[MHenricks]

Would you spend the time to degree the timing on a street motor that is driven daily. Is this process more for all out racing?

[slider in wa]

If you have the degree wheel it will take all of about 20 minutes to do. In my opinion what you are really doing is checking to make sure the cam is right from the factory, and that you have installed it right. No you don`t have to do this. But why not . If my time and money go`s in to it, i allways check it. But i have a degree wheel. It is so simple to do. Hope this is of some help to you.
Slider in Wa.

[MHenricks]

Well I don't have a degree wheel and I've never used one, how can I find out more about how to use them. Would you or not advance or retard the crank gear. The timing set I have has three different places to set the gear, 0 , +4 , & -4

[ September 05, 2002: Message edited by: MHenricks ]</p>

[hcheetwood]

If your just replacing your timing chain or a factory cam, Don't waste your time. If you installed an after market cam and are looking for that little bit of edge over your competition then degree it. There is a ton of things you can do for more power before the importance of dialing your cam comes to play that I would'nt worry about it. Unless your going racing just put it in and drive it. You will never notice the difference. It takes me about a 1/2 hour on the engine stand with the heads off. I would'nt even try it in the car.

[ September 05, 2002: Message edited by: hcheetwood ]

[ September 05, 2002: Message edited by: hcheetwood ]

[ September 05, 2002: Message edited by: hcheetwood ]</p>

[MHenricks]

Basically it will be driven dail & ocassionally at the strip and from light to light, maybe.

The motor is a 350, bored 030, balanced, rpm intake, flat top pistons, 214/224 443/465 cam, edlebrock 600cfm carb, headers, etc

[hcheetwood]

When you get into the low 12s in the 1/4 mile degree it . You may shave off a 1/10 a second by playing with the cam.

[slider in wa]

Are you putting this motor together new? as in out side the car? It is my opinion that with what you listed as being in your engine ,just put it straight up and down. Most daily drivers are that way. For me!!!! If i had spent the bucks to balance the engine, what is 20 minutes more. Rent or borrow a degree wheel.Basic Chev building books describe how and why degreeing is done. Besides i just do things like checking everything i can. I was a Jet engine mechinic for a long time. Come to think of it , i sure have done a lot of stuff. Gotta keep learnin!!Good luck. Let us know what you decide to do.
slider in Wa.

[78 monte]

If I remember correct 4ret will raise your power band 200rpm hair less low end for a hair more top.4adv will lower the power band 200rpm hair more low end for a hair less top. Ex.0deg:2000-5000rpm 4ret:2200-5200 4adv:1800-4800

[4 Jaw Chuck]

Cam installed straight up is the best for the street unless you have some wacky combination of parts. Cams are designed and ground to be installed straight up.

[willys36@aol.com]

I bought a wheel about 10 years ago. Only time I touched it was to take it out of the package and put it in my tool chest. Kinda like the several 110# barbell weight sets I have bought over the years. The only time I touch them is to take them out of the cartons and set them on the floor and then again 5 years later to help the guy I sold them to in the yard sale to load them into his car.

[KULTULZ]

[quote]Kinda like the several 110# barbell weight sets I have bought over the years.

The only time I touch them is to take them out of the cartons and set them on the floor and then again 5 years later to help the guy I sold them to in the yard sale to load them into his car.<hr></blockquote>

I can definitely relate to this statement! All I do now is twelve ounce curls... :p

[engineguy]

I would degree the cam, just for peace of mind if nothing else. Install it straight up (0 degrees). If the cam needs to be advanced or retarded to make power, then you have the wrong grind for your combination. Actually you will find that most cam manufacturers grind a few (2 to 4) degrees advance into their cams. You can get "how to degree" information in most performance cam manufacturers catalogs and the degree wheel and dial indicator can be purchased very inexpensively. Hey, we do all of this for fun, right.
Here's to 12 ounce curls, and enjoyment of the "golden nectur of the gods"!

"Hotrodder is NOT a nasty word"
"Too much horsepower is just enough"

[hotrodit]

I personally like to dial in just for checking & peace of mind, not everyone recomends using the keyways on the lower gear though....as you may have seen you can use offset bushings for the upper gear instead. But really the benefits are minimal & also down to the final state of tune & components used in the motor , not to mention trans & the stall speed of the converter you use! Most cam manufacturers supply you with the recomended spec complete with the cam & again its down to you to choose the best one for you application. At the other end of the scale race motors are often seen with external belt driven assy's which are adjustable externally too, so they can be fine tuned on a dyno saving hours of labour! One other benefit of dialing in is you can check the TDC mark on you Harmonic Balancer, mine was way out.
sorry to bore you to death, HR.

[willys36@aol.com]

I have a stupid question. Has anyone ever heard of a bad cam identified by degreeing it? If so does it happen 10% of the time? 1%? 0.1%?

[ September 06, 2002: Message edited by: willys36@aol.com ]</p>

[MHenricks]

This motor is a complete rebuild from scratch.

I guess I never thought of the harmonic balancer being off too much which would give a false indication of the actual degree of timing.

In the past, several years ago, I always positioned the timing marks straight up and never thought of useing a degree wheel. I thought this time since I've a little time I'd try to check everything just to make sure, but I'm also learning as I go.