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We measured Redblock cam valve events; here's what we got.

mertz said:
Does anyone have any insight into it?
Click to expand...
It shares the same advertised duration and lift figures as a K, it only mentions intake centerline. It also doesn't really tell you what the ramp is like. I find it kinda interesting they go out of their way to say there is not enough camshafts in this range and then make a 270/270 @ ,5mm with 12mm of cam lift installed at a 110° ICL.

I appreciate how they mention a "correctly ported 530".
 
OVERDRIVE said:
It shares the same advertised duration and lift figures as a K, it only mentions intake centerline. It also doesn't really tell you what the ramp is like. I find it kinda interesting they go out of their way to say there is not enough camshafts in this range and then make a 270/270 @ ,5mm with 12mm of cam lift installed at a 110° ICL.

I appreciate how they mention a "correctly ported 530".
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Thanks for the insight. I had thought it looked like a K cam but appreciate there is only a partial picture to work from with the supplied data.

The box had the original suppliers label blacked out so I wonder if it is as custom as it claimed. I have however, seen rave reviews of this cam in Scandinavia.

They are big on ported 530's for street use, doing the whole exhaust valve fitting down the intake port trick.
 
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It's based on the t5 camshaft from the group a cars.
It's designed by user Batland on the Norwegian volvo car forum and ground by KM Cams in Norway i believe. You have to use an adjustable cam gear or adjust your original cam gear because putting it "straight up" will only give you like 1.5mm? of lift @tdc.

The exhaust valve as a guide for the intake port is also Batlands trick/invention, it works great, and makes it possible for everyone to get good results with the 530 head.
 
I wish everybody used "x" lift at TDC for base cam setting. Using intake valve centerline is difficult at best because it's tough to figure out precisely where max lift is as you go around the nose. The way we do it here is to go around once and find the maximum lift, then go around again as we take our measurements. As we approach max lift, we take the timing reading 0.001" before and the reading 0.001" after and split the difference.

Schoopp said:
You have to use an adjustable cam gear or adjust your original cam gear because putting it "straight up" will only give you like 1.5mm? of lift @tdc.
Click to expand...

Sounds about right with what we've found. Is this on a new blank or a regrind?

Someone with more insight please chime in and explain the retard ground into these please.
 
Schoopp said:
The exhaust valve as a guide for the intake port is also Batlands trick/invention, it works great, and makes it possible for everyone to get good results with the 530 head.
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I like to use the intake valve diameter as a guide for the exhaust. 44mm min diameter or GTFO 🙃

In all seriousness, the exhaust valve as a guide does get you into a good spot.
 
Speaking of cam lash, I'm getting ready to set them on my A cam tractor engine..... from memory and discussions with Tom Fritz, he recommended about .012" I, and .014" E. Just skimmed this entire thread... I know the author used .015" as his baseline, but it appears certain that the OE used that lash for idle emissions. My state/county (semi-rural) does not currently perform exhaust testing.

I'm planning to stay with the StealthFTi recommendation, unless I hear otherwise from you SOHC sages. Thanks for all the work in this thread, illuminating.
 
I guess the answer is...it depends. It doesn't show up with the A cam, but if you look at the Volvo K-zero lash card, increasing or decreasing your valve lash by 0.001" decreases or increases your seat-to-seat timing by about 4 degrees. We've done a couple cams this way and the result is pretty much the same. I also looked at cam timing figures at 0.050" if you vary the valve lash and found it makes pretty much no difference at all, MAYBE 2 degrees from widest to smallest lash. Not worth talking about.

If it were me doing this, I would time my cam so that I get a dynamic compression ratio of about 8.25-8.5:1, but I overthink things in this way.
 
shoestring said:
I wish everybody used "x" lift at TDC for base cam setting. Using intake valve centerline is difficult at best because it's tough to figure out precisely where max lift is as you go around the nose. The way we do it here is to go around once and find the maximum lift, then go around again as we take our measurements. As we approach max lift, we take the timing reading 0.001" before and the reading 0.001" after and split the difference.



Sounds about right with what we've found. Is this on a new blank or a regrind?

Someone with more insight please chime in and explain the retard ground into these please.
Click to expand...

Sorry for the late reply.
I don't own a bsrt5+ camshaft so I don't know. But i believe they are made from new blanks, it does not require lash caps.

If i remember correctly, and only going by forum post i read some time ago, i believe it is due to development reasons. You don't really know what the cam timing wants to be. But after a lot of dyno time and road testing 2.4mm @ tdc for the bsrt5+ camshaft appears to be well suited for most people. I also believe Batland wanted the camshaft ground so it would work with an original cam gear but this proved to be difficult for the camshaft manufacturer or something along those lines

Here is some more information: http://forum.vccn.no/showthread.php?79795-BSRT-oppsettet-B230-Turbo
 
KL Racing T2 measurements

I installed, drove, and measured a KLR T2 cam. I'll first make some objective comments to demystify this cam, and then I'll give some thoughts.

KL Racing lists the T2 as 280° duration ("major on running clearances"), 11,3mm lift, and 112° LSA. They also have the T3 which only lists peak lift as being different (12,15mm for T3). KL Racing says, "KLR T2 Suitable for engines with slightly larger Turbos and increased boost pressure, gives a significant increase in power for such a gentle camshaft. Has good idle and low speed." On their website they also list the T2 as recommended for turbos from 16T to K24, which are small turbos especially for the Swedes.

The duration, measured at the recommended 0,35mm lash, is only a couple degrees less than the T3. Like the T3 it comes off the seat fast, and the ramp is faster than an OE cam. This is very evident in how it drives, it delivers similar performance as a K but with nicer drivability.

I see a lot of people online complain about this cam. There are 1 or 2 dyno results that I've seen that are impressive, and a lot more where it's "nothing... nothing... nothing.. peak-power-rev-limiter". People say the T2 is gutless down low and too big for a TD04HL. Also like the T3, I needed to advance the T2 16° to reach the recommended 2,5mm of intake lift at TDC on my motor with a 0.050" shaved head and 0.036" head gasket. I'm convinced that most people running KLR cams just throw it in, and maybe, advance it a couple degrees, and then complain that it doesn't run well. It is an absolute must to degree the cam when installing. Don't get afraid if it needs 16° of advance, that's an arbitrary number based on where the pin was on the cam blank before grinding. Set it to TDC and forget about it.

It is also a must to use new shims. The ramp is aggressive, if you have old shims they may be worn. I've gotten some wear on the lobes from the edges of the shims. It's not on the peak of the lobe so I say it's fine. I would also not run more than the recommended valve lash. The ramp off of the seat is already really fast.

How do I like it on my simple NA engine and AW70? It's fantastic. It's docile to drive at low speeds, idles acceptable (better an K, worse than V), and is responsive under 3k rpms. It's not gutless, and it doesn't behave at all like it's over cammed. I like the 0.430" of valve lift which is 0.25 of the intake valve diameter, I like the fast ramps and large area under the curve, and I like that it makes broad power and never feels like it's coming on cam. I think this could be a great cam for a 300whp redblock with stock valves and manifolds. I'd like to try it with a smaller turbo now.

Some comments on the spreadsheet:

I added my own 0,5mm and 0.050" measurements. I did not think that measuring the duration at another number and then calculating back in the lash to find the overlap @ x number to be useful, I want the actual duration at that lift number. I also calculated the centerline angle at every lift measurement. The measurements are all consistent but I believe because of how the cam was loading and unloading the measurements appear to advance. I chatted with RBP about this and I think it's fine.
 
OVERDRIVE said:
Also like the T3, I needed to advance the T2 16° to reach the recommended 2,5mm of intake lift at TDC on my motor with a 0.050" shaved head and 0.036" head gasket. I'm convinced that most people running KLR cams just throw it in, and maybe, advance it a couple degrees, and then complain that it doesn't run well. It is an absolute must to degree the cam when installing. Don't get afraid if it needs 16° of advance, that's an arbitrary number based on where the pin was on the cam blank before grinding. Set it to TDC and forget about it.
Click to expand...

This is the same I've experienced with aftermarket cams from Jones Cams and AGAP (needing more than 10* adv to bring them in line), and I'd tend to agree with your presumption. For the best possible result, you have to pay attention to the details.

When we started measuring cams almost 10 years ago now, I gave a lot of consideration as to how to measure them in a way that was easy to digest for the average consumer. That's how I landed on the values at 0.015": put it in, shim it to 0.015", this is what you get. Years later, particularly for my own consumption, I wish I'd done it like I've done the more recent additions with more points way down low and such. Alas, the only cams still around here are a K, T, and V, so there's no going back and doing them over again. I still think it's all 100% useful, and as close to apples-to-apples as you're going to find anywhere (we've seen it referenced all over the place, Norwegian forums, YouTube, etc), but it would be excellent to see someone dyno them all together. I'm aware of the Drifts n Lifts video, and I appreciate the effort it took and the data collected.

Also, I appreciate Overdrive. If something I've done has motivated someone to take that thing and expand and improve on it, that makes me feel pretty good. I think that as long as the original format is maintained so that the older measurements are still a direct comparison with any more points you want to make are "in addition" rather than "instead of", it's great.

Finally: For crying out loud, mill all the heads.
 
OVERDRIVE said:
I see a lot of people online complain about this cam. There are 1 or 2 dyno results that I've seen that are impressive, and a lot more where it's "nothing... nothing... nothing.. peak-power-rev-limiter". People say the T2 is gutless down low and too big for a TD04HL. Also like the T3, I needed to advance the T2 16° to reach the recommended 2,5mm of intake lift at TDC on my motor with a 0.050" shaved head and 0.036" head gasket. I'm convinced that most people running KLR cams just throw it in, and maybe, advance it a couple degrees, and then complain that it doesn't run well. It is an absolute must to degree the cam when installing. Don't get afraid if it needs 16° of advance, that's an arbitrary number based on where the pin was on the cam blank before grinding. Set it to TDC and forget about it.

It is also a must to use new shims. The ramp is aggressive, if you have old shims they may be worn. I've gotten some wear on the lobes from the edges of the shims. It's not on the peak of the lobe so I say it's fine. I would also not run more than the recommended valve lash. The ramp off of the seat is already really fast.
Click to expand...

100% most people are just installing these cams "straight up" and having lackluster performance because of that. Measuring TDC lift on the intake is a great way to align the camshaft, and requires only a set of measuring calipers to do accurately.

Regarding the shims, new shims are also now showing up with a sharp edge. With the aggressive ramps and lifts of these cams it's a good idea to lightly debur the sharp edge so it won't scrape on the cam lobe. I've seen this destroy a new cam on a few occasions. I use these Eze-Lap diamond files, they are awesome and work super well.

 
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culberro said:
100% most people are just installing these cams "straight up" and having lackluster performance because of that. Measuring TDC lift on the intake is a great way to align the camshaft, and requires only a set of measuring calipers to do accurately.

Regarding the shims, new shims are also now showing up with a sharp edge. With the aggressive ramps and lifts of these cams it's a good idea to lightly debur the sharp edge so it won't scrape on the cam lobe. I've seen this destroy a new cam on a few occasions. I use these Eze-Lap diamond files, they are awesome and work super well.
Click to expand...
Point 1: completely agree. If the cam supplier isn’t providing a lift value at TDC for install you’re just guessing. How many RSI cams have been installed here over the years by people who didn’t even know what the basic specs are? (100% guilty of this one).

Point 2: this is why I started having my cams and other valvetrain components REM polished several years ago
 
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