What are your current Adj. Cam Gear Settings?

[shepherd79]

do you have performace cam?

[Vinny]

you're only going to get the "best" results by getting dyno time and playing with it. Sorry but the "feels" thing doesnt mean much when you talk power gains. I may be looking into seeing how pathetic my numbers are here soon. Until then I think I'll just set my gear at 0

[pervasto]

was it easy to install your cam gear

do you have to adjust both in proportions or just feel it out

[Sabz5150]

Mine is advanced a couple of degrees, ignition timing adjusted to compensate. I can definitely pull up hills at lower RPMs now without much hassle. I'm gonna hunt down a dyno and do some tuning, but for now I'll adjust it very conservatively.

[AccordEpicenter]

Ok guys if you have an adjustable cam gear and did some messing around... what was the best medium for your particular setup? Mine soo far is about 3 degrees retarded (i might play around some more... this was a guess) and my ignition timing advanced to compensate for the retarded cam, so my power band went from 3500-6300 to 4000-6750, so i lost a nubbin of torque down low (expected) but the engine pulls better on the top end and doesnt sound strained/breathless like it used to. On my first run out i had the cam advanced with the timing advanced too and it didnt do good at all... Keep in mind im still on an otherwise stock engine with almost a full exaust also

you're only going to get the "best" results by getting dyno time and playing with it

I agree... its on a stock cam... Im not sure if i actually gained power (only a dyno will tell us that) but the car is faster due to the shift in power band

right... advanced cam will give you torque... retarded cam will give you top end power. A few degrees is all it takes to make a major change.

On a SOHC engine, an adjustable cam gear will allow you to move the power curve to a specific area in the rpm band as described above. Like moving your peak power on a high-revving Honda to max out at 4000 to 5000 rpm. Typically to improve bottom end power advancing a SOHC engine will do the trick and the converse is true to enhance top end power.

Nice write up... yeah we need to experiment

was it easy to install your cam gear

Yeah took me 30 min working slow to make sure i did it right... but ive had this and similar engines apart many times

our race cam liked an advanced cam. the more advanced it went the more power it made.

didnt you have a 272 duration cam? i think stock is like 227?
well i believe that 8 degrees is an entire tooth soo...

[Vinny]

Good article on the basics of cam gears found here

I have a feeling people should read up on it before they break something. I know more than a few people bought them for the cool factor and have no idea how exactly to use them

[Justanothermike]

our race cam liked a retarded cam. the more retarded it went the more power it made. but remember not every cam is the same and all need their own tuning. I think it maxed out at 5 degrees advance and made the 140wheel HP. also remember when u adjust the cam u are also adjusing the timing on ur distributor so u need to compensate for that aswell. Don't go more then 5 degrees in either direction. i don't think its going to make that much of a difference and may start cuasing other problems.

we haven't dynoed our 256/270 cam. our race cam is more like a 290/.430 lift cam

[Mike's89AccordLX]

I have a 272 Deltacam so please let me know what you had it set at on the cam. So then I can set mine so I can have a faster old car

[A20A1]

Only if you have an Adjustable Cam gear for the A20A engine
Please take the opportunity to vote in the poll I added if you haven't already... I only made it from +7 to -7 degrees, I figured not many of you would go over/under that.

SO?
If I must change it I will... I put 0 degrees just so I can vote for that and view the results...

[joker2]

So if you advance the gear you should advance the dizzy as well and vise versa??? This is good to know seeing that I just got mine as well...

[thegreatdane]

well since no picture of the cam gear has been posted yet i will


Norway
was i',m the only one outside us to get one ?

Noooo... I just got one

[rjudgey]

I find on my camshaft which is by Pipercams in U.K that my 272 duration with 10mm lift works really well with 33mm inlet valves and and really really likes -3 degree cam retard, produces excellent power all across but especially between 4-7K engine output is roughly 185-190bhp depending on ignition timing which is also another mystery as it likes loads of ignition retard as well!! Not sure what it is as i just adjust to roughly in the middle of the cam bearing, i have several marks where i know it likes to be and measure the performance on my race logic data logger, the retarded igntion gives crappy low end pull if i want a more tractable drive and better fuel economy i advance the dizzy, if i want better mid and top end pull i retard the igntion to the halfway point makes bottom end a bit fluffy and the exhaust pops and bangs a lot but it really does fly!! Strange, i use Nology Silverstone/Bosch plugs which are both resistorless so maybe this increases the ignition timing as it gets to spark quicker any ideas?
P.S i don't have a Eagle cam gear but have modded my stock gear so that i can adjust it +/-5 degrees just thought i'd share my findings!!

rjudgey, is that on the stock engine?

no not stock you'd need more than a cam and gear to make over 180bhp. 33mm inlet valves versus 30mm stock, heavily ported and flowed head and manifolds, and pair of Weber DCOE 45's with moddified butterfly spindles and bored out chokes to 42mm, flowed internals and inlet manifold matched to carb bores. It's an A18 head on a A20 block the block is mainly stock, with just polished/stress relieved rods, everything balanced, and the flywheel lightened. should be good for more power but need to change the cam specs and exhaust manifold, but the inlet ports on a A18 won't be able to flow any more fuel/air mixture so i'm switching to A20 head and going to work on that to try and get upto 250bhp.

[snoopyloopy]

rjudgey, is that on the stock engine?

[NXRacer]

250bhp would be pretty nice all motor.

I'd have to agree with Vinny that the butt dyno lies

[gekko]

well since no picture of the cam gear has been posted yet i will


Norway
was i',m the only one outside us to get one ?

anyone with colt tri flow mild , what settings works best for you ?
*edit* no one ????
buuuuuuuuuuuuuump

[eightyfivelude]

hey,

Like everyone has said. It is all trial and error. I run +3 with my 308 duration cam. But my head and block have been decked.


Matt

[paso100]

I have an adj. cam gear and I'm thinking of getting a mild cam regrind, probably from Openloop.
I have an 88 LX-i w/ automatic transmission.
Any tuners out there who can give me advice on setting the cam gear? I hear (-) degrees would work better for lower RPM torque. Is this true?
And no, I don't want to do a 5-speed swap. Any suggestions are appreciated!

[EricW]

Advance the cam gear and you get more top end(Horsepower). Retard it and you get more torque. This only applys to sohc.


Read this Making Sense of Cam Gears


Edit
To avoid confusion. Now that i have read the article again I see that I was wrong Advance= torque(bottom end) and retarding gives more top end.

[A20A1]

Here is some advice and some settings and such.
Setting you Adjustable Cam Gear

[paso100]

Thanks for the go-to's. I remember reading that thread when I first joined; no concensus on a particular setting but good info. I also read that article, more good info.
I guess I'll just make incremental changes and go from there. Too bad nobody has a dyno around here. I'll call Openloop and see what they say, too. I'll post info when I can get it.

[Mike's89AccordLX]

Well I finally got around to putting mine on while I was lowering the car. I modified the cam gear cover so I can adjust the cam gear without removing anything. My biggest question is this, I have a Golden Eagle cam gear. I looks like each degree mark is a full tooth. I've seen a lot of adjustable cam gears but this one looks funny to me. So anyone with a golden eagle cam gear can you clairfy that for me?

And post your new settings for what you found out works the best. I'm looking for my bottom end power. Mines still at 0 but I will be adjusting it quite soon.

My engine mods: 272 Deltacam, Weber 32/36, Custom ported intake manifold to match the head and weber carb. Pacesetter Header and cat-back with dynomax muffler. Hi-flo cat. Every emissions thing is removed. All the vacuum hoses exect the vac. advance and brake vacuum hoses. Removed A/C, Golden Eagle Adjustable Cam Gear, Custom Ram Air cowl.

I've read a lot of the cam tuning threads and some of them are incorrect. Some will say for bottom end power you retard the cam timing. And others will say to advance the cam timing. I want to find out the truth before actually doing it. I pmed justanothermike but I didn't receive any reply.

I don't think I would go more than 3 degrees either way just to be safe.

Post your current cam settings and what you found about tuning it. Tips and hints are welcome.


-Mike

[A20A1]

Advance the cam gear and you get more top end(Horsepower). Retard it and you get more torque. This only applys to sohc.
Read this Making Sense of Cam Gears

I think you quoted him wrong... he says bottom end is advanced... top end is retard.
He's working on a DOHC motor in that link at the bottom but in the beginning the site says this:

"On a SOHC engine, an adjustable cam gear will allow you to move the power curve to a specific area in the rpm band as described above. Like moving your peak power on a high-revving Honda to max out at 4000 to 5000 rpm. Typically to improve bottom end power advancing a SOHC engine will do the trick and the converse is true to enhance top end power."

Not sure how many A-Typical situations would be the reverse of what they said.

Basicly you're moving your available lift and durration to a different timing in relation to the cylinders moving... this effects flow of air/fuel and exhaust in and out of the cylinders at a certain rpm. You advance and you intake opens earlier and your exhaust closes earlier. In the link posted above the DOHC charts where he advances 3* and the later only 1 or 2* he talks about the effects of changing the event timing.

I think in our case we need to have a lot of time and effort taken to have good cam specs... that way we don't shut ourselves out when we advance the intake and lose some power cause the exhaust is advanced as well.

From what people have been saying advancing is the way to go, at least for bottom end power.

our race cam liked an advanced cam. the more advanced it went the more power it made. but remember not every cam is the same and all need their own tuning. I think it maxed out at 5 degrees advance and made the 140wheel HP. also remember when u adjust the cam u are also adjusing the timing on ur distributor so u need to compensate for that aswell. Don't go more then 5 degrees in either direction. i don't think its going to make that much of a difference and may start cuasing other problems.

He advanced +5*, adjusted distributor timing.
No rpm listed but I'm sure it was between 3,600 and 6,800 rpm, I'd say mid range power.

I find on my camshaft which is by Pipercams in U.K that my 272 duration with 10mm lift works really well with 33mm inlet valves and and really really likes -3 degree cam retard, produces excellent power all across but especially between 4-7K engine output is roughly 185-190bhp depending on ignition timing which is also another mystery as it likes loads of ignition retard as well!!

He Retarded -3* for top end... and adjusted the distributor timing.
Between 4,000 and 7,000 rpm

I've read a lot of the cam tuning threads and some of them are incorrect. Some will say for bottom end power you retard the cam timing. And others will say to advance the cam timing. I want to find out the truth before actually doing it.
-Mike

Go both ways... 3* if you feel like it. In the end it doesn't matter which way someone says to turn the gear on their motor... it matters what works with your cam and carb and exhaust setup... Try both directions +/- 3*... you'll figure it out, thats what tuning is about.
Make sure you do as Mike suggests and adjust the distributor to compensate.


Remember to torque the bolts down to their proper specs... also watch out for striping the threads... I think one member on here striped their threads when torquing their bolts down.
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[bobafett]

i am curious about that. lets say you 'retard' the cam timing 3 degrees via an adjustable cam gear, to get more topend hp out of your motor. in order to adjust the distributor to compensate, do you ADVANCE your distributor 3 degrees, or retard it 3 degrees? I am ASSUMING that if you modify your cam timing X degrees, you will modify base distributor timing from the same amount, but I am not clear on whether you would set the timing in the same, or an oposite direction.

care to shed some light on the situation?

[A20A1]

Wouldn't the timing be always set up in relation to the TDC of the Pistons?

So if moving your cam gear one way caused your distibutor to move that way... then you would reverse the effects and turn the distributor back to where it was before you adjusted the cam gear... then you can go form there and fiddle with the timing some more (adv./Ret.) now that you're back at the stock/baseline distributor timing.

[gfrg88]

could you advance or retard the timing without a cam gear?? like remove the gear and set it at like a tooth advance and it would be something like one degree or am i just totally wrong and nee to get an adj. gear????