> Tom Walter:
>Racer Brown's chapter on camshafts is still a great piece of
>writing. While the cam profiles have changed over the years,
>his basic description of the function is still worth while
>reading!
>>Marc Sayer:
>> I may be wrong about this but my recollections from talking to various
>> current engine builders and cam grinders over the years is that Racer
>> Brown's cam design philosophy is now well out of date and pretty much
>> discounted.
The primary thing that I came away from reading (more like memorizing
<grin>) Racer's chapter on setting up the valve train right was that
there's no substitute for setting up the geometry properly. Maybe a
simpler way to put it is to beware of your run of the mill garage
"machine shop". I'd think that would Racer's info of set up still be
valid and if the explanation was written so that this retreaded trumpet
player could readily understand it, that's a good thing. With the
computer controlled milling equipment available today playing with
asymmetrical lobe shapes and different profiles for intake and exhaust
are a snap. Heck you can even model the results of different profiles and
offsets in computer and pretty accurately predict results without even
grinding or installing anything. Course that takes at least some of the
fun out of it.
Being neither a machinist or an engineer getting all the valve stem tips
in the same plane parallel to the cam center line while having the valve
heads/seats at the same depth in all of the cylinders appears to be a
difficult task at the least. I'd guess you could have the head mounted
on a surface plate and take measurements based on stem tip height above
the plate? Are there other/easier ways to set this up? I've seen and
heard of more people who've messed up good heads than folks who really
know their stuff. Fortunately there are several very good shops and
individuals here in the D/FW area. Headwork, including cam and setup on
our cars, is where power comes from. I'll be happy to pay them to do
their thing while I concentrate on things I can handle.
FWIW,
Ron
________________
Ronnie Day
ronday@home.com
Dallas/Ft. Worth
'71 510 2-dr (Prepared class autocrosser)
'73 510 2-dr (Street Toy)
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