Do any of you guys here send out cams to get a custom grind? If so then where? I wanna pick up a roller cam at a swap meet and send it out for a custom grind...I have heard people mention it but never where they got it done at.

 

any cam company will do it.

you dont have to get a cam and send it to them either. just call them up and they will make you whatever you want.

you can get custom cams at places other than the manufacturer. some people will design a cam for you and have another place make it for them.

brook

 

Try this guy:
http://www.lazercam.com

This guy is smart, and can set you up with a cam that will work with you application.
Custom grind will run you about 320.00 + shipping and he can get it to you in 4 days!

 

There are varying situations where the term "custom" might apply. You can have someone pick a "shelf" grind out specifically for you, that is a form of "custom", IMO, as in "custom selected for your application". Then there is the commonest type of "custom". A (hopefully) knowledgable expert picks out lobes from a manfacturers lobe library and has the cam "custom ground" on the desired lobe center and LSA for your specific application. Both of these are gonna' cost ~$100-200 more than the cost of the cam itself. Then there would be the situation where a new lobe profile is designed and ground - this would be a situation involving high-budget teams usually working in conjunction with a cam grinder with access to the facilities (Spintorn, dyno, etc.) to test the design.

Rich

 

Rich is right on.

Choosing the correct lobes and centerlines (LCA/LSA) for you application is Job #1. If they aren't right you won't have the torque/power you want.

Watch out for regrinding used roller cams. If they are steel (billet) cores, there often isn't much depth of hardness left after the original grind. Even if there is, and your new design changes the lobe lift or LCA, you could run out of hardness on one side or other portions of the lobe. Most folks that will regrind your core can't guarantee how much case hardness depth you have left. If the seller of the used cam needed a different lobe profiles, why didn't he just have his core reground?

If you are using a cast core you may have a little more flexibility, but you are spending good money to have a lesser cam core ground. Don't forget that the distributor drive gear may also be worn on the used core. That could cause you other problems.

You are probably farther ahead money-wise to get a new cam from the get-go.

With the hundreds of lobes available in the data base of someone like Comp, there's no real need outside of Cup, ProStock, and similar mega$ racing to have a new lobe designed for your engine. Picking the correct lobes is by far the biggest challenge.

 

Thanks for your input guys, I am really learning some new stuff here. I'll explain my exact situation and you can see what you think.

My whole reasoning for asking about custom grinding, is because I soon plan to get an HSR intake to take over my TPI. Well, I have Desktop Dyno 2003, and I used the 'Quick Iterator' program to get specs on a cam that would give me the greatest horsepower increase. Well, after running it, it gave me a cam that yeilded a 72.5hp increase. Now, I am still VERY skeptical about these numbers, most of the reason being that it didn't even touch my lift.

Current Cam:
Duration @ .050 = 202int/207ex
Lift @ .050 = .413int/.428ex
LCA = 114.5
Centerline = 106int/123ex
Valve overlap = -24.5 degrees

Now, my cam is a stock 1990 Camaro IROC Z Roller cam. There is little information on the specs of this cam, but from what I could find, those are the numbers that DD gave me. I know that duration, lift, and LCA are correct, but the other numbers just got filled in and gave me results that were dead on with the numbers my car was making.


Projected Cam:
Duration @ .050 = 222int/227ex
Lift @.050 = .413int/.428ex
LCA = 111.5
Centerline = 110int/113ex
Valve Overlap = 1.5 degrees


So I saw this, and planned on doing some more research, and if it turned out that I might see those HP numbers, I would go for a custom grind (since noone really produces cams with those duration/lift numbers).


So is what I am looking for here a far cry, or am I on the right track?

 

I think you are being a little naive in thinking you can use DD2000 to design a cam. It (and even more sophisticated simulations even more so) can be a big help, but practical experience and knowledge are needed also. Pick a suitable shelf grind for your application or get a cam "custom" spcced for you. Bret Bauer (who posts here) does this and does it well. Money well spent, IMO.

Rich

 

That cam ya got off of your program is WAY to small.
Start with 225@50 and enter in duration 2*at a time.
If ya want to stay with a 112LSA leave it and play with lift and cam advance,ya should see the numbera go up. Having said that the numbers ya get ARE NOT chiseled in stone.They may not be even relative to your set up.
That program needs a LOT more input to get it correct. There are a couple of programs out there that will do it but they are 500+ dollars up.
If ya get one of the bigger programs ya will spend many hours learning how it works and what it is trying to tell ya.
Ya will be money ahead to have someone spect and grind ya a cam like has been said, unless ya are figuring on building a lot of engines

 

Problem is I would guess you dont have enough lift.... DD2000 doesn't have a clue about curtain area.....

Bret

 

And one other thing it has no idea of is what lobes are feasible to grind or are practical to use. A lobe with 222/227 at 50 with .413/.427" of lift would have a very odd shape. Look at a "family" of lobes such as seen in Comps catalog: http://www.compcams.com/Technical/Cu...ML/238-273.asp and you start to get a sense of the relationship between duration and lift. You don't see a relationship similar to the specs you came up with, and there are reasons for that.

Rich

 

Boy..... ain't that the truth. I bought Performance Trends cam software and used it twice before I figured out, I couldn't figure it out. Even the Pro Stock people grind multiple cams and dyno/race them to see which one gives the results they are looking for.

I wouldn't try and reinvent the wheel. Just have Brent do one for ya or just buy an off the shelf cam that others with similiar combo's have had good luck with.

 

Denny
I feel your pain about the software. I am 62 and had never touched a computer until 4 years ago. Then I figured it would be less of a hassle to do the figuring for engine building on the computer instead of a pencil,lots of eraser's and a ledger pad. Weeeell it took a while for me to 'sifer what this thing was telling me. I knew what I wanted the engine to do so I ran a pass on EAP and then check it with my figuring. It has somewhat sunk in as to how the program works and what ya have to do to make it come out close to right.
Ya got to remember it is called TRENDS and may not be spot on. It will however point ya in the right direction. My Lockheed Pro Stock program is used to check the figures too.
Ya may need to get EAP and work with it a bunch(it will take a lot of hours to learn the program)
What cam software of their's did ya get and do ya want to get rid of it. PM me if ya do.

 

I have the regular Performance Trends software and it's.......ok. Got the advanced camshaft program with opening and closing events and said.......well that's just great now ain't. Don't even know if I still have it as it was a downloaded program with an activation code.

Do much better with my tried and true method of fine tweaking the car once you have a known factor to fine tune.

 

Denny is right. As far as suggesting a possible way to go, there may be a use for the sims. But I'll bet even the OEM's do a lot of real world testing. I would guess that even the modeling they have just isn't sophisticated enough to do more than get close. Of course, they are looking at many more factors than we are, notably emissions and fuel economy. I suppose they get a starting point from sims and then test, test, test.

Rich

 

call CRANE cams in Daytona FL., I have had a few cams custom ground, like 12 cylinder JAGS, and a few of these ricer cams when I cant find what I think I need, there TECH guys are smart.