BRAAP

Thank you for your input Brad-Man. Your sport bike coil set up sounds like a great set up. Looking forward to hearing more about it as you progress.

Ok, that makes a little more sense. Thank you for clarifying. So you want to use your Optical trigger to run the EDIS ignition instead of the OE ford 36-1 and VR sensor, (for what its worth, EDIS uses a VR sensor, not “hall effect”. They are different). This is an intriguing concept. I’m not sure how the EDIS module would interpret that signal or if it even could. Below is a picture of the signal of an OE EDIS 36-1 and VR sensor captured on Ron’s Fluke “O” scope on our EDIS Test Bench. This picture captured the missing tooth as well. I do know that the EDIS module will still operate with a signal that is somewhat skewed from this signal, but I’m not sure how skewed the signal can be before the EDIS Module can’t interpret it anymore. I’m sure the optical signal doesn’t look like the VR signal pictured below, in fact, I would guess the optical signal would be more of a square wave, much like a hall effect signal. You might search the MS-EFI-EDIS forum to see if anyone has done any tinkering with optical triggers for EDIS. I personally would love to test optical triggers and “hall effect” triggers with EDIS on our Test bench, but we won’t have the time to run the Test Bench again till this winter.

Mack-daddy, How you doing buddy. You are on the right track in regards to tooth count in the dizzy. If you want your EDIS trigger to be in the DIZZY or even on the cam, it will need to be a 72-2 tooth wheel. As for using paint to fill in the gaps? If I understand your idea, you want to use “paint” to fill in the extra gaps in the 360 tooth wheel that you have currently so that EDIS will register 36-1 teeth for every crank revolution, (i.e. in the dizzy, 72-2 tooth count). Sorry, but that won’t work. The trigger is magnetic. Paint will not fool the EDIS module. You can take a 36-1 wheel and fill in all the gaps with paint, epoxy, fiber glass, or even aluminum, and the EDIS will still run just fine. In other words, the paint wont fool the EDIS module into thinking those gaps don’t exist. You will need a 72-2 wheel made of ferrous material if you want it in the dizzy or on the cam, or a 36-1 wheel made of ferrous material on the crank. We built a nice little EDIS test bench and posted all of test results with detailed pics thus far. If you haven’t seen it, you might read through it as it should help shed some light on the EDIS system as a whole and what it takes for it operate. That thread can be viewed here… http://www.msextra.com/viewtopic.php?t=14920 Also, this thread started by Z-ya Pete, has some valuable info as well, if you haven’t seen it yet.. http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=103781

It was nice show. Lots of great Z’s, 510’s and Roadsters.

Sorry for going so far off Hybrid topic here, but this topic is just way to cool… BOY HOWDY!!! I’ve seen that engine run in person at the P.R.I.M.E. shows here in Oregon over past few years. Ken is the same builder of the Blown V-8 with wine glasses picture below. Guys from all over the country attend the P.R.I.M.E. show to show off their scratch built miniature running engines. Everything from single cylinder hit and miss, Steam, to blown V-8’s and even home made Gas Turbines!!!. There is a an air cooled VW replica that even has that chirp sound when it runs, an Allison V-12, a few Radial engines, four cylinders, V-twins, and lots of single cylinders. Mostly these guys are retired machinists and they spend their days scratch building miniature engines. Everything from the pistons, cranks, cams, valves, even the valve springs they wind themselves. Most of them will tell you that the spark plugs and piston rings are the hardest parts to manufacture themselves. Most of them just by miniature NGK or Champion plugs. Also, piston rings are typically cast iron rings from Automatic transmissions. There is a very common 1” inch diameter ring available from Auto trannies, so most guys will build their pistons around those rings. Some of them even go so far as to cast their own blocks, pistons, intake manifolds EXACTLY replicating OE engines such as the SBC picture below, with its casting molds. Over the years of attending these shows, I’ve taken hundreds of pictures and some VHS video. Here are just a few of those pics …

The easiest way to describe the sound and firing pulse differences between the single plane and dual plane V-8 cranks is this. Think of the American V-8, (dual plane cranks), as “four” V-twin engines on one crankshaft. Now think of the single plane V-8 crank, (Ferrari), as “two” inline four cylinder engines on one crankshaft. Every notice how Harley V-twins and American V-8s sound similar? Also, for anyone that has ever heard a Ferrari V-8 or any other single plane cranked V-8, how it sounds much like a high strung four cylinder… The revised firing order that accompanies a single plane V-8 crank gives the engine a BRAAP exhaust note vs the dual plane crank RUMBLE. The physical design of the crank is such that when you look down along the crank from the nose, the dual plane crank, the rod pins make a “+” (the crank throws are on two separate planes), where as the single plane is a “-“, (all the crank pins and main journals are on the same plane), hence the terms “dual plane” and “single plane”. Also, the single plane crank carries with it the inherent annoying buzzyness that your typical inline four cylinder has. The larger the displacement, the more exaggerated this “buzziness” is. Has to do with 2nd, 3rd, or 4th order harmonics, I forget which, It’s been so long ago when I was researching single plane cranks for a personal V-8 project, (still want to build one…). I am not positive, but I’m pretty sure that a couple NASCAR teams even played with single plane cranks at some point in the mid to late 90’s. Benefits of the single plane crank at that level of performance is exhaust pulse tuning with out criss-crossing headers, i.e. standard style headers. Dual plane crank V-8’s can accomplish the same exhaust pulse tuning characteristics by using “180 degree” headers as used on the Ford GT-40 and I’ve even seen few Panteras running as well. These tend be very long primary tubes and depending on available real-estate under the bonnet can be quite ornate. The middle two cylinders of one bank pair up with the outer two cylinder of the opposing bank and vice versa. This made for some very intricate header designs as seen in the accompanying pictures. I’ve been wanting to build a SBC using a single plane crank since the mid ‘90’s for one of my Z cars. I’m willing to tolerate the added buzzyness just to get that exhaust note. I can appreciate the domestic V-8 rumble, I’ve owned and built a couple V-8s Z cars, but that rumble just doesn’t stir my soul the same way a 6 cylinder, 12 cylinder, single plane V-8 or even a VERY high revving four cylinder, (sport bikes), do. Every time I hear a 6 cylinder, V-12 or a flat crank V-8 fire up, it sends a chill up and down my spine. Even after all these years building and tuning L-series Z cars, even firing off our own L-28 race car gives me goose bumps. The exhaust note is intoxicating and befitting a “sports car” in the pure sense of the word. Not too mention, at the stop light grand-prix, the unsuspecting victim will think it is a just a wimpy little import engine with that silky smooth exhaust note… here are a couple articles with pictures touching on the 180 degree header design… http://home.alltel.net/bsprowl/Exhaust/180FEHeaders.htm http://www.ssheaders.com/header.htm Here are some 180 degree headers… BRAAAP….BRAAAAAAAAAAP….BRAAAaaaaaa…….

I just fired up my MSnS-EDIS controlled N/A L-28 race car last weekend. My impression so far is I will NEVER go back to distributors again!!! DIS compared to Dizzy ignitions systems is like EFI compared to Carbs. It could be argued that there is no noticeable performance gain with today’s high tech computerized engine management, but the ability to tune at pin point MAP and RPM bins without affecting the rest of the fuel or spark curve is something that can NOT be done with carbs or mechanical and vacuum advances in a dizzy. Also, when you make changes to the fuel curve or ignition curve with EFI and DIS, your hands don’t smell like GAS all night or end up covered in Grease AND, you can make the adjustments REAL time on the fly, Not have to get out and take a dizzy or carb apart to make adjustments. Ok, in my not so humble opinion, those are the BIG reasons why I prefer EDIS over dizzy ignition. Good luck, Details and pics of our MSnS-EDIS project can be seen at these links… http://www.msefi.com/viewtopic.php?t=15436 http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=103781 http://www.msefi.com/viewtopic.php?t=14920

Ah, yes, I stand corrected. I apologize for muddying the waters. When locating TDC using the piston stop, you will need to rotate the engine backwards. Sorry about that Isk. The piston stop should have a hole through the middle of it to allow air to escape and enter the cylinder as the piston travels through its stroke with the valves closed. Also, remove the rest of the spark plugs and that will allow the engine to rotate easier as well, hopefully enough that it wont loosen your crank damper bolt. Also, you could remove all the rocker arms except for cylinder number one and that will take some of the resistance away while rotating the crank. Sorry for confusion and good luck with getting your dial indicator set up…

Isk, First off, there is no need to rotate your engine backwards and for degreeing the cam, you should NOT rotate the engine backwards. Rotating the engine backwards while degreeing your cam will not only loosen the crank bolt if it isn’t tight enough, but will totally change the cam timing in relation to the crankshaft as the tension side of the timing chain then becomes slack which essentially advances the cam giving you totally erroneous values. Just rotate the crankshaft clock wise for EACH and EVERY time that you need to rotate the crank. As mentioned in the “how to degree your cam” sticky here in the L-6 forum, always rotate the engine in the direction it rotates while running which just happens to be clockwise as viewed from the front. This will keep that bolt from coming loose and help keep the cam timing where it would be as if the engine was running, which is what we are checking right? Cam timing as the engine is running? As for which cam you might have? If you have a dial caliper or digital caliper handy, you can measure the cam lobe lift. This is how to do that. Measure the cam lobe across the nose, note that measurement, then measure the lobe across the base circle which will give the smallest measurement and make note of that. Now subtract the base circle measurement from the lobe measurement and that will be your “cam lobe lift”. Now take that “lobe lift” number and subtract your valve lash, (OE cams, it is .010” for intake and .012” for exhaust, aftermarket cams are different, but typically .008”-.010” is common). Now take this new number and multiply it by 1.5, which is what the rocker ratio is supposed to be for L-series engines, (it isn’t exactly 1.5, but 1.5 is close enough to give you an idea of what lift this cam will deliver). That will be your valve lift. If it is anywhere near the .477”-.483” range in your calculations, then you more than likely have the first cam you listed, or at least one with similar specs in regards to lift and duration. Hope this helps… Good luck

I am running AV-gas in the car, and no “audible” indication of any excess timing or compression… (at least that I can hear…) BTW, I spent about and hour on the back roads around our place last night tuning it some more. Runs pretty good, but still a long way off from ideal. The resets are VERY troublesome and at idle will kill the engine and flood it causing it to hydraulic lock when cranking for restart!! ARRGH!!! Scared the crap out of me the first time it happened. I though the timing chain broke or a rod let go when the starter just locked up about half way through a revolution. Any how, with the alternator disconnected, the MS still resets at RPMs below 1500, but not as severally. With the alternator hooked up and a capacitor on the alternator, it resets less often above 1500 than it did without the capacitor but it still resets HUGE below 1500 RPM, and only once in a great while above 2000 RPM. Any how, I will be ordering a line conditioner for the power wire for the MS controller. I’m told that will solve the MS “reset” issue.. See you guys at Canby..

BAD Paul… I couldn’t help myself. All day I had been day dreaming of inputting some new fuel and spark settings, so I came up with off the cuff ignition map and off the cuff fuel map for the car, wrote them down, and then inserted those settings, (see pics). We ”think” these injectors are 21 lb/hr, but not sure yet. WOW! What a diff a total guess at fuel and spark settings made. I grabbed Ron Tyler and made him get in the passenger seat and we headed out for a quick jaunt. The car now accelerates similar to how it did with the Triple Weber carbs, part throttle is still a bit sketchy, idle is little raw and the RESETS are really annoying. Any how, while out on this test drive, a brand new Mini Cooper drove by while we were going to make left hand turn and come back to the shop, and this little Mini was taunting us. I succumbed. (BAD Paul….) Ron reminded me that I only had some cheapo BFG Comp T/A’s on the Panasports (street tires for tuning MS on our rural back roads), and not the slicks, I just smiled and rowed the shifter. Mind you, if you’ve ever been out to our shop, it is a 4.5 mile trip up AND down tight twisty curves, 2 of them 180 degree hair pins, lots of 1st and 2nd gear turns, a couple 3rd gear straights and over 200 feet of elevation change. The poor little Mini tried and tried to get away, but no dice. (I don’t think he knew he was up against a race car). Even running a “guess” fuel map, we couldn’t use full throttle without running over that little Mini. We were playing a bit doing some drifting at almost full opposite lock on a few of the corners and still gaining on the Mini. There is LOTS more power left. Any how, if the RESETS can be fixed, this could prove to be a decently powerful N/A setup.

Ok guys, I can’t bite my tongue any longer Two degrees difference in exhaust valve duration won’t make SQUAT difference, as felt seat of the pants. Yes, it will make a difference that can be read on a dyno, but that difference will be SO small that even the most anal driver on this forum would NOT be able to feel the difference in the seat of his/her pants. If this were an engine for the IRL, NASCAR, or Top Fuel, then yes, maybe squabbling with the cam grinder over a measly 2 degrees duration would be justified, but not over a Datsun L-series cam? If someone is dead set on taking some national level championship with his L-series Z car and was spending tens of thousands of dollars on that car in an effort to build that car to a very specific level, then I would say go ahead and pitch a bitch, but for a hot street car or even a part time racer, 2 degrees duration isn’t going to cause you to loose the race. No ones driving skills on this forum are THAT good!!! Our driving skills have WAY more affect on the outcome of a race than a measly 2 degrees exhaust valve duration. As for this measly 2 degrees possibly being the PINKs cars power issue, HOSRE PUCKY!!! Their HP peak came in at 4900 RPM. The HP peak should be in at least by 5700 RPM, more like 6000-6500 RPM. That is a HUGE discrepancy and for the LAST TIME GUYS!!! If that discrepancy is cam timing related, it would be something like 10+ degrees off, or a “tooth” off on the timing gear, not a measly 2, 4, or even 8 degrees! There is something else causing their lack or RPM!!!! Now as for the overlap issue, (this is where the gripe “might” be justified), generally speaking, high performance Turbo cams are ground with wider lobe separation, i.e. less overlap. I haven’t ran the numbers on this particular cam and don’t have time this evening, but if memory serves, that ISkY cam “should” be ground on 114 LCA which is a “wide” lobe separation with little valve overlap, i.e. good cam in a Turbo application. Now if it is ground with 106-109 LCA, then it would make great “off boost” power and even reduce lag at the expense of top end “boosted” power. Being as the PINKs car has such a drastic discrepancy in where the peak HP is vs where it should’ve come in, I strongly believe there is something else wrong, i.e. ignition. I honestly feel the PINKs issue is ignition related. I just read here in the PINKs forum where their MSD ignition box is inoperative now and the car wont even run!!! I haven’t been present to see, hear, or tune that engine, but based solely on what I’ve read thus far, it definitely sounds like an ignition issue, NOT a cam issue! Next would be the fuel map because they could never get the mixture correct on the top end as the ignition wouldn’t light the darn fire in the first place!!! MSD products are excellent, WHEN they work. We at Rusch Motorsports will NOT sell or endorse MSD components because of their poor reliability. Functionally, MSD is great and we would love to offer their products but because of their poor dependability, we don't. I have seen many a MSD coil and 6A box fail in all sorts of ways leaving the driver stranded. It even happened on an episode of PINKS in the middle of a race for crying out loud… Ok, I’m now stepping off my soap box and going to bed. Good night guys,

My father, Ron Ruschman, is who originally built that RB 440 powered ’77 280-Z. He used a TF 727 trans with a manual shift body, welded R-200 diff, coil overs up front, custom double pass radiator, etc. etc. etc.. Mom told him he couldn’t keep the Big Block Z any more so I ended up with it and being as that is not my first choice for a hybrid Z, I sold it. Here are just a few pics of that Z while it was in my possession. I have TONS more including detail pics of the engine bay throughout the conversion process, (Dad would send them to me as he progressed.) I would be more than happy to burn them to a CD and mail them to you if you’ll E-mail me at braapZ350@hotmail.com with your mailing address. Here are some of those pics…. YEE HAAA…. Big Block Torque!!! Manul shift body, power brake in 2nd gear…

Cary, The rest of this week I REALLY need to stay focused on Customer projects and I REALLY want to take the car to the Datsun Canby event on Sunday. Being as it does start, idle and can move under its own power in its current state, (if it isn’t broke, don’t fix it, …yet..) I wont make any more changes to the state of tune till after the big Datsun Canby show on Sunday. As for making to race events, depending on how far I get with tuning, I am hoping to make the 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th EESCC events to use as shake down runs and would like to also make the Enduro Cross for more tuning and seat time, not ready to compete with it yet. A lot of “ifs” between now then. New firmware with no bugs, air cleaner, brake master cylinder, and coarse tuning of the fuel and spark maps… Fingers crossed….

I had to pull the car out to clean the shop, once I fired it up, I couldn’t help myself so I turned on the lap-top and did a little fiddling in an effort to get the engine to idle on its own. I did a little playing around with the VE “fuel” and “spark” maps, now the engine idles nice at 900 RPM with just hint of slight lope. Being able to control the ignition advance at any RPM and any MAP setting with a key stroke from the driver seat while the engine is running is really quite cool. Make the change in the VE table within the MAP BIN the engine is currently running, hit the “tab” key on the keyboard and instantly, the engine immediately responds to the new timing setting!!! No more mechanical advance flyweights and springs that affect the entire ignition curve. Immediate “Pin-point” ignition tuning on the fly is cool!!! Also, the Auto meter Tach is registering correct RPM now, easy fix. There is a neat little setting under the “General” tab within MT called “Tacho output pin” and in that is a setting for “normal” or “half speed”. Just set it to “normal”.

IT RUNS!!!! WOOHOO!!!! The initial start up was not a smooth one. Spent approx 20 minutes trying to get it to light off. It would only cough and sputter and try to run but only sty lit for 1-2 seconds tops. After making random fuel changes in MT and burning those to the controller with no change in the coughing and sputtering, it all of sudden came to life. I have absolutely NO idea what changed and caused it to go from coughing and not running to being able to run under its own power. Oh well, it now runs. It wouldn’t hold its own idle, I had to help it with slight throttle application, but after I saw some coolant temp, I tried mashing the pedal a few times and BOY howdy does it rev QUICK! It will rev incredibly fast, just like it did with the triple carbs. Shut it down and checked for leaks, all was well, fired it back up and drove it up the road ½ mile and then back. Flat spots all over the rpm range, (as to be expected from fuel and spark maps that were arbitrary entered), but it did drive under its own power for over a mile up to approx 35 MPH!!! Issues that need addressing…. 1) Fuel and spark maps need adjusting, obviously. This one will just take time. 2) RESETS are occurring… After I brought the car back into the shop after the short jaunt down the road, I shut it off and restarted it, just holding it at 2000 RPM, I noticed the engine did a little hiccup. I looked down at the screen on my lap-top and in the bottom right corner it said “RESET 3”. Then it did another hiccup, (hiccup being a misfire like the EFI/spark shut down completely for approx 2-4 combustion pulses/split second, like a moderate misfire with no “pop”), and then the little box in the bottom right of the screen said “RESET 6”. So I continued to hold the RPM between 1500-3500 RPM and over approx 45 seconds time, it did the same thing a few more times and every time the RESET number would increase one digit, sometimes 2 digits. The hiccups need to be cured and appear to be caused by these resets for some reason or another… This one could be easy, or could be HELL! 3) The MS controller is currently set up with MSnS-E 025, I’m using the MT 225 release which doesn’t support 025, though I do have MT configged for 027 which seems to allow me to tune at the moment. I know, I know, I must have MT configged to match the MSnS-E, and I will burn 029q2 into the MS controller and the latest MT which should support 029q2. I just got antsy to start the car…. AND IT RUNS!! Any how, this should be an easy fix, barring any software bugs… (did I mention that I DON’T do software bugs?) 4) I need to let MS control my cooling fan. RS-Autosport did some mod to my MS controller so that it will control the fan, though I’m not sure if it is grounding signal or +12v signal coming from the MS relay board? This one should be an easy fix. 5) RS Autosport also did a “tach mod” to my MS controller so it would run my Autometer tach. It does work, but my Autometer Tach is only registering exactly half of actual engine RPM according the tach in MT. This one should be a simple fix as well. Now the car actually runs, It will probably be a week or so before I do any more work on it. Gotta get a couple other projects through the shop first.

Pete, WOW! That is awesome. Good work. How is the tuning phase coming along?... I was able to finally get a little further with our V-3 EDIS sparked L-series project. The fuel system is now completed with a new 8 gallon fuel cel, new EFI pump, filter, all new 5/16” stainless fuel line, etc. The dash and wiring are also complete including the MS wiring and the Honda S-2000 “engine start” button. I installed the MS controller on the trans tunnel just under the center portion of the dash and the Relay board is mounted in the engine bay, on the driver side fender-well near the clutch master cyl. All that is left now is Spark plug wires from the EDIS-6 controlled coil pack, burn the latest version of MSnS-E to the controller, install and set up MT 2.25 “release” and then pray that I don’t end up with any software instability issues… (fingers crossed…) I just may hire someone that is MSnS-E/M.T. savvy to come over and get the software all set up and communicating without any hiccups or resets, etc. I can handle the tuning phase, I’m just allergic to software bugs… Anyone close enough to the Portland Oregon region that would be willing to come out to Rusch Motorsports and make sure the software is set up correctly? Of course we would make it worth your while… For some reason, these pics show the car as a really pale butter cup sort of yellow, yeuck!! The car is NOT that shade of yellow. First pic is the relay board mounted. Second and third pics are of the dash and center console. The center console has the red covered power switch, engine start button, H2O temp, oil press, volt gauge, and a toggle switch on the left side of the center console that is a manual override for the cooing fan. On the right side o the center console at the bottom is the 6 terminal fuse block. The Yellow Shift light is next to the tach on the steering column and the Red “low oil pressure” light is mounted near the drivers A-pillar on the roll bar. You can just make out the MS controller under the dash. Last pic shows the fuel cel, pump, and filter that reside in the back of the car under a removable cover.

I was asked via PM to describe in more detail what a degree wheel is and does, so I took the liberty of using a current mildly hot N/A L-28 build that we are building here at Rusch Motorsports to use as the example, but substituted in arbitrary cam specs for clarification. For those of you reading this to learn how to do this on your own engine, do not use the cam specs listed here, these specs are for an arbitrary Turbo cam, and yours will most certainly be different. If you are going to be degreeing the cam, Those “shiny” links on the timing chain and the notched cam sprocket should only be used for installing the cam so that the valves don’t crash into the pistons, not for timing the cam, especially for aftermarket cams as those marks no are pretty much worthless as I am sure the cam grinder isn’t going to grind the cam for all those marks and the planets to line up, they intended for the end user to actually degree in their cam using a degree wheel. Also, when taking all measurements with the dial indicator, remember to always take those readings rotating the crankshaft in the same direction every time, and that direction should always be in the direction of engine rotation while it is running, i.e. facing the front of the engine, the crank rotates clockwise. 1) Tools needed….You will need a degree wheel, (top pic), a way to mount that degree to the crank snout. You will need a pointer of some sort that can be attached anywhere on the front of the engine but can reach the degree wheel. I use a piece of coat hanger, one for L-series and one for SBC engines. You will also need a dial indicator, (second and third pic, note the steel plate on the bottom right…), I use a mag base mount for my dial indicator and just bolt on a piece of steel plate on the head to hold the dial indicator over the valve to be checked. I typically compress the dial indicator.500” with the valve on its seat. You will also need a piston stop, (see bottom pic), and you will need your cam specs. 2) After you get the degree wheel attached to the crank snout, you will need to positively identify TDC. Do NOT trust the TDC mark on the damper used for timing your ignition. You cannot trust it to be 100% accurate and if the inertia ring has spun, it will be WAY off, and the damper should be thrown away. Using this method to find TDC, you can verify that your damper inertia ring hasn’t spun. Also, if your timing pointer is off a little bit, you can even slot the timing pointer tab to be dead nuts on as well. Rotate the crank so that you know for sure the #1 piston is NOT at TDC. Insert the “piston stop” into the spark plug hole far enough that you know the piston will contact it on its way up the bore before hitting TDC, (see fourth pic “ABOVE”). Now slowly rotate the crank till the crank stops, that will be the piston contacting the “piston stop”. Do NOT force the piston any further up! Set the degree wheel to “0” degrees TDC at this point without rotating the crankshaft. (See the top pic BELOW). Now rotate the crank the other direction till it contacts the piston stop again which in this case ended up registering 57 degrees. (see second pic down.) Half way between this point and “0” on the degree wheel is ACTUAL TDC, which is 28.5 degrees in this example. Now remove the piston stop and rotate the crank too that 28.5 degrees, (see third pic down), and now carefully readjust the degree wheel to read TDC without disturbing the crankshaft. If you feel that you accidentally moved the crank even in the slightest, then start all over again. When you are finished, you will be at TDC referenced by the fourth pic down. 3) Now with TDC being set, the dial indicator set up on the head in contact with the valve retainer to be measured, your manufactures cam card handy, you can degree in your camshaft. There are several ways to approach this. The most popular ways being the “intake centerline” method, the “lobe separation centerline” method, “intake closed at the .050” point” method and others. Most engine builders agree that of all the valve events, (intake open, intake closed, exhaust open and exhaust closed), that the intake closure point is the most critical. There isn’t enough space nor do I have the time to go into the details of why that is in this post. I’ll save that for another post. For this example, I’ll use the intake closure at .050” valve lift as it will be accurate enough for 85% of the projects being built. The “Intake centerline” or “lobe separation centerline” methods are more accurate, but is also more involved. For the this arbitrary cam, the intake closure point at .050” lift is 72 degrees “After Bottom Center”. So, rotate the crankshaft in the direction of engine rotation till the intake valve is on the closing ramp and when the dial indicator reads .050” from the valve being on its seat, the degree wheel should read 72 degrees ABC, (see pics below). If the cam timing is within a couple degrees of manufactures suggested, the engine will run just fine and you wont be able to “feel” any difference, though you might be able to actually measure the difference on a dyno, and depending on the engine package as a whole, may perform better in the range you intend to drive with other than manufacture suggested cam timing specs. The processes involved in degreeing your cam can be taken to several levels of extreme. There are engine builders that will take into account bearing clearances on the rod journals with oil pressure present, heated block and internal parts when finding TDC, etc. Before you go to such extremes, you have to ask yourself this…Are you building a Nextel cup engine, Formula one engine, Indy car, or just a hot L-series that if the cam timing is off a degree or 2 you wont feel or notice it anyhow?.... That is your quick Rusch Motorsports tutorial on how to degree your L-series cam. Hope this helps…