First cam swap and have questons.....?
 

Ok guys, so i am doing my first cam swap(ai 230/236 cam) and i have a few questions about degreeing the cam mostly. Here they are...
1. Must i degree the cam after putting it in....?
2. ..if so, how?(ls1 guys say for their cars its as simple as lining up a couple of dots on their cars).:confused:

... so thats the only questions i really have so far.Any info helps

and yes i have tried searching and have come up with different answers.. PLEASE HELP!!:bang:

Lining up the dots is just that simple on the LT1, as well. Degreeing the cam will verify that the cam is ground correctly. Most people don't change the degree of the cam on an LT1 because it is generally not necessary and programming changes have to be made in the computer to compensate for the skew of the opti signal.
Some will argue that you should always degree the cam just to be sure. That is true, but probably 80% or more of cam installs are never degreed.

Basically everything shoebox said, but to add to it if you are using the stock timing set you can't change (advance or retard) the cam timing either, so you know everyone with a stock or LT4 timing assembly runs their cams at stock dot to dot timing.

I agree, it's not necessary. Even CompCams says that it's not essential.

If you decided to, as a first timer it can be somewhat complicated to do and it would be best to have someone who knows how walk you through it.

There are a few different methods that can be used. One involves using an off-set bushing; another is installing an off-set woodruff key inserted in the crank snout, and a third involves buying a timing chain set that has different key ways in the crank gear.

If you opt to skip it, remember if you use the dot to dot, the #1 piston will be on the exhaust stroke, not the compression stroke. To put the #1 piston on the compression stroke, the cam gear dot has to be at the 12 o'clock position and the crank gear dot will also be at the 12 o'clock position. This is important to remember when you install the Opti.

The main reasons most use the dot to dot is because it's much easier to make sure the dots are in correct position when they're close together.

On Shobox's site, he has some very good information and a diagram that shows how they should look.

Jake

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