Do you guys degree your cams and how do you do it?

 

I typically don't unless I feel that 1 degree will make a difference in the application. With most valvetrain products being produced today by CNC I am seeing less deviation with cam timing due to machining tolerances. You can go to any cam companie's web site and they almost all have instructions on how to do it. You will need a degree wheel and a mag base dial indicator.

 

On the cam companies websites: you can also download a degree wheel, print it and then glue it to some cardboard to make your own.

If you're using the stock timing gear, you'll need some offset bushings for the cam gear to change the degree'ing of the cam. Most after market timing sets can be had in adjustable form. The cam companies can custom grind the cam with whatever advance or retard you want too, so you can just install it straight up.

 

I degree'd my Vinci cam just to be sure, and it was only .5 degree's off (cam card said 114' ICL and mine was 114.5'). 1 degree advance/or retard will only affect the power band by ~50 rpm...so I agree with mjhoward

 

Yeah, the last few times I have done it I was discusted at my waste of time. I now just do it if I'm changing the timing for some reason or another.

 

Agreed. The only time I would degree a cam these days is if I had a cam that wasn't specifically what I wanted. Then again, cams are cheap... Might as well get a custom grind with exactly what you want.

 

Its good to play around with if you have infinite track or dyno time and you're trying to obtain the best performance possible. A 2-piece timing cover is almost necessary at that point. It seems like you only see it played with on engine dyno's though. It would be a PITA in the vehicle.

 

i've never degreed a cam, old school small block or genIII

 

I have always degreed the cam... I agree that most of the time it is a waste of time, however I have found an occasional glitch were it was considerably off. I may have a higher incident rate since I do that for a living but the incident rate is probably less than .1 %

TJ

 

I have never understood the need to degree a cam. Isn't that what you're paying the cam company to do? I don't recheck my crank balance, head deck flatness, or rocker ratio. Why should I have to recheck the cam? And if it was significantly off, would I want that company to make me another one? No, I don't degree, I install it straight-up the way I ordered it.