Yes Yes Yes, Good habit to get into. Had a comp cam off intake side, sent back an they replaced no problem. Cam, gear markings can vary and always a good idea to double check. First couple takes time and always recheck it. Good idea to check your timing pointer for Top Dead Center. Another plus on degreeing,, later on if it just aint right, you'll know cam is timed right.
When performance is important, always. I said 'most of the time' since I have not always been so picky...
Every single time. Period. I put the cam where I want it to be and not where the timing gears want it to be.
i voted always. have i ever done it.. no.. why? i dont have a timing wheel, and wouldnt know how to do it anyways when i get my next cam, or work my next engine. i will be balancing it, and timing the cam.
If you've ever built a 460 or 429, and degreed the cam...you know how far off the timing sets can be. One of them I had was 12 degrees off (retarded) and most of us know that 460's are 8 deg. retarded anyway. An offset bushing and a 9 keyway lower gear fixed the problem. So, yes...ALWAYS degree the cam if you're intending for it to make some power. I'd degree even a stocker. THink about how close the valves are to the pistons, even on stock engine...if it's a few degrees off, you can be setting yourself up for disaster by not checking it. Just my opinions.
With all of the other time and money put in to a motor, especially a race motor, it seems silly not to. Noone thinks twice about putting the time in to making the part choices, etc. to squeeze out those little horsepower gains so why not spend the time to do it yourself or put the money in to having someone else do it. It is a small amount(time or money) compared to the overall project.
If your going to the trouble of swaping the cam, may as well get as much out of it as you expect, or atleast check thats its doing waht it's suppose to do.
Most of the people I know just line up the dots and it runs great. Unless you're a serious racer, or your timing gear set is not marked at "zero", I really don't think it's all that necessary...
Yea that's why I said 'if performance is important.' If you are swapping in a high performance cam, chances are that you'll have more power than you had before. Most people aren't interested in getting the absolute most out of their setup (or just can't be bothered). But, few cams (or should say, cam and timing gear combinations) are manufactured perfectly, and cam timing can definitely have an effect on your setup. So, if you really want the most, you should do it. But if you don't, it will likely not be the end of the world.
Yeah....Comp Cams stuff is four degrees off right out of the box. Every damn set we've used. Lazy azz. :evilsmile
Dont buy Comp Cams.. Comp cams = Chevrolet in this part of the country lol As far as degreeing in a cam, we did it to the one i bought for my 390 FE. But the one in my 302 I didnt... because I got it used and I knew to set it 8º advanced for optimal power
I do and check each and ever cylinder, Had one top name cam that was off 8 degrees between cylinders. How would anyone expect to make top power and or run correctly if cam was off, It is the brain of the motor. Another thought some may not know, most cam manufactures offer what they call a race grind, which is nothing more than a cam ground on closer tolerances,
When I recently got a quote from them, they informed me that the grind was 4° advanced (meaning, that when installed at "zero", the valve timing was actually 4° advanced). I assumed it was ground that way to provide more torque at lower rpms.
