Cam Shafts?

[steveww]

Looking for more power as usual. Considering going to a hotter cam. My
car is SE spec so high compression and a fast road cam 26-66 66-26 0.36"
lift.

Anyone fitted any of the hotter cams on the market?

--

Regards,

Steve Waterworth
***@***.***

Einstein: "The faster you drive, the slower you age..."

[rgh0]

I have played with a few cams and would suggest you go to the highest
lift you can ( depends on how much money you want to spend) while
holding the total duration around 290 degrees or less for a road car.
Dave Beans stage 3 head modifications and 114 cam ( 288 degrees
and .41 cam lift) or the QED equivalent (QED 420 I believe its
called) seem to be the popular choices for a 145 to 150hp road engine.

You need to change to a high lift valve spring set up to accomodate
these cams and you need to put the time or money into porting the
head properly if you want to get the true benefit of the cams.

If you really want to benefit from high lift cams, a steel bottom end
and a 8500 rpm rev limit and an even higher lift to around .450 while
still keeping the timing around 290 degrees really gets the HP
flowing while maintaining great torque spread!


Rohan

[dlbarnes1]

I've been using Bean's 526E 0112 cams and am pleased with the performance (Federal Sprint w/Strombergs). Lift and duration are 0.385" & 300 degrees compared to the SE 0.360" & 272 degrees.
Timing is important. Set lobe centers as recommended. I've used off-set dowels for the timing.
David - 72 Sprint DHC
----- Original Message -----
From: Steve Waterworth
To: ***@***.***
Sent: Saturday, May 08, 2004 1:19 PM
Subject: [LotusElan.net] Cam Shafts?


Looking for more power as usual. Considering going to a hotter cam. My
car is SE spec so high compression and a fast road cam 26-66 66-26 0.36"
lift.

Anyone fitted any of the hotter cams on the market?

--

Regards,

Steve Waterworth
***@***.***

Einstein: "The faster you drive, the slower you age..."

[Rob_LaMoreaux]

I have Dave Beans 112 cams and quite frankly I wish I had known more when I
bought them. For a road car, especially one with strombergs they have too
much durations. The strombergs can't keep up on an autocross launch so I
usually end up losing a bunch of time with an engine that has bogged down
from the carbs trying to keep up with the engine. They may be fine with
webers or delortos, especially if you aren't autocrossing, but I doubt they
are great anywhere but the track. Also a 300 degree cam produces max power
above 7000 RPM and unless the bottom end is steel I don't want to go there.

Rohan is right with his recommendation of 290 degrees duration and as much
lift as you can get for a street engine. Keeping the duration below 290
degrees keeps the overlap down which improves low and midrange torque and
makes the engine more driveable. For stock valve springs and retainers I am
looking for a Cam with aroun 285-290 degrees duration, around 0.385" total
lift (0.375" valve lift), and a fairly quick ramp rate. At this lift you
should be able to use stock springs and retainers, but it must be measured
to be sure, and I'd go with the race ones anyway just to be safe. A 290
degree cam will produce max power between 6000 and 7000 rpm, so it is in the
top range of what a stock bottom end can take.

For the weber engine in the garage I am looking to go to something like the
0.410" lift 290 degree duration cam since that should make really good power
without losing low end torque. That engine will be built specifically for my
use which is road driving and maybe a couple dozen autocrosses and a couple
of track days in a year. I may reingforce the bottom end, but it definitely
will be gone trhough thoroughly.

Rob LaMoreaux
Ann Arbor, MI USA
(734)-971-5583
Cell (734)-604-9280
Email: ***@***.*** ***@***.***
Too many Hobbies.... Too Little Time
1969 Lotus Elan....It's not a restoration, it's a never-ending adventure.

[elancoupe]

I have been using the 112 grind for more than 20 years now. My current motor
has Dell'ortos and a 1700 stroker bottom end, and it runs fantastic, street
use only.

I had it on a chassis dyno a couple years ago, and at the flywheel, it is
producing 141HP and 132ft/lbs torque.

Not fantastic numbers, but your power will always be a function of how much
money you put in your head. For a relatively low cost upgrade, these cams do
a nice job.


Mike B



----- Original Message -----
From: "Robert D. LaMoreaux" <***@***.***>
; "'Steve Waterworth'"
<***@***.***>
Sent: Sunday, May 09, 2004 9:46 PM
Subject: RE: [LotusElan.net] Cam Shafts?




I have Dave Beans 112 cams and quite frankly I wish I had known more when I
bought them. For a road car, especially one with strombergs they have too
much durations. The strombergs can't keep up on an autocross launch so I
usually end up losing a bunch of time with an engine that has bogged down
from the carbs trying to keep up with the engine. They may be fine with
webers or delortos, especially if you aren't autocrossing, but I doubt they
are great anywhere but the track. Also a 300 degree cam produces max power
above 7000 RPM and unless the bottom end is steel I don't want to go there.

Rohan is right with his recommendation of 290 degrees duration and as much
lift as you can get for a street engine. Keeping the duration below 290
degrees keeps the overlap down which improves low and midrange torque and
makes the engine more driveable. For stock valve springs and retainers I am
looking for a Cam with aroun 285-290 degrees duration, around 0.385" total
lift (0.375" valve lift), and a fairly quick ramp rate. At this lift you
should be able to use stock springs and retainers, but it must be measured
to be sure, and I'd go with the race ones anyway just to be safe. A 290
degree cam will produce max power between 6000 and 7000 rpm, so it is in the
top range of what a stock bottom end can take.

For the weber engine in the garage I am looking to go to something like the
0.410" lift 290 degree duration cam since that should make really good power
without losing low end torque. That engine will be built specifically for my
use which is road driving and maybe a couple dozen autocrosses and a couple
of track days in a year. I may reingforce the bottom end, but it definitely
will be gone trhough thoroughly.

Rob LaMoreaux
Ann Arbor, MI USA
(734)-971-5583
Cell (734)-604-9280
Email: ***@***.*** ***@***.***
Too many Hobbies.... Too Little Time
1969 Lotus Elan....It's not a restoration, it's a never-ending adventure.