Cams or Cam Gears

I need some help. First of all, isn't the one that gives you all the power and difference in driving the cams? Then what exactly is the purpose of replacing the cam gears. What kind of adjustments do you make with adjustable cam gears, and what do they do/improve?

well yes and no to the hp thing on cams. for cams to do anything you need an upgraded exhaust, intake and preferrably headers but not too necessary. even with all that cams that can be used on the street will only give you about 20hp at most.... getting really hot cams is good for hp but not for everyday use. they wont idle right and will only make power higher in the rpm band

now cam gears..... they are there to ADJUST where your peak power comes in. advancing or retarding the cam gear actually moves the powerband throughout the rev range. they dont add power but they can make your power come in sooner which is better for short bursts of power and everyday driving.

i do know quite a bit more and if you want to know more about the requirements to run a hot cam and new cam gears ill be happy to get into it. just let me know.....

Yeah, what do I need to do to run adjustable cam gears? I already have motor work, will there be any other requirements for me to run adjustable cam gears; I don't plan to upgrade my cams b/c I just rebuilt my motor. Can I myself adjust the cam gears, because I know some stuff about motors but the import scene is kind of new-or do I need to get my mechanic to do the adjusting?

well tell me what engine work you have. you dont really NEED anything to run cam gears but is the fact of will it do anything without other mods. cam gears are really unnecessary unless you have a lot of work done but as i said, tell me what you have on your motor and i can tell you if you need them. and yes you can adjust them, they are very easy to use

My motor has been bored over, not exactly sure how much. It is a GSR motor with an LS block. The pistons were left .08 of an inch loose so it would rev up faster. It has a custom intake and a tanabe rear section. I am currently working on getting the whole catback, so that is a future mood that will be applied very soon. I am thinking about a header but I am not quite sure yet.

sounds interesting. so its an ls/vtec. well then i guess cam gears would help a little for one reason. your ls block does not have piston squirters. this means that there are no jets of oil being sprayed on your pistons to cool them down. all the vtec blocks have them but ls and b20 do not. so with cam gears you could retard the timing which would help your power come in lower in the power band so you wont have to rev as high. also im not to sure about that leaving the piston loose thing. ive read countless books on racing engines and how to build them but never heard of anything like that. if it works i guess its ok but leaving pistons loose only means blow-by in my opinion. hope this helped

Cam gears are made to make the tuning easier. Don't get cam gears if you don't have upgraded cams.

Originally posted by edman24
even with all that cams that can be used on the street will only give you about 20hp at most.... getting really hot cams is good for hp but not for everyday use. they wont idle right and will only make power higher in the rpm band




Yeh not only that , you should upgrade your whole valvetrain. Like springs, valves and retainers if planning to rev high or if you get higher lift cams. As for me i'm goin skunk2 stage 2 cams with there valvetrain set. With upgrade cams u can feel your car pull and hear your v-tec kick in hard

Are you going with entire skunk2? Valves and everything. HOw much is it, I would really be interested in getting the same thing?

Originally posted by bcsintegra
Are you going with entire skunk2? Valves and everything. HOw much is it, I would really be interested in getting the same thing?

Yeh everything. Well about the price it should be around 1500 -1800? Depends where u get it from and what stage cams also.

Yeah Im getting my CTR cams and Venom Gears installed today. Cant wait to feel the diffrence. I also plan on getting the Skunk 2 Valve springs and retainers. and eventually chip my ECU to rev up to 9000 so i can get the most out of my cams.

let me tell you guys a little secret.. if youre going with cams that dont require upgraded springs like CTR cams, dont change your springs!!! this is why, your springs right now are built to last a long time. and they can accept cams with a higher lobe profile to a point. upgraded springs do a few things good but are worse then you think. they wear out much faster than stock springs do. so youll be replacing them more often. they are harder on the cam because the spring is harder to compress so they can hurt your cam. and retainers arent necessary unless you do change your springs. for CTR or ITR cams i WOULD NOT change my springs B16a1hb. think about it......

Well I have been told that if i raise my rev limiter, I must change the springs and reatiner but if i leave the rev limiter alone i dont have to

Originally posted by b16a1civichb
Well I have been told that if i raise my rev limiter, I must change the springs and reatiner but if i leave the rev limiter alone i dont have to

Yeh upgrading springs, valves and retainers is a good idea when raising the rev limiter. THat does not mean ur gonna make power at 9 grand. U'll lose power. You have to get something better than ctr cams in order for you to make power at 9 grand. LIke skunk2 stage 2 cams, jun 3 etc...

Originally posted by edman24
let me tell you guys a little secret.. if youre going with cams that dont require upgraded springs like CTR cams, dont change your springs!!! this is why, your springs right now are built to last a long time. and they can accept cams with a higher lobe profile to a point. upgraded springs do a few things good but are worse then you think. they wear out much faster than stock springs do. so youll be replacing them more often. they are harder on the cam because the spring is harder to compress so they can hurt your cam. and retainers arent necessary unless you do change your springs. for CTR or ITR cams i WOULD NOT change my springs B16a1hb. think about it......

Its no secret at all. Mostly everyone knew that you dont have to change the valves/springs/retainers to have itr or ctr cams.

Everywhere i read says that the CTR cams make their power in the 8000-9000 RPM Range maybe they are all wrong?:rolleyes:

Originally posted by b16a1civichb
Everywhere i read says that the CTR cams make their power in the 8000-9000 RPM Range maybe they are all wrong?:rolleyes:

Yes in between 8-9 grand u gonna see some improvement but anything above 9 grand theres no power. When u dyno it u'll see that that ur power range above 9 grand will go low.

i understand mellow that everyone knew that. its very simple but i was trying to explain why changing your springs is not such a good idea unless you have a lot of money to spend or you are goin all out with your engine...............

Got my car back with the CTR cams installed. Boy do they make a difference. VTEC kicks in loud and hard now and the acceleration on top end just keeps coming. Now I just have to get my car tuned to get the most from them:D

The idle is better now than with the stock cams in my opinion.