So i'm not interested in doing cam work at all in the near future...maybe down the road, but i'm still learning a lot and am relatively new, so would like to know what knowledge you guys have to offer...

-when and why are aftermarket cams necessary?

-what exactly is the gain of doing aftermarket cam work?

-what exactly are you doing (internally to the engine and how it works) when you upgrade the cams?

thanks in advance guys...

 

Cams are necesary when your bank account has built up enough money and you want to have more horsepower. The are never necessary unless you are wanting MORE POWER.

All a cam does is change your cars breathing...by putting in a higher duration cam you make the valves stay open longer. By doing this..you are craming more air and fuel into the combustion chamber. And now that you have done this...you will need a bigger exhaust cam to allow the extra exhaust to escape aswell.

With any vehicle..turbo non turbo...more air and fuel means MORE POWER. Turbo guys have the luxury of having this as a option. NA guys..its just another thing that has to be done to get more power. I am going to do the JWT S1 cams on my NA when I pull the heads and put headers on.

The only thing with cams..you NEED to get adjustable cam gears so you can dial in the cars timing. These cars are interference engines so you can F*** something up with a quickness.

 

Lets get some of the cam terminology straight so everyone understands.

There's "Higher Lift" which is determined by the base circle of the cam and it's highest point on the cam lobe.
With the VG30 engine you have to be careful in this area valves don't play games and make contact with the pistons.

There's "Longer Duration" which is determined by the cam lobe's lifting point and letoff point from the base circle of the cam.
You have to be careful in this area also being the VG30 is a interference engine.

Some cams are "Regrinds" which means the cam profile is ground on stock cams and the base circle is made smaller so more duration and lift can be dialed into the cam. This is the cheapest cam to get but you'll have to shim the lifters to makeup for the smaller base circle on the cam.

Then we have "Welded or overlaid" cams, which means the cams were welded in the lobe area so the base circle remains the same and the lift and duration can be increased. No need to shim the lifters with these cams as the base circle of the cam remains the same.

There's also cams that are ground on new cores which are like the welded or overlaid cams as the base circle is the same diameter as the stock cam, and no need to shim the lifters.

Now we come to cam types. We have "solid an hydralic" lifter cams. The stock VG engine uses hydralic lifters which are limited to lifter pump up but better than stock as the life and duration can be ground to your engine specs.

The "solid" lifter cams are for the guys that want the most power, highest RPM's without the fear of lifter pumpup.

Now one of the most important parts of the valve train. The valve springs. With the right valve springs designed for the cams you'll be using you'll not only keep your engine safe from valve contact with the pistons but you'll be utilizing the max. power designed into the cams.

Now we come to choosing the right cam and springs. You can use off the shelf hi-performance cams and springs or contact a cam grinder and tell them what you want and the'll grind it. What is the difference in these cams? Cost wise about the same, the big difference is the custom cams were ground to your needs and specs.

Myself I use solid lifter, welded cams that have done a great job. Are they better? No not really, but their ground for my engine specs. and not a generic hi-performance cam.

The stock cams in the VG30DE and TT are very good cams, but can be improved on. Done right and you'll have a super engine. Done wrong and you'll curse the day you changed them.

 

Quite use full info THANKS GOOGLE MAN!

 

Google Man....I don't even have Google on my computer. Your starting to sound like [Banned Member].

 

thanks guys, i also found a big thing on howstuffworks.com that helped me out a lot...

love learning as much as i can about my car...

 

one thing though, how much extra power/hp could be achieved via cam work?

 

AWWW CRAP! What to do I am ever so sorry I cna;t empethize emopugh how much I don;t like that sounds of thsoe words used in one sentence what ever shoudl I do!

 

You could start by saying, Zgringo, you a a$$hole for openers, then go write "[Banned Member]" 100 times on the blackboard.

I'm assuming your car is a N/A from your handle. If this is correct, outside of Nitrous, with the right intake, exhaust an computer program you'll see the largest HP gains with the right cam and valve springs. As for HP gains, with headers a good 2 1/2" exhaust, a free flowing cold air intake, 370cc injectors and a decent program on the ECU I've seen anywhere's from 30 to 80 HP gains.
With some head work it well be closer to 80 HP.

 

i was na...(see new sig...)