Can't seem to find this anywhere . How many degrees is one tooth on the cam timing? I'm working on 96 that someone did a cam swap and had no power under 2500 RPM. I found the cam retarded by one tooth. Thanks

 

A stock cam gear has 36 teeth, so a tooth would be 10°. That's a lot.

 

It is and I've seen it several times before...the effect on power is pretty dramatic....

 

Interesting question. It's be a LONG time since I sat down and crunched the numbers on this and I can't, for the life of me, recall what I came up with.

Box is probably right 'cause his little grey cells are newer than mine, LOL

Are we talking cam degrees or crank degrees?

Jake

West Point ROCKS! Nation's TOP COLLEGE per Forbes Magazine!! Graduation Day Parade 20 May 2010!!!

 

Cam degrees...it's 20 degrees of a crank revolution....

 

As shoebox pointed out 10 degrees is allot. Can't wait to get the gaskets and put it back together. I fell kinda stupid now 360 divided by 36 = 10. Just call me MR. O lol.

 

Maybe not as bad as one might think if there's advance already ground into the cam.

If there's 4 degrees of advance already ground in (which is common), yet you installed it one tooth retarded (equalling 10 degrees of retard as stated) then the net effect would be 6 degrees of retard, right?

Of course, even 6 degrees of retard would noticably move the power band UP, just about killing low end.

Of course, adding to the murkiness of all this, would be any manufacturing tolerance stack. I recall reading recently posts from one member who, when degreeing in his cam, found it 6 degrees off and IT WASN'T CAUSED BY A MIS-GROUND CAM. He installed a different cam in the LT1 engine and came up with the same (off) numbers. Yet, when he installed both cams in a different engine both cams checked spot on.

Ah, the plot thickens (LOL), but degreeing-in the cam resolves all that.

Jake

West Post ROCKS! Nation's TOP COLLEGE per Forbes Magazine!! Graduation Day Parade 20 May 2010!!!