trick engine said:

I have The BC 280 cams . started out @ 0 both and tryed settings in both directions ended up with -3 on both . Worked the best on my set up at the time .
I then swapped in a Gt42R 4 inch exhaust . saw no difference in power from 0 to -3 so left them @ 0 for the time being .
Car seemed low power for my mods so again tryed retarding them this time to -4 on both . Car gained 65+ HP I was shocked !!
The best way to set them correctly thou is to degree them while the engine is out of the car . I added mine when the engine was in the car so I could not do it that way .
Good luck

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so you went to a dyno with them on -4 exhaust and -4 intake and make 65 awhp????


just got my fidanza cam gears today and hopefully installing within the next few days...

dnhieu said:

so you went to a dyno with them on -4 exhaust and -4 intake and make 65 awhp????

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He's referring to the 4" exhaust swap. Degreeing is only capable of minor hp gain.

TurboAnything said:

BC cams are off timing that is what he is talking about. You need a dial indicator and your cam card. You also need a degreeing wheel installed on the crank. Then you rotate to TDC and check the valve lift when you get to .050 lift you look at the degree wheel on the crank and you should be at the degree the cam card says on it if not then you move the cam till it matches up. I would go into more detail but you need some special tools to do this.

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Correct. All camshafts come with the spec card, which will tell you where the manufacturer says the camshafts should be degreed to. Installing them straight up may yeild more power over stock, but you are not nessisarily going to get the performance claimed.

To those who want a basic of what degreeing a camshaft takes, just watch this video. It goes a wee bit into cam degreeing, albeit on a 2JZ-GTE.

YouTube - 2nr Supra video part 2

Great vid, really shows this process in action. I think everyone should do this, but it's not exactly easy work when a motor is in the car.

Something they did not touch on is using a solid lifter for a more exact measurement.. this makes it a little more lengthy process but gives you a more exact measurement of valve opening.

DoyoFCT said:

Something they did not touch on is using a solid lifter for a more exact measurement.. this makes it a little more lengthy process but gives you a more exact measurement of valve opening.

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I have been told you only need to use a solid lifter if it is a pushrod motor. Is that not true?

Who runs these BC cams and actually have cam gears and have degreed them on the dyno other than the guy posted above. I am wondering how common the average person needs to deg these things, or is the "less" power only found in some setups...

I have been told you only need to use a solid lifter if it is a pushrod motor. Is that not true?

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I believe it to be the most accurate way. I don't think its just for pushrod motors since our lifters also effect the position of the rocker. And the only way to make sure that position is exact is with a solid lifter.

Im sure it can be done either way, but it feels better to do it with a solid lifter.

BLE sells a kit that's just for degree'n cams.

dnhieu said:

so you went to a dyno with them on -4 exhaust and -4 intake and make 65 awhp????


just got my fidanza cam gears today and hopefully installing within the next few days...

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Let me explain a little more .

I started out with a T66 Turbonetics and 3 inch back Exhaust.

On pump gas with stock cams and gears car made around 425HP

On pump gas with BC 280 And Fidanza gears after 2-3 hours of cam adjustments and tuning made around 485HP about a 60 HP gain .

This is expected because i was going from stock to 280 cams . I honestly expected more gains but that is what it made most of the power gains were made from the cam adjustments . cams straight up did not gain much . seting them to -3 on both had the best gain . ( I never tryed -4 with this set up )

I did run race fuel and retune more boost etc made about 600whp @34-35 Psi Still lower then I would like but still nice power. -3 on cams as well

Over the winter swapped in a GT42R full 4 inch Exhaust same pump gas tune car made about 500HP with spool about 500-800 Rpm later cams were at - 3 still . I moved the cams back to zero just to see if there was a power loss but it did not lose any power maybe like 3-4 HP at most .

I left them at 0 for a while seeing it did not make a difference I then added a meth injection kit added some timing and tuned for the meth but not much of a gain maybe 10-12 HP .
I then decided to try tuning the cam settings I set them right to - 4 on both made a pull and power jumped to about 585HP no tuning changes just cam changes boost did go 1 Psi or so higher but not enough to make that power.

I just feel that BC cams are not correctly se up to run at 0 degrees . Every car is different so your results will vary.

I am know running pump gas with straight meth inj ( 2 14gph nozzles ) its making 640 HP @ 35 Psi almost to my goal of 700HP on pump and Meth

Black_Bullet said:

Who runs these BC cams and actually have cam gears and have degreed them on the dyno other than the guy posted above. I am wondering how common the average person needs to deg these things, or is the "less" power only found in some setups...

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It's different in every car depending on your setup.

trick engine said:

Let me explain a little more .

I started out with a T66 Turbonetics and 3 inch back Exhaust.

On pump gas with stock cams and gears car made around 425HP

On pump gas with BC 280 And Fidanza gears after 2-3 hours of cam adjustments and tuning made around 485HP about a 60 HP gain .

This is expected because i was going from stock to 280 cams . I honestly expected more gains but that is what it made most of the power gains were made from the cam adjustments . cams straight up did not gain much . seting them to -3 on both had the best gain . ( I never tryed -4 with this set up )

I did run race fuel and retune more boost etc made about 600whp @34-35 Psi Still lower then I would like but still nice power. -3 on cams as well

Over the winter swapped in a GT42R full 4 inch Exhaust same pump gas tune car made about 500HP with spool about 500-800 Rpm later cams were at - 3 still . I moved the cams back to zero just to see if there was a power loss but it did not lose any power maybe like 3-4 HP at most .

I left them at 0 for a while seeing it did not make a difference I then added a meth injection kit added some timing and tuned for the meth but not much of a gain maybe 10-12 HP .
I then decided to try tuning the cam settings I set them right to - 4 on both made a pull and power jumped to about 585HP no tuning changes just cam changes boost did go 1 Psi or so higher but not enough to make that power.

I just feel that BC cams are not correctly se up to run at 0 degrees . Every car is different so your results will vary.

I am know running pump gas with straight meth inj ( 2 14gph nozzles ) its making 640 HP @ 35 Psi almost to my goal of 700HP on pump and Meth

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1gDSM4g63 said:

It's different in every car depending on your setup.

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I know...but you can still get a general idea with someone elses results. Iam completly conviced cam gears are worth the trouble on these cams even for a lesser setup with a smaller turbo like mines.

glad to see you made that much power.i hope to make around 450hp at around 30psi on a dyno that produces very low numbers. im going to be doing the cam gear swap tomorrow and will be setting them at +1 exhaust and -3 intake because that seems to be the most common setup.

like i said earlier. i will be ordering more parts by month end and hopefully hitting the dyno by the end of next month. they will be degreeing the cams and i will have TONS of videos and pictures to post along the way.

btw, that is a great video. it would be impossible to do that while the engine is in the car...

dyno4mance just north of atlanta will be doing the dyno tuning...

dnhieu said:

glad to see you made that much power.i hope to make around 450hp at around 30psi on a dyno that produces very low numbers. im going to be doing the cam gear swap tomorrow and will be setting them at +1 exhaust and -3 intake because that seems to be the most common setup.

like i said earlier. i will be ordering more parts by month end and hopefully hitting the dyno by the end of next month. they will be degreeing the cams and i will have TONS of videos and pictures to post along the way.

btw, that is a great video. it would be impossible to do that while the engine is in the car...

dyno4mance just north of atlanta will be doing the dyno tuning...

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Definitely post back on your finds on the dyno

great part is im not going to hide nothing. i will post EVERYTHING good or bad. what worked and what didnt. unlike alot of the stuff you see via the web...

dnhieu said:

great part is im not going to hide nothing. i will post EVERYTHING good or bad. what worked and what didnt. unlike alot of the stuff you see via the web...

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Amen to that; send us into the light...

Please do, this will help me make decisions on getting gears and redoing timing this winter too!

blcknspo0ln said:

Please do, this will help me make decisions on getting gears and redoing timing this winter too!

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I just read your other thread, so your keeping the car to put some cam gears I take it

dnhieu said:

great part is im not going to hide nothing. i will post EVERYTHING good or bad. what worked and what didnt. unlike alot of the stuff you see via the web...

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Glad to hear you will post up your results .
Hopfully you will get some good gains from doing so . I think my case is on the extreme end of it . Not the norm for sure .
Good luck !!

Black_Bullet said:

I just read your other thread, so your keeping the car to put some cam gears I take it

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It seems that way, I don't want to be included in that dreaded hangout thread "Quitters.. soon to be GHOST to us".

My BC280's were degreed on the stand. Anything that has been changed, head milled, block deck, MLS HG or even a new composite HG will effect the cam timing.
I like to look at the difference between exhaust and intake to get a idea of how bad they are off droped in.
IE: Some cams that were perfect straight up could be 3 degrees off both intake and exhaust in another motor.

Anyway, here is were mine ended up:
I marked the timing lines black with paint


Close up of exhaust gear


Close up of exhaust gear


YOU HAVE TO USE SOLID LIFTERS TO DEGREE THE CAMS, THIS IS NOT OPTIONAL

Sorry but why? ^

I dont even know how to degree cams yet to be honest... Never done it/ or seen it done before...

Black_Bullet said:

Sorry but why? ^

I dont even know how to degree cams yet to be honest... Never done it/ or seen it done before...

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Why what? This forum topic is degreeing.

You do it because the cam timing is not were it is suppose to be when dropped in straight up even though they are suppose to be dropped in straight up. This is all effected by manufacturing and deck height, HG thickness, virgin or cut head etc...
You want them to be right because you want the most power.

Black_Bullet said:

Sorry but why? ^

I dont even know how to degree cams yet to be honest... Never done it/ or seen it done before...

Click to expand...

Maybe because the topic is camshaft timing...

This might be a good time to consider reviewing the information from the guys that do know how to dial-in cam timing.

The whole reason for camshaft degree'ing is because of an inconsistancy in the grind location vs. dowel pin location. Obviously, if the grinding location is specific for everyone's application, there would be about 20 different part numbers for 1 of the 2 camshafts (assuming you are referencing 10 degrees either way from existing dowel pin location).

Guys, I think he might have been talking about where 2gAWDTalon said "YOU HAVE TO USE SOLID LIFTERS TO DEGREE THE CAMS, THIS IS NOT OPTIONAL."