...with the stock timing set, is it a waste of time and money ?
im rebuilding a LT1 with an off-the-shelf Performance camshaft (gm847), should i degree it or save my money and spend it on something else ?

 

Why would you need to degree it as shouldn't you just install it straight up with the dots lining up?

 

yeah thats what i was thinkin, since im new to this, ive been reading some engine rebuild basics books and articles, almost all of them recommend cam degreeing,,,so i was thinking why should it be degreed if the cam dowel will only go in one way and the sprockets will be set at dot-to-dot.. just wanted to confirm if i will go with other after market timing sets like Lunati or Cloys, will it still need to be degreed ?

 

They should have everything you need (timing dots) to mate it up. Make sure you go with an LT-1 specific cam and the cam for your year as they have different dowl lengths depending on the vented or nonvented opti. Most cams these days have already taken degreeing into play and they have the optimimum already built in and all you need to do is swap out and line up the dots.

 

Even if it is for a certain year still check the dowl pin lenght.

 

It only goes together one way and if you line up the dots , you will be assembling it correctly, however, degreeing it will show if there are parts not machined correctly and it will show tolerance stack-ups. They usually don't make mistakes manufacturing these parts and the tolerances won't matter too much unless they're really off, but you can see where degreeing the cam comes into play.

 

thanx for the input guys, yeah i guess ill leave the degreeing for other future builds since my current application is a LT1 specific cam and stock timing set,