Correctly setting valve lash.

[tayto]

Not possible all engines, Ie: shaft mounted adjustable rockers where the adjustment is made on the rocker arm. I done a few BB mopars with fast bleed lifters that were near impossible to find zero on where you're pretty much adjusting lifter pre-load to a specific number with a dial indicator on every single one.

I only do it on sbc when i dont use EOIC method

 

[Orpedcrow]

S&S might be three flats and H-D ones might call for 4 depending on TPI and it changes if you're running Hydro-Solid type lifters or limited travel lifter inserts like Hl2t kit in a Shovel. lol

My dad was watching me do the install, he almost vomited when I cut the pushrods with bolt cutters without even warning him I guess he thought I was going to pull the rocker boxes off

 

[DeCaff2007]

this method works for ANY 4 stroke combination engine which is why I like it. no special order or tricks, you can start on any cylinder and dont need to even look at the timing marks. a lot is being assumed with aftermarket camshafts being manufactured correctly. not sure how many degree a cam when they install them, but i've never seen a "perfect" cam. i do use the "quick" method that many have talked about here for SBCs, but I ALWAYS readjust the valves with engine running afterwards. this is just my experience, i'm not here to say it doesn't work or convince people not to use it. but it's burned me a few times so i found a method(s) that work better for me.

I've only ever installed 4 cams and didn't degree any of them. I've seen it done once, on youtube, and read about it in a book specifically for Pontiacs. Never did it myself, though, because well I don't have tools and it's not a big deal to me.

 

[Schurkey]

The highest advertised duration cam that Summit shows for a SBC has 346 degrees of duration. Unless you have a custom cam that has more than 360 degrees of duration, it works.

Well...advertised duration plus clearance ramps, although the clearance ramps are not hugely important. I mean, even if you're adding only .025 preload, what difference does .006 of clearance-ramp make? The preload WOULD vary by up to .006. (The engine won't know the difference.)

It would be really hard to find a hydraulic cam where that preload adjustment method WOULDN'T work. But I'll acknowledge the possibility that there could be some, somewhere. Folks buying such a cam...have probably got considerable experience setting lifter preload.

I've only ever installed 4 cams and didn't degree any of them. I've seen it done once, on youtube, and read about it in a book specifically for Pontiacs. Never did it myself, though, because well I don't have tools and it's not a big deal to me.

It has the potential to be a big deal to the engine, though.

Degreeing cams assures that all the various machining operations related to camshaft--crankshaft synchronization were either done properly, or they were accounted-for by offset keyways, offset keys, offset bushings, or whatever method was used to correct the cam--crank phasing.

For the record, the Vortec short-block I bought to re-engine my '88 K1500 got rings 'n' bearings, cylinders honed, seals and gaskets. I re-used most of the pistons, sleeved one cylinder, re-used the cam and timing set. The cam degreed-in within one degree of "perfect" even with a used timing set with unknown miles. The point is, I know the cam is where it's supposed to be. If the engine ran goofy when I was done, I know I don't have to dick with the cam timing to make it run "right". Also important on a genuine Vortec installation (which mine is not) if the cam sensor signal doesn't synch with the crank sensor signal, (P1345) I know that it's a matter of the distributor position--not the cam timing itself.

 

[Erik the Awful]

Degreeing cams assures that all the various machining operations related to camshaft--crankshaft synchronization were either done properly, or they were accounted-for by offset keyways, offset keys, offset bushings, or whatever method was used to correct the cam--crank phasing.

Degreeing cams is kind of pointless if you're using a stock-style timing chain set that doesn't have the ability to advance or retard.

 

[Supercharged111]

Degreeing cams is kind of pointless if you're using a stock-style timing chain set that doesn't have the ability to advance or retard.

Yes and no. If you happen to check it and it's way off, you'll be ordering something adjustable.

 

[Schurkey]

Degreeing cams is kind of pointless if you're using a stock-style timing chain set that doesn't have the ability to advance or retard.

Yes and no. If you happen to check it and it's way off, you'll be ordering something adjustable.

...or you do things the old-fashioned way with offset keys, or offset bushings.

Multi-keyway sprockets is a relatively recent convenience.

 

[DeCaff2007]

I did mention that my valves are set now, right?