I have an RE13 in my 1275. GR engraved the end of it with 105.5, and told me on the phone to time it at 105.5 - which I did... and it's a rocket. I did what Simon said above, picked a grinder who I thought I could trust, and said what I wanted to do with the car.

All of those numbers mean nothing to me, I'm not a cam grinder, I can't pretend to know the difference between one cam and another by looking at the numbers. I read Vizard and it makes sense, but not enough sense to make me any sort of expert at choosing one based on the numbers. Also, from what I gather, GR doesn't just grind a flat face on some of the cams he has, they curve as well, so reading the angles and durations doesn't give the whole picture.

I like the fact that GR is making new grinds, experimenting, trying things out - a cam that might have been "good" 25 years ago might be quite a slug compared to what he's putting out now.

I actually know someone with an RE83, his engine has similar specs to mine, and he outran my car up through the gears with more people onboard, but we both left another couple for dead

Thanks for your feed-back, it's always good to have a 'user's opinion'. The numbers do actually mean something to me, so as I posted early 'Out of Curiousity'...........

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I have seen plenty of engines that are the same specs and one car will sh*t all over the others but cams and tune-up are totally different. What you just discribed means jack sh*t.

I think what GT Mowog was getting at and I am also very curious is WHAT are the cam specs for the grind. All other cam shaft grinders and I did it many years ago at Rev Master you set the cam shaft to specifications IE the degrees the inlet opens/closes and the same with the exhaust. Then you have the duration between start of opening and the maximum opening of the lobe and the degrees to when it closes and the max lift of the lobe. This is all to do with the profile of the lobe.

As for grinding a slight radius on the face of the lobe this was done by Rev Master about 40 years ago in conjunction to even making cam followers with a nickel or silicon bronze insert to run on the cam lobe. Again this had a slight radius and the followers had oil feed holes to lubricate the lobe and the follower base. It was easier to wear/ change a follower than to tear thru the hardened surface of the lobe and destroy the cam.

So all I can say from 40 years of engineering and building high performance engines is , why would you fit a cam if you have NO idea of the cam specs to set-up and tune a engine. More folk lore stories.

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Research is the difference between speculation and investment. Anyone who copys some one else will always be second
www.minisprintgt.com

Cam design is not some 'black art' thing that can only be sorted on a dyno or by years of testing, if you have a true understanding of how the cam inter-acts with the other engine components you can understand how a particular camshaft should behave in a particular engine.

I posted earlier here that I tend to use Wade Cams. They do list quite a few particular grinds with some notes and specs against them. Wade will also grind a cam to your particular specs if you wish and furbish them with the desired numbers. They also offer a recommended cam grind if you let them know what you have and what you'd like. Most grinders will offer this.

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Bottom line you need to talk to someone about your current motor specs before they can recommend the best options for you rather than picking a cam just because someone on here uses it in their car.

The cam that I was recommended for my engine with ported head, manifold and weber is not the same cam they would recommend if I was running an SU.

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1970 Mini Deluxe - 1275, Weber, Clive 346 cam, MS 4-pot slotted discs, Megajolt ignition Now with new improved Mambas... almost on the road
1966 Van with Traveller rear seat conversion
2008 Prado GXL
All in various states of repair...

Yeah, I can't say I'd be keen on buying any cam without a full set of numbers....

It's true that while you can't tell "absolutely everything" about how a cam will behave just from the spec sheet, it will give you a pretty clear picture.

Gt, just so that everyone else is clear on what you mean there.... because I know what you're saying, but what you've written could be taken the wrong way.... You're saying that you can design a cam and get it pretty close by taking into account the charactoristics of the motor.. then "iron out the bugs" on the dyno right?

I had a Wade 240 in my Austin and have just gone to an RE83. The newer cam seems to have so much torque low down. Neither cam felt at all lumpy or undrivable but the new one seems to have bags of torque from very low down with no flat spots at all. I'd probably like a little more up top and might go for some higher ratio rockers to see how it goes.

I dynoed the car with the old cam so I'll take it back to the same place when I get a chance to try and get some sort of comparison.

Cheers,
Simon

Thanks Austin850. Are you able to tell us what angle you had these cams timed in at?

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I timed the RE83 in at 106 degrees but I've no idea about the old one. It was in my engine when I bought it 15 years ago.

OK thanks however and with respect, it is not really a fair comparison. Setting your RE83 at 106 degrees will improve low RPM power / torque. Your old Wade cam may have been worn and your timing gears / chain worn for sure. This would have resulted in later valve timing and in doing so push the power band further up the RPM range

If you wanted to for an experiment, set your RE83 to say 110 degrees. It will come on later but go harder, high in the Rev Range. Just remember to reset your ignition timing.

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I had a Wade 104 in Barney (previous engine builder did it), and I was unimpressed with the torque. Or the top end, for that matter. Even with 1.46:1 Corolla rockers and twin HS4s on. It was smooth though, and we managed to coax 59.4HP out of it last dyno day. But IMO an RE13 would have shat on it.

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DrMini- 1970 wasaMatic 1360, Mk1S crank, 86.6HP (ATW) =~125 @ crank, 45 Dellorto (38 chokes), RE282 sprint cam, 1.5 rockers, 11.0:1 C/R.

Now, just hang on a minute, let's compare apple for apples eh?

These are the Wade Cam Profiles;-



The 104 is the mildest off the shelf grind they do and in all fairness Wade say it'll do just what you have described.

So, going back;-



And to add to that, what are the published figures for the RE13?

Of all people on here Doc, I would expect that you would check the profile and have the figures.

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Probably not the most torquey of cams but the cam I have in my 1275 with the weber has the following specs:
Cliive 346 cam
lift @ lobe
inlet 309 thou
exhaust 319 thou

tappets
18 thou on inlets
20 thou on exhaust

timing exhaust
Open @ 65 degrees
Close @ 36 degrees

Inlet
Open @ 29 degrees
Close @ 69 degrees

Inlet lobe @ tdc 92 thou

I find it very streetable, not quite as much torque off the line compared to my Rover SPi (seat of the pants experience, but could be also due to 12" wheels) but plenty driveable off the mark, it happily dawdles along at 2k on the rev counter and if you gets up over 5k in the rev range it really takes off .

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1970 Mini Deluxe - 1275, Weber, Clive 346 cam, MS 4-pot slotted discs, Megajolt ignition Now with new improved Mambas... almost on the road
1966 Van with Traveller rear seat conversion
2008 Prado GXL
All in various states of repair...

I don't have actual specs of the RE83 but I have been told by the maker it has an aggressive lift profile and short timing. That's why it has such great torque and HP up to 6000 or so.

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DrMini- 1970 wasaMatic 1360, Mk1S crank, 86.6HP (ATW) =~125 @ crank, 45 Dellorto (38 chokes), RE282 sprint cam, 1.5 rockers, 11.0:1 C/R.

Oh my goodness, such a small car and very simple design, but when I listen to this type of chit chat, my mind explodes with indecision, you really make these cars sound complicated to us uneducated numb skulls, but its great to watch the banter between you experts, it really makes you appreciate these little gems..

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