What Camshaft?

[chedder]

Starting to get my winter work list together and one of the items is a replacement uprated cam for better acceleration.
Engine is a standard 1983 350i.

1) Any recommendations as to what make and profile is best without resorting
to other engine mods, dont mind a bit of a lumpy tickover as long as the car is driveable around town.

2 Haynes manual states it can be done without removing the engine or heads,
is that possible in the tiv?

3 Any do's and dont's I need to know about?

TIA

Chedder

[TVRleigh]

You can change the cam without removing the heads,

Your need a new valey gasket and ends.
And front cover gasket and water pump gasket.

The 400SE had a uprated kent 214 cam, with this cam you will not have to worry about it hitting anything, or having special valves lifters etc.

Im sure there are a few other cams that can be recomended.

Also remember to fit new lifters when you change the Cam.
Also you may want to fit a up-rated timing chain while you have it off.

What millage is you car.

[chedder]

TVRleigh said:

You can change the cam without removing the heads,

Your need a new valey gasket and ends.
And front cover gasket and water pump gasket.

The 400SE had a uprated kent 214 cam, with this cam you will not have to worry about it hitting anything, or having special valves lifters etc.

Im sure there are a few other cams that can be recomended.

Also remember to fit new lifters when you change the Cam.
Also you may want to fit a up-rated timing chain while you have it off.

What millage is you car.

Thanks Leigh, had thought about renewing the timing gear and oil-pump whilst it was in bits and will be purchasing a full camsaft kit possibly with uprated lifters. Mileage is 112k and the engine is stong with good compression

[rev-erend]

Cheddar - something like a 214, MC1 etc .. all pretty similar.

Give V8 developments a call and tell them what you want.

It's the best way.. keep on laughing

[TVRleigh]

chedder said:

had thought about renewing the timing gear and oil-pump whilst it was in bits and will be purchasing a full camsaft kit possibly with uprated lifters. Mileage is 112k and the engine is stong with good compression

RPI do a new style oil pump. that does not suffer like the geared one. also the Disy worm drive and start wareing round the 100k mark. so may be a good idea to change.

Also the chain will be quite streched. at 112k. if you get an adjustable one, you should be able to set the cam up better to your needs.

But as Rev said you may want to speak to V8D or RPI as they should be able to help you decide on what cam.

[tempus]

Hi,you say std 3.5,is it still on std.cast manifolds,if so i would change them and see how that felt, have a look at john eales ,crane cams,exch.heads,with bigger v/vs,but resist the 5.1 the back end will be unable too,happy spannering.tempus

[tempus]

Hi,you say std 3.5,is it still on std.cast manifolds,if so i would change them and see how that felt, have a look at john eales ,crane cams,exch.heads,with bigger v/vs,but resist the 5.1 the back end will be unable too,happy spannering.tempus

[chedder]

Hi, exhaust manifolds are 1 1/4 stainless four into one, want to avoid upgrading the heads at the moment, due to costs involved as the budget isnt huge!
Have heard of Crane cams but haven't any feedback on them, the other make that offer performance cams is 'Crower' anybody know much about these?

Edited by chedder on Wednesday 8th August 23:53

[andymadmak]

If you contact Mike Johnson (boostedLS1 on here) he has loads of info on cams for RV8s. He also has a natty little computer program that predicts the outputs and chracterisitics for each cam profile.
I used him when I changed the cam on my 400, and we ran about 20 different tests. Cranes, Iskies, Kents, V8D, all sorts (I ended up with a V8D MC1)

Andy

[rev-erend]

one pottential fly in the ointment..

If your new choice of cam is significantly different to the old one - then a re-mapp may be needed.

If it's not wildly different - they you should be OK.

[eesbad]

I am looking at a cam change and a few other mods as my winter project

Found some useful info on this site...

http://www.mez.co.uk/TuningTheRoverV8-intro.html 

[chedder]

Thanks chaps, will be having a chat with RPI in the near future and see whats best for the car and my pocket!

[D1 MAD]

A few years back when I did a top end rebuild I had a Kent 214 cam fitted in my otherwise standard flapper 350i. The car goes very well and pulls evenly throughout the rev range. It was certainly a huge improvement over the original cam whatever that was (albeit with 2 noticeably worn lobes) I have had it on the rollers twice since and it has shown around 203 bhp each time.
The only negative result as yet is since having it fitted I have had little engine braking below 2000rpm and no one seems to be able to tune this problem out. The revs drop back quickly to 2000 then drop very slowly down to tick over set at 900. The tick over is good and even at 900 rpm when the engine is warmed through but that lack of engine braking below 2000 is a pain in traffic. I can't say that it is definitely a feature of the cam, but haven't found a cure yet.

[TVRleigh]

D1Mad Have you tryed adjusting the over-run valve on the side of the plem.

Revend its posible to get 265 BHP at 6300 RPM but only with 10.5 CR BV Flowed heads and a very wild cam with large trupmets.

With just a cam and some flowing you only going to get a max of 210, so it sould like he's telling porkies.

[rev-erend]

From a 3.5 ...

3.5 litrev * 70 bhp / litre would give 245 bhp and that is a lot from a RV8..

if it was from 4.0 (or 3.9) .. OK fair enough

I have seen engines build for race formula - real RV8 screamers .. but you really pay for it (££££&#163

Edited by rev-erend on Friday 10th August 14:14

[D1 MAD]

[quote=TVRleigh]D1Mad Have you tryed adjusting the over-run valve on the side of the plem.[quote]

Have to confess I haven't. After spending out to have 'specialists' set the car up and tune it on two occasions my faith has been in them to adjust whatever needed adjusting. Hmmmm I wonder?
So, any handy hints on adjusting it?

[TVRleigh]

Best thing is to block it off, and the hose.
And then see if your rev's drop.

If you have a vernier gauge or a depth gauge, then mesure the current setting and the try it 1 or 2 mil. each way.

It won't affect performace or accelation, so it not going to affect your tuning.

[eesbad]

From the Real Steel Catalogue:

"DW270 Viper Typhoon Hydraulic Camshaft
Ideal for use with a Holley 390, stage 2 heads, Edelbrock or Offenhauser manifold, Rhoads lifters, 1-1/2in headers, 9.75 compression pistons
and a Mallory distributor. Dyno tested on a 3.5 litre with all the above mods gave 252 bhp @ 6000 rpm"

Not too wild a set of mods for that output...

Edited to say that it is also far from just a cam change... I smell cow poop!

Edited by eesbad on Friday 10th August 14:48

Edited by eesbad on Friday 10th August 14:48

[TVRleigh]

Can't seem to see the spec's of that cam, just wonder how it compares to the kent 214.

Kent
Lift Timing Range
H214 All Sports H 284/298 11.90/12.44 31/73 78/40 1500-5000
Pippercross
V8BP270I V8 Fast Road injection H 272 11.3 26/66 66/26 1500-6000

Not sure why the spec's only show upto 5000 RPM as I know max RPM on them is about 5600, and they will rev till 7k.

Edited by TVRleigh on Friday 10th August 14:58

[eesbad]

Only details I have on the Viper Typhoon:

Rpm Range1200-6200rpm
@ .050" In.218 Ex.218
Lift-(1.60 Rockers) In; .480" Ex; .480"

Think it's a bit wilder than the Kent 214/Piper 285. Needs the tops of the valve guides machined to allow the extra lift...