This guy is absolutely remarkable! an excellent teacher. Explain extremely well. I’ve seen a lot of so call teachers , hey not even close to this guy. My opinion @ the top of the list, if not the top. My vintage iron keep it 100!! Thanks
00:00 - Intro 00:27 - Overlap 04:21 - Overlap explanation using a whiteboard 09:29 - Lobe Separation Angle (LSA) 12:40 - Engine size matters when selecting a cam 15:52 - Cam selection is based on the head flow, not on the engine manufacturer 16:53 - Cam recommendation for LS 4.8 20:21 - Cam recommendation for LS 5.3 23:11 - Cam recommendation for LS 5.7/6.0 25:32 - Valve events 28:28 - Cylinder blowdown 32:20 - Scavenging effect, exhaust pulses and exhaust header design 40:00 - Outro
Dude. I wish you could see the smile on my face when it clicked when you were talking about the exhaust pressure waves and what creates the sound we hear! You don't get to see this on YT like a teacher in the class, so I thought I'd tell ya. 😂😂😂
41:06 While you were out partying I was studying the combustion.... lol. Thanks man, you made it possible for the average gear head to select a cam with something more then an educated guess. For that we salute you.
I have over 20 plus years experience building high performance engines & fabrications, & I will tell you that he is one of the few who really knows what he's talking about. It's easy to pretend to know what you are talking about with those who don't. And I will call it out when I see it, & so when I see someone giving good information, I will do the same. Especially because I remember the struggles I went thru years ago with getting so much contridicting & bad information which wasted time & money. It stinks! Too many people make videos & have no clue, guessing stuff, &/or giving terrible information that someone else will think is good, & it actually pisses me off. It's not cool! And just to make a video & to be on camera or whatever. Also I enjoy watching stuff like this, especially when I'm in the garage or shop, & definitely would rather watch this type of stuff instead of some keeping up with the Whore-dashians reality TV crap! Can't stand that nonsense! Even most of the "automotive" shows are a bunch of reality tv, made up fake ass drama crap verses building cars, trucks, & motorcycles. And.... no matter how much experience we think we have, every real mechanic, technician, builder, fabricator, etc etc etc, is always, always learning, & not too arrogant to admit & realize this! This guy here, will not steer you wrong! Pay attention, learn!
Update, hands down you are the best person on RU-vid for deep dives into the details on cam timing and camshaft events. I have followed you for years. I understand the work that goes into producing a video. I appreciate your time. I am getting a world class education. 🙏
Absolutely excellent presentation. Some of the stuff i've been told over the years were just dead-set wrong. Its really great when you properly understand the principles of these things. You did really well at breaking down a quite complex topic into something readily understandable and making sense. A sincere thank you for taking the time and posting
Your two videos regarding cam selection may be the most important videos on the internet for gear heads. My first car was ‘70 Charger with a 318. The guy I bought it from dropped a Crane Fireball cam in it and made no other changes. To say the cam didn’t work with a stock 2bbl carb and 2.73 gears would be an understatement. It sounded cool but accelerated like a constipated snail. I learned at the age of 17 the meaning of mismatched parts.
Thank you for demystifying the camshaft. I was starting to think it was tippy top secret information ,or nobody actually knew. It's really straight forward; why this is the only comprehensive explanation on the internet is the only mystery I have left.
Hey Mike, you stopped at het point where negative pulse pressure in the exhaust enters the exhaust port and cylinder in the valve overlap area. Where it actually helps draw in more mixture through the intake valve. The key to archive more than 100% volumetric efficiency in a properly tuned and cammed engine. Perhaps a subject to bear on in the next episode. Love your videos.
Hi There. I actually picked up on this as well and would love it if Mike could go into this side of it as well... I would like to develop my understanding also of the inlet side of the equation which i have found out is also very important. Tuning the inlet tract length and matching it in relation to cam duration. I feel that the velocity and pulse of the inlet wave is also helping with performance. Any light on this subject would be very welcome also
Just ran into your channel and I like the way you break down everything you do. Don't change anything. Thanks for the info you share. Looking to start a high performance street engine build on a $12 grand budget. So I will be watching your videos. Good Job
Thank you for the great information.You are answering a lot of questions I have had for near 50 years about performance building and camshaft/head/ facts..I really haven't found much on the net about the topics you covered.
I’m learning everything I can to build my first sbf in an 85 crown Vic I’m making a sleeper , and I can’t be more thankful your channel exist, you’re an awesome teacher!
I can't thank you enough for these two videos. You explained everything very efficiently and also completely at the same time. I feel so much better about my understanding of not just cams, but engine performance as a whole. You deal in facts and physics and they don't lie. Thank you again.
These two videos are really educational and takes all the effort out of selecting a cam and matching this to the heads and engine set up. Highly recommended.
This actually helps me understand another aspect of why variable cam timing is so awesome on a modern DOHC engine...you can tune this overlap if you have variable intake and exhaust cams. Awesome video!
you just saved me a bunch of aggrevations,my early bronco is sitting on 35 inch tires,,411 gears 351w stroked to 392, edelbrocked heads i ported the exhaust ONLY to get my flow to 77 percent,im choosing a medium cam,215/220 duration,540/540 LIFT,112/114 lsa,thanx a bunch for your very clear teachings
I’m new to the motor skills world and good lord the analogy and vocabulary this guy really made it simple to understand even though I don’t know a lot of the work he’s explaining he’s did a amazing job helping me understand this
Love it! So much knowledge and learned tricks, sir the time u spent in that dyno room and with a wrench in your hand well worth it! Thank u so much for the info great video!
Nice how you added part 2. Great stuff! You tackled the basics and opened my mind to what's going on. If I ever do another 3rd Gen Camaro, it'll be with the LS1 and that's why I'm downloading your cam videos and burning them to DVD. Knowledge is Power! Thanks for sharing your knowledge of 30+yrs
Your right knowledge is power. After downloading you would be much better off using sd card and or usb stick. DVD is already dead most PCs don’t even come with them now and they are easily damaged and no good.
You have done such an amazing job with your two videos here! I have a LS1 which I'm stroking to 383 and it's already supercharged. I have the stock stall converter in and it's a daily (luckily I don't sit in traffic going to work and want to keep the stock stall in). I know the SC is better suited to a LSA of around 118 but I do want some chop and down low-torque. Was thinking a 222/230 with .6 lift and 112 LSA for some chop. I'm not trying to reach a power goal, just want it to have low-end power and torque. The car is a WK Grange so around 2.2t with me in it. Thanks from Australia!
I watched almost all your videos, so much great info!! I would love to see simular video for the Ford Fe motor, I'm currently building a 390fe and the 1st cam video was a huge eye opener.
Your videos are always so informational! I love learning the math behind determining redline, calculating horsepower based on head flow numbers, etc! Can you make a video on how to select cylinder heads? I’m sure there are a lot of variables to calculate there too.
I liked part 2 even better! Even if it was mainly LS based, and I don't see myself getting one - unless I can find a 1982-87 El Camino.... And considering that I'm 56, and haven't been able to afford ANY Car for over 8 years, that's not happening soon enough. 😭 BUT I bored you with that story in the last Video of yours I saw. I actually left more of a short story than a comment!! 😖 Sorry. Even though I've been doing this a long time too, I'm thoroughly enjoying not only a refresher course - but a lot of things that I'm learning for the first time! I've been out of the game for almost 15 years.... I get the feeling that you are the one who will be catching me up! 😉 Carmine ✈🚂🚙
Wow, that was great. Thanks for taking the time to do this. I'm glad you mentioned the old cast iron heads being garbage compared to what's available now - those old V8's were designed shortly after World War 2. I mean if the basic design came out in the '50s, it was probably being worked on in the late '40s. We've come a long way since then with engine breathing and longevity.
I have a few sets of cast heads that I'd put on a flow bench against Vortecs or anything Summit sells.. the extra weight of em is the only complaint I have.. but the cool factor more than makes up for it..
@@brianmichaels5142 That's cool. I'm installing a set of Dart iron heads on a guy's '68 Chevelle SS 396 right now, and you're definitely right about the weight of them. Heavy. But it is cool.
I actually had a guy message me this morning with a set of iron darts for sale.. then he went to check the numbers and get me pics, and found another set of the big valve ones he had forgotten about.. LMAO.. I guess it's the universe telling me I need to have em..
This guy and Richard Holdener: Bald, white, middle aged men with glasses are automotive geniuses! ROFL! I finally learned how to pick cams after 13 years! I watch this every night!
The heads back in the late 70's and 80's was purely engineered for exhaust emissions. Manufacturers were still using carburetors which can't adapt to changing engine and atmospheric conditions like cold and hot days or altitude. Fuel injection was in it's infancy and was at least 10 years away from being reliable and more commonplace. Fuel injection made it easier to tune an engine and was able to more precisely meter the fuel for better power and emissions.
@@zapa47 Economics were one of the reasons. Most fuel injected Chevrolet Corvettes had their fuel injection units removed and were replaced by a carburetor. In the late '70's Cadillac offered fuel injection on the full size Cadillacs but it proved unreliable and problematic so it was discontinued and most were converted to a carburetor.
I know I'm late to this video, but thanks for making it and explaining the what and why, I was absolutely the guy who would ask "this is what I got, what can I run?" Now I can have a more educated conversation with my speed shop and achieve my goals the 1st time
Really appreciate the videos on "engine theory" this type of education teaches someone to teach themselves no matter what engine they are working on. I do this in my line of work as a lead tech at a large dealership. It's all about application of concept. For me though (not my trainees) can you do a video on the effect of length and diameter of exhaust? Does length matter with specified diameter? Does diameter matter specified length? Also in my personal life I own and build roots blown engines. Expensive love lust hobby🤫
I have a 2008 Grand Prix GXP with the 5.3, it can hold its own, they are fun as hell to drive, that is if you can keep and transmission in them and deal with the torque steer.
Thanks Myvintageiron7512 very informative. I watched part 1 and part 2 about four times. Especially part 2 about scavenging. It finally understand the concept. But then again I am a firefighter and if I could read or write I would have been a cop. LOL
Great videos.. heres my opinion on one part of cam selecting. If my heads intake flows say 250 at .500 lift, I like selecting a cam with a little more lift than .500. Here's why, if the cam is ground with say .520 lift intake valve lift it allows the cam to have more lift at every degree until it gets to max left of .520. In other words more area under the curve if the lobe was drawn on paper. It will allow the valve to be open a little more at each degree of crank rotation than if ground with .500 lift. The valve is at that max opening for a very short time.
I did that with my 400 Old .. Only had 125 compressor. Would have been great at the salt flats. I did open it one night . Empty road way past125, had to take my foot out of it .started to lose control. but every thing you said is true.
Can we get a part 3 on lobe separation, and/or an explanation on how to time the camshaft event as well as how it would look in a boosted application? I love the way you teach and i bet there are 1000s with that same question, the knowledge i have gained in the past hour will stay with me till i rest, so thank you
