Cam timing off

[nando]

Do you have an aftermarket tuned chips plugged in? I hear that with some of them you may want to have the timing off intentionally.

[turbo55]

hey I was surprised when I heard that myself as well...

[nando]

whoever told you that is full of shit.

cam timing has a direct effect on the VE of the engine. Moving it a full tooth is a HUGE change. It will either severely reduce HP at the top end (with no or little gain in torque), or it will reduce torque (also with no or little gain in power). it has nothing to do with what kind of "tuning chip" the engine has. the tune can't change the VE of the engine..

[ForcedFirebird]

whoever told you that is full of shit.

cam timing has a direct effect on the VE of the engine. Moving it a full tooth is a HUGE change. It will either severely reduce HP at the top end (with no or little gain in torque), or it will reduce torque (also with no or little gain in power). it has nothing to do with what kind of "tuning chip" the engine has. the tune can't change the VE of the engine..

Not only that, but the distributor reads off the front of the cam, so the timing will be as far off as the cam. 1 tooth is what 10 degrees? Pulling or adding 10 to ignition makes a huge difference.

[digger]

Not only that, but the distributor reads off the front of the cam, so the timing will be as far off as the cam. 1 tooth is what 10 degrees? Pulling or adding 10 to ignition makes a huge difference.

not sure i agree with that, there is no sensor on the topend reading off the cam, the point in the cycle the ignition is "fired" is based on the crank position so spark timing of 20BTDC is always 20BTDC the cam may have moved but doesnt affect timing. it might be physically possible to go out of range of the rotor though as there is only so much arc segment on it, you are basically moving the rotor relative to the dizzy which is fixed to the engine move it far enough and spark wont happen in theory

[ForcedFirebird]

not sure i agree with that, there is no sensor on the topend reading off the cam, the point in the cycle the ignition is "fired" is based on the crank position so spark timing of 20BTDC is always 20BTDC the cam may have moved but doesnt affect timing. it might be physically possible to go out of range of the rotor though as there is only so much arc segment on it, you are basically moving the rotor relative to the dizzy which is fixed to the engine move it far enough and spark wont happen in theory

Ah, true. Good call.