also dont bother using other peoples setting cause everyones motor run differently


[Modified by x lP lL i c i t, 7:54 PM 2/1/2003]

 

1. tune on the dyno only. your results will not prove anything as there are so many factors when doing these "proposed runs" to see if the car "feels faster."

2. get a cut valve cover for sure. i mean if you do choose to go back and forth when adjusting the cam gears you are bound to get a leak coming from the valve cover. the valve cover gaskets are rather easily to break and you would have to use gasket sealant everytime to prevent leaks (at least i have to). it really isn't worth the trouble.

get on ebay and get yourself a used valve cover that is cut for adjusting the cam gears.

 

Thanks... I'm def gonna get a cut valve cover. But if I have my friend in the car with a stopwatch recording all of my times, you don't think that would be a good idea for now? I must be pretty accurate. but also, when i go to the dyno, i want to advance my intake and retard my exhaust right?

 

Right.

If you absolutely insist on doing it w/o dynoing, then go to:

http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/D...lcomepage.html

You should be able to get a starting point from there. Good luck.

 

Hey, that's Harry's webpage! Thanks for the link! I almost forgot about it!

But to answer your question, NO, the stop watch butt dyno method is not accurate at all. Just be patient and don't blow up your engine before you get to the dyno. Setting the cam gears moves the power band around to the area that is most usable, set by the type of driving you do. Don't expect seat of the pants power by just adjusting the gears. Yes, there is power to be had, but tune it right to get it right.

 

Can I really screw up my engine that bad? I would never advance or retqard them more than 4 degrees at most. But if I use a stop watch and find that I am making quicker times, wouldnt that be good?

 

I am just playing devil's advocate. I'd rather you be overly cautious since engine's aren't cheap to replace.

A reason why the stop watch method may not yield the best results is because you have so many variables that may not be consistent such as shifting points, launch, your friend's finger pushing the stop watch, etc. This can make inconsistencies in runs and what may have seemed good at one run may just be due to the driver and not the changes you made tot he gears. Ya see what I'm getting at?

But if you don't plan to make huge changes, I guess you can try it. Just be sure to tighten the bolts on the gears really well.

Good luck!

 

You can cut the valve cover with ease using a grinder

 

I juat had some cam gears installed and I am waiting to get the car dyno'd so thry can be set to specs...

 

Ill prob do like a 5-60 mph run so the launch doesn't make an effect. Ill also do a 60-90 run for each setting. And ill do each run 2 times do make it more accurate. Now I just need to get a used valve cover so I can cut that one.