Cam questions

[Guest ekaphoto]

I have a 71 140 with a 75 280 engine with SU carbs and about 150K miles on it. i am thinking of upgrading the cam, but not sure about stage I, II, III etc etc. I plan on driving it on the street and occasional autocross. I want to increase power without losing streetability or turing the car into a rolling gernade. I did a search in cams without finding what I was looking for. Is there a thread, article or someting comparing the powerbands etc of the diffrent cams. BTW i also want to keep from dropping the fuel mileage to much. At this point I am leaning twords the stage 2 from zcarparts.com but don't really know enough to make an informed decision.

[BRAAP]

All these “stage shows”, yet we never hear about the intermission, or what lane the staging is taking place? Cams, engine builds, head work, suspension systems, Stage 1, Stage 4, Stage 8.34.71?!?!?

 

All these stages, yet no definite specs to put with them! How’s an engine builder/machinist/tuner to understand? Is this term STAGE some new fangled Honda thing?

 

No offense, but calling camshafts by a “stage” is about as vague as saying that a camshaft has bumps on it. These “dealers” selling cams in “stages” really need to be quite a bit more specific about what “their stage” is, and what it does so when a prospective customer gets all giddy about their latest "stage 2000" kit and asks about it on a forum, the rest of the car guys in the know can put that stage into some perspective and help the new guy out.

 

Paul (stage 1/4) Ruschman

[naviathan]

If you're looking at stage packages then I think you need to start looking at a real machinist. You're looking through the MSA catalog at their packaged camshafts and not to be rude, but you have no idea what you're looking at. Do some research on camshaft lift, duration and lobe separation and you'll start understanding what makes each of those "stages" different. There are many many threads on this forum talking about different cams and what to look for. Most people would agree that the stage 2 you're looking at is a waste of money. If you insist on going with the MSA cams stage 4 is a starting point. But I would highly recommend you do some research, find another stock cam and send it off to a real machinist and have it reground to the performance specs you want. Don't forget to learn about setting the lash and how to find the right size pads for your cam/spring setup. Ditch the stock springs and get the Schneider Performance springs that MSA sells. Remember, if you're going to do it, do it right the first time. Especially when it comes to cams because if you screw this up, you can seriously damage your engine. Voice of experience here.

[ozconnection]

What other mods have you done to your engine?

 

Have you got a performance exhaust or are you still working with the original setup.

 

Head work? Port work? Upped compression?

 

And to slap a "big" cam into a stockish engine is a mistake IMO.

 

Do the cam thing last, and don't forget your ignition timing curve may need regraphing, to get the most out of your new combo.

 

I was shocked at how much power I was able to get from a stock L28S camshaft, which is smaller than what you guys in the States run on your twin carbied and injected L series sixes. Throttle response was terrific and torque at lower engine speeds didn't fall off the face of the planet. Weren't these things important to you as mentioned in your initial posting? Street work mostly with good fuel economy? Don't waste your money on a cam....yet. Do all the other stuff first and if your still lusting for more grunt, do it then. At that point, you'll get the most "bang for your bucks" from the bigger cam profile too.

 

Good luck.

[JMortensen]

And to slap a "big" cam into a stockish engine is a mistake IMO.

Why? I ran something similar to that Stage IV with about 8.5:1 compression and loved it. The only mistake was going with a smaller cam first, so I ended up having to spend twice as much on the camshaft and had to set the lash pads and all that twice. That Schneider Stage IV is really a medium-ish cam at best. There smaller ones are puny in my opinion.

[Guest ekaphoto]

What other mods have you done to your engine?

 

Have you got a performance exhaust or are you still working with the original setup.

 

Head work? Port work? Upped compression?

 

And to slap a "big" cam into a stockish engine is a mistake IMO.

 

Do the cam thing last, and don't forget your ignition timing curve may need regraphing, to get the most out of your new combo.

 

I was shocked at how much power I was able to get from a stock L28S camshaft, which is smaller than what you guys in the States run on your twin carbied and injected L series sixes. Throttle response was terrific and torque at lower engine speeds didn't fall off the face of the planet. Weren't these things important to you as mentioned in your initial posting? Street work mostly with good fuel economy? Don't waste your money on a cam....yet. Do all the other stuff first and if your still lusting for more grunt, do it then. At that point, you'll get the most "bang for your bucks" from the bigger cam profile too.

 

Good luck.

 

It has been converted to carbs and header put on, so no it is not stock.

[PanzerAce]

If you are in NorCal, you might want to give Rebello a call. For one, they don't have 'stages' in their cams. http://rebelloracing.com/nissan1.htm (scroll all the way to the bottom for a small selection of what they have). I'm running one of their 63DE cams, and I LOVE it, but I'm also running a L30 and triple mikunis, so I can't say how it'll feel on your application.

[Guest ekaphoto]

Thanks for the ino. ill let you know what I do.