Degreeing the cam on a 440!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[gpnavar]

Hi guys I need some help I'm trying to degree the cam in my 440. It is a Mopar Performance cam part number P4120235 284/484. The instructions say to find TDC which I have done and then it says to put the lifter in and rotate the engine until the dial indicator moves .025 and take a reading and right it down. Then move the degree wheel until you reach .025 after maxium indicator reading and take a reading there and right it down then add the two readings together and divide it by two and that will give you the cam centerline which in this case is 108. Well I've done this about three times now and I keep coming up with the same readings. The first reading that I'm taking is degree wheel at 5 degrees and then when I take the second reading it is 55 degrees so you ad those two together and of course you get 60 degrees and if you divide that by two you have 30 degrees which is no where near the 108 that it says I'm suppose to have. These readings are taken off of the intake side of the lifter. Now if I go to the Exhaust side and do the same thing I come up with 100 degree which is much closer telling me that I need to offset the cam by 8 degrees. But if this doesn't confuse you and you think you can help me I can use all of the help I can get. (LOL) I look forward to hearing from you soon. Thanks Gary

[firefighter3931]

Hi guys I need some help I'm trying to degree the cam in my 440. It is a Mopar Performance cam part number P4120235 284/484. The instructions say to find TDC which I have done and then it says to put the lifter in and rotate the engine until the dial indicator moves .025 and take a reading and right it down. Then move the degree wheel until you reach .025 after maxium indicator reading and take a reading there and right it down then add the two readings together and divide it by two and that will give you the cam centerline which in this case is 108. Well I've done this about three times now and I keep coming up with the same readings. The first reading that I'm taking is degree wheel at 5 degrees and then when I take the second reading it is 55 degrees so you ad those two together and of course you get 60 degrees and if you divide that by two you have 30 degrees which is no where near the 108 that it says I'm suppose to have. These readings are taken off of the intake side of the lifter. Now if I go to the Exhaust side and do the same thing I come up with 100 degree which is much closer telling me that I need to offset the cam by 8 degrees. But if this doesn't confuse you and you think you can help me I can use all of the help I can get. (LOL) I look forward to hearing from you soon. Thanks Gary

Hi Gary, those instructions seem a bit confusing.  I'm assuming that you're trying to degree it in using the intake centerline method which is the most common procedure. First, you need to establish tdc. At this point you need to reset the dial indicator to zero.

**This is where you probably went wrong if i'm reading your description correctly.

Next : back the engine up until it reaches .100 on the dial indicator. Slowly move it forward and when the dial shows .050, write that number down....that is your first reference point.

Next : keep rotating the engine until the dial hit's zero and keep going until it reaches .050 again and stop. Write that number down.....that is your second reference point.

Add the 2 numbers together and divide by 2 and you'll have the installed centerline.


The key is to zero the indicator at TDC and take your readings from there. I use .050 valve lift on either side as a reference point....that's just the way i've allways done them. 

Give it a try and see how it works.

Ron


Ps. I would install that cam on a 104* intake centerline which is 4* advanced. This will bring the power in a little sooner than if it was installed at 108* (straight up). This is of course assuming that you've got a multiple keyway lower (crank) gear.

[andyf]

Well your 5 is probably 5 degrees before TDC and then the 55 is most likely 55 degrees ABDC.  So you're forgetting the 180 degrees between TDC and BDC.  5+55+180 is 240 and when you divide by 2 you get 120.  So you're 12 degrees off.

[Steve P.]

Well your 5 is probably 5 degrees before TDC and then the 55 is most likely 55 degrees ABDC.  So you're forgetting the 180 degrees between TDC and BDC.  5+55+180 is 240 and when you divide by 2 you get 120.  So you're 12 degrees off.

Andy, what are the specs of the motor in the pic? Those pistons sure look familiar...

[mikepmcs]

 

[andyf]

That motor in the picture was a stock stroke 400 with high compression pistons.  I think those were a shelf stock JE piston but it has been a few years since we built that motor.

[gpnavar]

Hi guys this is Gary again and I'm apparently still doing something wrong. I tried what you said started all over and found tdc again but this is where I'm confused you say to back the crank off .100 and come back .050 and take a reading and record that number? This is where I'm confused when the engine is at tdc the cam is on the flat side of the lifter not on the lobe side so you have to move the crank along ways to get the indicator to move any at all? So assuming that I need to bring the cam to maxi um lift and re zero which I did and then back off .100 and bring it back .050 and I get 20 then I run the crank up to zero and .050 past zero and I get 70 then I add the two together and get 90 then divide by 2 and get 45 and I know thats not right so please help me again I'm so confused (LOL)? Thanks Guys Gary again

[firefighter3931]

Hey Gary ; i'm not sure what you're doing wrong but here's the degreeing instructions from the Comp Cams website. Go to page #5 of this file.

Ron

http://www.compcams.com/Technical/Instructions/Files/145.pdf