after cam installation is it always necesarry to degree the cam? I heard from a couple of machine shops that the comp cams have a .010 tolerance and degreeing is not necessary. I realize some adjustments will need to be made before I finish to make sure TDC is correct and distributer is installed right and not at 180, but does this sound right.

The friend that is helping me checked with the degree wheel and said it was all good but I am curious if the straight up install is always this accurate? Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

I do it as a precaution, but never seen it off yet. Done a fair share of cams too. I'd be more worried about getting the wrong cam than getting the right cam and it being ground incorrectly.

 

I put my xtreme in dot to dot. No problems and its right on the money.

 

MetalicRS,

Most Comp Cams are ground and keyed with a 4° advance over the OEM valve timing for SBC engines. I'm almost positive the XE series is done that way unless you special ordered it. The advance is supposed to enhance low-end operation.

Degreeing a cam may not be necessary, but will be if you don't want to use the advance that they designed in.

 

Thanks for the input, vader got another question... If the cam is built with 4 deg. advanced valve timing how does this effect my base timing? Lets say if the cam is installed straight up with no degreeing and the base timing is set at 6deg (according to the timing tab) does this mean it is now really 10 deg. Next question is, if the cam is degreed properly and I set the timing at 6 deg is it now really at 6 deg and not 10? Sorry for all the questions but someone has to educate me, this is not my area of expertise.

I have read a few tech articles on this cam and I understand that the valves are opened and closed quicker but not sure how that affects the base timing.

I am glad I have someone that knows what theyre doing helping me with the swap cause again I am definately not an expert on this just yet.