i'm not very knowledgable of the mechanics of my engine, so i need some help. i want to upgrade my engine little by little but don't know what to do. if i install cams, what kind of cams should i get and what else would i need to? are cam gears the same as cams? what does an intake manifold do?

hehe, as you can tell by now, i'm a complete idiot when it comes to engines. if you could give me an outline and what i should have done at the same time done, that would be awesome.

thanks

jason

 

Cams are what controls the opening and closing of the valves (I think), and cam gears control when they open or close, aka the timing. Be careful to have someone who knows do the adjustment so the valves don't hit the pistons. I am pretty sure that is what you asked. An intake manifold is the exact opposite of the exhaust manifold (header) it feeds the fuel injectors and cylinders the air needed for combustion. By the way, if Teken tells you anything, automatically disregard everything that I said and listen to him, he knows what he is talking about more than I know my own girlfriend.

 

be sure of what want so later down the line you wont be wasting money buying cam shafts then wanting to go turbo. it would be wiser to install both cam gears and camshafts at once, so you dont get robbed on installation twice. once they are installed get yourself to a dyno to tune them. Some camshafts make their power higher up in the revs. ie ( jun,toda,and spoon) be prepared to upgrade your valvetrain ( titanium retainers ,valve springs,etc) to handle the abuse in the high end. its best to do everything the right way first ..saves headaches down the road

 

check this link it will give you alot of info on how engines work.
http://www.howstuffworks.com/sc-engines-automotive.htm

 

the basic idea to make more power is to get the engine to suck in more air and blow out more exhaust.......since you say you don't know much, asking about cams, cam gears, in. man, and ecu is more for an intermediate level......first get the basic 3: intake, header, and exhaust.......by the time you get these you will probably be a lot more knowledgeable of what to do next

 

thanks fir the replies,
i plan on going all motor for the reliability, nothing extreme, i'm aiming for mid 13's. so what should i be doing at the same time to cut down on the installation cost? you said: cam gears, camshafts, and the valvetrain ( titanium retainers ,valve springs,etc). anyone have any recommendations for all these parts and an estimate for parts and installation? can you break it down in a list of what i need and your recommendation for that part? thanks

jason

 

toda a package...

a good intake/header/cat/exhaust (maybe up the compression a little too)

proper tuning

and some slicks will have you running mid 13's all day and very reliable and great daily driver.

 

What do you consider extreme? I would think that if you want mid 13s NA you would need to do some bottom end work,ie pistons. But that is just my estimation.

 

i would like to see a I/H/E and cat get mid 13s on slicks. That is un heard of, with i/h/e/ slicks your lookin more like low 14s if you are a great driver and all the conditions are right. To get mid 13s you would have to get camshafts, cam gears, fuel press reg, ecu, intake manifold and that would maybe do it for you with some good tuning. Its not that easy to get it done but if you do all that you can hit mid to low 13s........maybe

 

ha i didnt see toda a package up top, my bad , lol but yea that and a little more prob a new intake manifold (skunk2 makes a good one) and a fuel press reg to go along with it would make it even better

 

ok so what does the toda a package include? how much does it cost? and how uch would it cost to install something like that? also, what's the difference between the toda a and toda b package?

as for headers and exhaust, i'm not sure i want to get them. they seem like a waste of money, i know my intake was worth it, but headers add a small bit of hp while the exhaust just makes a bunch of noise.

thanks guys

 

actually , headers and exhaust are not a waste of time. For instance, I had an aem cai and dc 421 headers installed in my car....the gains were okay. After installing my Greddy evo exhaust, things opened up. My third gear went from redlining at 80mph to 90mph. So I wouldn't say that headers and exhaust are a waste of time. The combo of I/H/E really helps your engine feel looser and gives you some great mid-high end that you will definately feel. That is if you have a gs-r at least. I don't know how great i/h/e works on non vtec.

 

when you have i/h/e it opens everything. all the parts work in conjunction to expell gases. once intermediate stuff is done get the cams ( gears,shafts, and whatever else u please) try and get all of the valvetrain stuff done at once to save on labor. good luck

 

just for the record, all GSR's redline in 3rd gear at 90mph - as long as the redline or gears haven't been changed...

I have found from my experience that going past the initial I/H/E stage can be pretty daunting. I would find a good shop FIRST - then decide what package to get - but I must say that after you start changing cams - you tend to open up a whole can of worms...then you need to change this, and that, to make this work properly and effieciently, and if you do this, then you might as well do that....you get the idea. Unfortunately, even changing to stock ITR cams requires vtec controller, cam gears etc, and for that money... you might as well....

-cheers

 

Woah there.... Guys, please be careful when you post something. At least preface it with an "I think" or something.

Installing I/H/E will NOT affect your redline in any gear. Think about how it works, the only way to change your speed in a given gear at a given rpm, is to change the gearing itself (gear or final drive). You can raise the redline to rev higher with a given gear and go faster in that gear. This only makes sense if you are making power in the higher rpm...

If you are certain that you want to stay N/A, and you want to be fast, consider your choices very carefully. For really good N/A power (approaching or eclipsing 200 WHP), you are probably going to need a very good header and exhaust. For the header, you would want something with a ~2.5 inch collector. The off-the-shelf USDM headers have small collectors that are an upgrade to the stock exhaust manifold, but become restrictive if you start to open the breathing up. The mainstream headers are designed to keep the cat in the same place, not necessarily optimized for perf.

There are JDM or US custom headers that would work well" Spoon, Toda, SMS, HiTech, etc. They are not cheap! They make more power when mildly modded and really help when you have cams, compresision, etc. At a recent dyno day, a GSR with AEM, Skunk2 intake, Spoon header, and N2 exhaust made 167 corrected to the wheels with stock cams! Not bad. With cams, compression, and headwork, he could get over 200 HP.

For me, I have a pitiful Neuspeed 4-2-1, RT Cat, and Greddy exhaust. I only managed 180 HP, even with Todas, Port and Polish, and compression (milled head and JDM ITR pistons). I am missing flow on the exhaust side. Can't really cut corners anywhere or you will get held back by the weakist link (goodbye!).

I'm still optimistic since with some fuel tuning and cam gear tuning this weekend, I'm fairly certain I'll pick up quite a bit of power (hopefully get to 185+) even with my current header and exhaust. As an example, Lip gained about 15 HP switching from an RSR header to a JDM 4-1 with Toda B Specs, so it can be a big diff. I hope to get close to 200 next year with a great header. I'll also need a 2.5 inch cat (prob carsound) and a 2.5 inch exhaust.

As for the exhaust, there are not really any 2.5 inch exhausts. Most of the mainstream brands are 60 mm... There are a few companies that should be coming out with true 2.5 inch exhausts soon (SMS and HiTech).

Once again, building N/A is not cheap, but it helps to do it once. I have to replace my header and exhaust... If you are planning to go for it, save for a good header, than add a good exhaust and cat, then move onto the cams...

Take care,

FB