When adjusting cam gears, lets say on the cam gear I put it on -4. Am I correct thinking that I seen somewhere thats this means the cam is actually set at -2 degrees? I cant remembered where I seen this. I searched but no luck.

Originally posted by DJ420a
When adjusting cam gears, lets say on the cam gear I put it on -4. Am I correct thinking that I seen somewhere thats this means the cam is actually set at -2 degrees? I cant remembered where I seen this. I searched but no luck.

Well the cam will say whats it at exactly. If you set it to -4, then thats 4 degrees retarded. But since the cams spin at half the crank, then that's -8 crank degrees. This of course is assuming that when your cam gears are zeroed out, the motor is in perfect TDC timing with the crank.

They are. So youve confused me. What ever I set that the gear at is actually doubled. Right now I have the intake @ -4 and the exhaust @ -4 and the car is running great. Should I back it off some? I am turboed so Im kinda trying to get backyard setting on these gears so I have somewhere to start from when I go to the dyno.

EDIT: Nevermind, I think I understand now. Thanks

Don't most cam gears say that it's degrees of crank rotation? I know mine did. When I set it to -4/-4, that was in reference to the crank.