Dialing in new cam?????
anyone have or know of any good links on how to dial in an aftermarket cam on an ls1?
and doing a cam swap?
had a little look, found some info looking for some more info and any help greatly appreciated.
purchased a degree wheel today.
Donating Member
Dont forget a dial indicator tool
Use a small degree wheel as larger ones wont fit.
http://www.compcams.com/community/ar...?ID=1014036976
CAM DIAL-IN
oh cool thanks for that, yeh i got a crow cams 11" degree wheel, maybe i should've gone with the 8" thought might be easier to read the bigger one, yeh got a dial indicator for work, used to use it on european cars when doing timing belts to know exactly were TDC was, but been told dialing in a performance cam is a whole new ball game.
thanks for that, found an article on cam replacement but mentions nothing about dialing a cam in, yeh the crow cam one has an instruction sheet but will have to read it again, the pictures on the weblinks help a lot more.
join the dots method works just as, well on v6's and rb30s.
if your cam is 100%
yeh thanks for the Genreaper, good bit of info there, yeh join the dots i'd say works but you've still got to check the timing, etc.
dot to dot worked fine for me also
Dot to dot can 'work', but rarely optimal. It is always best practice to degree the cam properly.
yeh want to do it properly, that's why i decided to ask, last thing i want to do is have it out and damage valves and the engine, seen valves bent and smashed before from people not doing timing properly and belts letting go, plus would be a little inbaracing if that happened as i work in the trade even though not on performance cars, from the info iv been given and talking to a couple of people doesn't seem to hard once you have your reference points in place like timing up any other car.
Easy to do. The hardest part of the job is installing the adjustable timing chain.
really... if your bashing vavles into pistons youv done something very wrong.
pretty easy too just watch the valves and check too see where the piston is etc.
So your cam install method is to line it up dot-to-dot and 'watch the valves'?Originally Posted by cracker
well yes, its pretty easy too make sure the valves are doing the correct thing in relation too the piston.
in saying that never done a cam on a ls1.
yeh iv replaced cams on factory v8 discoveries and Range Rovers, as well as Alfa Romeo's, there easy as in the dot to dot/ marking to marking and making sure they line up after rotating the crank 2-3 times, i have the advance on this cam on the cam card so i know i need to go to 2 degrees A.T.D.C, so 2 degrees advance on the crank sprocket for the adjustable timing chain, then go from there with timing it up oh and .050" on the dial indicator.
Last edited by cpbait; 28-08-2010 at 12:49 AM.
Donating Member
thats where degree wheel makes it easy set it up as you said then rotate engine till you reach 50thou on dial indicator then check wheel against cam card. I then go full rotation check duration and then check you exhaust side if all the figures match up youll be fine.
There's nothing wrong with installing cams dot to dot. Dialing it in just gives you the most out of it and moves the powerband so to speak where you want or where it works best in that engine. There really can be a lot of depth to it when you start looking at drag cars or motorsport.
455rwhp LS3
After being shown by a highly respected engine builder how to do it, I have never worried about comparing the cam card at .050 to the dial indicator. The easiest method is to dial in to the intake centreline. Check out the comp cams site for this method.
Considering LS1 cam lobes are generally asymmetric you would be better off checking it at .050. Measuring ICL won't show you the true centreline
on holiday
exactly centreline method is not the way to dial in a cam 0.050" is the only way
I tune the oldschool way fear on the passengers face and knuckle colour cant go wrong
tabbacco is still my favorite vegetable
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