I have a Comp solid roller cam and Im thinking about degreeing the cam but I have never done this before on a SBC. The cam is now straight up right now but I was wondering if I should advance the cam timing or just run it where it is. the cam is a Comp #12-733 8 and here are the specs.

http://img128.imageshack.us/img128/6026/camaroengine0005s9vl.jpg.

The car will be used as a play toy and mite see alittle 1/4 mile uses once in awhile.

I have a Comp solid roller cam and Im thinking about degreeing the cam but I have never done this before on a SBC. The cam is now straight up right now but I was wondering if I should advance the cam timing or just run it where it is. the cam is a Comp #12-733 8 and here are the specs.

http://img128.imageshack.us/img128/6026/camaroengine0005s9vl.jpg.

The car will be used as a play toy and mite see alittle 1/4 mile uses once in awhile.

Comp usually has very good instructions with their cams. I see that yours sets at 106 degrees intake centerline and that's where I'd set it. I've install many camshafts by just lining up the marks but on an engine that I'm building for some serious horsepower I always degree it in. I think it's just good insurance.

Comp Cams are easy to degree in. Just find the point of max intake lift on #1, compare it to the point of max lift spec'ed on the card (106* ATDC in your case) and if they're the same, you're home.

Of course you still have to do the preliminaries like find true TDC of #1 and make sure your degree wheel indicates it before you do your max lift point checking.

I would just shoot for the number on the cam card. You don't want to advance or retard from spec unless you know exactly why you are doing that.

Also, if you're off by a degree or so it's better to err on the side of slightly more advanced in most cases (104-105*) becuase a fresh chain will easily stretch a degree or so once it's been run for a little while.

Last: that's a pretty big cam. You'll want to be checking your valve to piston clearance while you're at it. Nothing worse than bending valves the first time you zing the motor due to inadequate V-to-P clearance.

Thanks guys. I have ran this cam straight up before wiyh my set up and the motor made 320rwhp and 420rwtq with the timing way out. I was just wondering if I could squeze out a little more power out of it. I have fixed the timing issue by checking out my MSD dist and swaping out the mechanical advance bushing from 28* to a 18* and I set the base timing to 14*BTDC for a total time of 32*BTDC running 2500rpms. The motor felt much stronger according to my Ass dyno but then the rod bearing spun due to excessive metal shavings from my machineist/ engine builder. So now I just finished building my short block (myself this time) and making sure all the oil gallies were clean but Ill probely end up just runing the cam straight up for now and install a Alum flywheel and some bigger headers(from 1"5/8 to 1"3/4) to help pep the motor up alittle bit. Plus I don't have a degreee wheel at this time but Ill probely buy one in the future.