compression lower after new cams

[mitsu matt]

Hi guys, I have a motor I put together for a VR-4 Galant. The bottom end was a 6 bolt JDM motor with 40K miles. It had compression right around 160-165 across the board. Now the motor has a mildly ported head, venom intake, and HKS 272 cams on both the intake and exhaust. The compression now reads right around 135-140. I feel this is normal for cranking compression with the increased overlap of the cams. The owner is a bit concerned but the car goes like hell, so I don't think he is that concerned. I would just like to put his mind at rest by getting some second opinions. Any advice from you guys running larger cams would be great.

Thanks,
Matt

Oh yeah, we used 2 different guages, so it could also be a discrepancy between guages

 

[Jimmy Jr.]

I would have posted this in the engine performance forum.

 

[psychlow]

I would just make sure that the t-belt isn't off a tooth, but that doesn't sound all that strange to me (although I've never had badass cams).

 

[modifyer]

It is totally normal the piston is closer to top dead center when the bigger cam closes the valves . Because of that is is trapping less air and causing the lower readings . Nothing to worry about this is what gives You the extra power higher in the rev range along with the losses in the lower end .