Cost of CAMs

[evil_weevil]

I just got their return email 418 inc gst and the lash caps 104.50

while it does seem good bang for buck - our "safe" are regrinds?

[NitroDann]

Considering a second hand head is less than the price difference...

What Im saying is that you save 600 odd dollars going regrinds, and a replacement head costs less than 600. So even if something went wrong (really, it wont) then youd still have enough spare cash to buy a whole new head. So theres no risk even if something (that wont happen) happened youd be covered.

I have regrinds in one of my rally cars as outlined on page 1. It lives it whole life above 5k, bounces off the limiter for 5-10 seconds at a time, has been to the drags, has had novice drivers practice in it. And is still in great nick with no abnormal wear after 3 seasons.

Dann

[gslender]

I just got their return email 418 inc gst and the lash caps 104.50

while it does seem good bang for buck - our "safe" are regrinds?

Who was that from?

G

[NitroDann]

My guess? Camtech in sydney.

Ive used there regrinds, everything has been great, including customer service.

Dann

[gslender]

I just got their return email 418 inc gst and the lash caps 104.50

while it does seem good bang for buck - our "safe" are regrinds?

Who was that from?

G

Agh don't bother, it was CamTech yeah?

G

[evil_weevil]

yes it was

Cheers Dann!

[bootz]

Okay for all those souls with an 01+ (i.e with VVT) this may be helpful.

From Maruha. "It is fully expected that the F-CAM will provide your car with more torque and with superb performances in idling and acceleration."

http://www.maruhamotors.co.jp/miata/parts/vvtfcam.html

As far as I can work out cams/lifters/installation may work out at about $2000

Compare $5000 for a basic Begi or FFS kit installed

I was a bit shocked at the solid lifters for US $500 but what do I know.

Appears to operate with the stock engine management or you can upgrade and also add quad throttle bodies for improvement.

Being a non engineer type I can't work out if I should be wetting my pants with excitement or its an expensive waste of time.

Would love to hear some informed comments on these little beauties.

[project.r.racing]

Being a non engineer type I can't work out if I should be wetting my pants with excitement or its an expensive waste of time?

Somewhere in the middle.

Little power gains, the F cams for a NA8 get 7-10kW, so assume the same for NB8, but I guess a little more for a VVT. Keeps engine in stock format. As in still non-interferance, idle okay and still controlled by stock ecu.

[bootz]

Sounds a bit pricey for under 20kw gain.
Practically speaking can they be fabricated with the specs they supply?

Duration Lift HLA Base Circle
IN 252° 9.2mm Adjusted 33.6mm
EX 256° 9.5mm Adjusted 34.2mm

[NitroDann]

Why would you copy those puny specs?

Dann

[hks_kansei]

Why would you copy those puny specs?

Dann

Drivability, cost.

Personally I wouldn't want to go to a standalone ECU for cost reasons, I don't see the value of spending such a large amount of money for power.
If I were racing, then yes, it's worth it, but for my own car I'd simply want a little bit more poke for the road.

A 99% road dríven MX5 with huge power is like having a 6 foot long dick, it may be great to tell people about, but you'll have trouble finding somewhere to use it.

[NitroDann]

Wow.
A couple of serious misconceptions here.

Why would you spend 1500+dollars more than you need to on cams, when you can buy bigger better cams and an ecu for less than the same cost?

Your spending 1500 extra for the cams so that you dont have to spend 1200. And then you get smaller cams, poor driveability, poor power, less torque and after all that, you dont get a standalone ecu to tune them properly, or to tune any future modifications.

In short, the maruha cams are 2000 dollars for just a pair of girly little cams. 2000 dollars for 10kw.
Where as you can get a full standalone ecu, and a set of cams (any grind you want up to about 270 degrees) for less than 2000 dollars.
Thats 30kw improvement, with the ecu to tune it, and the rest of your mods, and any future mods, and the driveability and safety that brings.

Also, a VE commodore SS is a car that needs no more power, an mx5 is not.
I use my power every single day, overtaking, merging, pulling into traffic. Every day. And the driveability is great, because I have a full standalone ecu to tune the mods with.

Dann

[manga_blue]

Why would you spend 1500+dollars more than you need to on cams, when you can buy bigger better cams and an ecu for less than the same cost?

There are some pretty good reasons to spend up to a $1,000 on Poncams or F-CAMs. With a street car you can throw on a CAI, a good exhaust systems and some Poncams easily. They're all basically bolt-ons (and likewise you can unbolt them and sell them again). All up it gives the car useful power, it's still tractable, it's still reliable and it's a nice free-spinning unit.

As soon as you go to mad cams then you need to start throwing in money and sacrificing some of the easy day-to-day things about the car. I know you can do it , Dann, but a guy with less mechanical nouse than you needs to pay someone 8-12 hours to set new cams and convert the HLAs or install the shim-under units. Most of the good builders want the head off to check the valves, make it worthwhile by cleaning it up a bit, shaving it, etc, etc. So your $500 re-grind ends up nearer $2,000 and you worry at night if the welded cam lobes are going to crack or the bottom end will break coz you need to rev it so hard. You've also got to pay someone to do some dyno work on your new ECU. It all sort of mounts up and you might end with the sort of car you didn't want to own.

[bootz]

Why would you spend 1500+dollars more than you need to on cams, when you can buy bigger better cams and an ecu for less than the same cost?

I don't want to.....

Being non-engineer type I can't work out if I should be wetting my pants with excitement or its an expensive waste of time?

But there is virtue in simplicity: " non-interference, idle okay and still controlled by stock ecu" I want My mods to last 100,000 km with no cockups.

[bootz]

You might as well say "Why stick with a girly 3.636 open diff."

Well I freakin well didn't, I got mucho advice from the forum, determined what I wanted, got a top bloke to do the work ( thanks flycasta) and ended up with a 4.1/torsen that I couldn't be happier with.

Assembled with parts that had done less than 20,000 km, this diff is going to last the life of the car.