3rdgen92maro

iTrader: (20)

ok guys im getting ready to put H/C in my buddies 04 GTO. hes gonna be running the TSP 228r and PRC 5.3 heads. i was wondering if degreeing the camshaft is a must. or can you just install it at 0 degrees? any advice will be great

thanks

5.7 ute

Yes, degree the cam during install. Manufacturing tolerances of the various parts could end up with the cam being miles out, giving less than satisfactory performance. IMO you have selected a cam to give certain valve events. It would be a complete waste of your time & money to not ensure that is what you have got.

3rdgen92maro

iTrader: (20)

ok so degreeing is a must. how hard is this, ive never degreed a cam before. any pointers? ive read the entire cam guide sticky. it doenst seem to difficult.

5.7 ute

It will be fairly simple for you as you will have the heads off. You will obviously need a degree wheel, a magnetic based dial indicator & a method of stopping the piston at or near TDC. Check this article from crane. http://www.cranecams.com/?show=article&id=3 It explains better than I could.

3rdgen92maro

iTrader: (20)

thanks alot. i sure do hope its not to crazy. shouldnt be to hard with the heads off. but its going to be done in the car tho. how expensive are all the required tools?

5.7 ute

Not too sure over there mate. But a degree wheel will be between $30 & $60. Depending on size. Dial indicator I would expect around $100. The piston stop & pointer you can make your self with a bit of steel bar & wire for the pointer.

3rdgen92maro

iTrader: (20)

ok sweet. ill have to pick one up when i get back to from this deployment. thanks for everything

Engine_HP

iTrader: (1)

im just curious... all cams has to be degreed ?

cals400ex

iTrader: (27)

most people do not degree the cams. if you call the manufacturer they will give general guidelines. usually the clearances aren't that close with the 228 cam but i don't know if the heads are milled or not. it really comes down to how nit-picky you want to get.

skeels

iTrader: (11)

I just do dot to dot...

macca33

I cheated on mine and had a Comp Adcole report done, which showed up the true specifications of the cam. Thus, I was happy enough to install it dot-dot.

Cheers,

Macca

vettenuts

iTrader: (4)

Why wouldn't you, its part of installation as is checking rocker wipe and lifter pre-load, but most guys geuss.

Comp has a nice degree kit and I think JEGS has one as well.

Sales2@Texas-speed

iTrader: (5)

That's a step in the right direction, but even the timing set can be manufactured slightly off spec (still within their tolerances), lifter bores can be machined different, etc that will all cause the valve events to be different than what was intended.

As for the 228R tolerances being any different than other camshafts: CompCams has the same QC procedure and tolerance on the 228R as the MS4 and every other LS1 camshaft that they ship. Just because it's fairly mild on duration, does not mean it can leave any further out of spec than any other camshaft.

ssmith512

What if after the degreeing process you determine the cam is 0.5 degrees out. Then what? Most cam sets I have seen only allow 2 degree offsets. Would you have to go to an adjustable cam gear to get it dead nuts on??

vettenuts

iTrader: (4)

The Cloyes hex-adjust will give infinite adjustability, but in all honest 1/2 degree won't matter.

macca33

I agree with you Matt, but don't have the necessary degree wheel, etc, so thought this would be better than a full guess.

My 223/227 @112+2 .636/.639 lsk lobed cam actually specced out at 224.1/228.1 112.6lca, 110icl .635/.639.

I'm very happy with the result it gave me.

Cheers,

Macca