Cam suggestions?

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doctorwire
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Location: Burlington, Ontario, Canada

Cam suggestions?

Post by doctorwire »

So I'm rebuilding my engine and I would like the forum's opinion on something.
The engine is a 65-66 180 turbo. The original cam is worn.
I don't care about fuel economy but I would like the motor to be dependable with maybe a bit more "oomph".
I would like to stay away from extensive extra head work too.
Should I go with an OTTO 10? 20? Or stay stock?
All suggestions welcome!
1963 Spyder Convertible
rough andy
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Joined: Sun Sep 29, 2013 5:26 pm

Re: Cam suggestions?

Post by rough andy »

Stay stock. Turbo motors needed a special cam
miniman82
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Re: Cam suggestions?

Post by miniman82 »

^ Internet lore....

Turbocharged engines respond the same exact way to cams as a N/A engine, it's just that the positive manifold pressure tends to exaggerate things. Example, a cam having a 5500 RPM redline N/A will generally be extended another 1000 RPM on boost. If the compression is also lowered, the same engine will also idle a little rough depending on the amount of duration involved. YMMV.

I put an Isky turbo grind in mine, seems to work pretty well. But I've also used plenty of N/A cams in turbo VW engines and they work great, just make sure you really know what RPM range you're shooting for. OT-20 should work good, just don't get too low on the compression or you won't like the idle quality.
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flat6_musik
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Re: Cam suggestions?

Post by flat6_musik »

I installed an Otto TB-20 in mine. I like it, and it doesn't seem to suffer any weakness down low in the RPM range. (Darn it, I put OT-20 before and that was incorrect). Sorry.....
Last edited by flat6_musik on Fri Oct 04, 2013 9:13 pm, edited 2 times in total.
doctorwire
Posts: 42
Joined: Sat Jun 01, 2013 5:39 pm
Location: Burlington, Ontario, Canada

Re: Cam suggestions?

Post by doctorwire »

Thanks for the suggestions. @flat6: what other, if any, upgrades did you have to make to run the 20 cam?
1963 Spyder Convertible
rough andy
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Joined: Sun Sep 29, 2013 5:26 pm

Re: Cam suggestions?

Post by rough andy »

In the 80's, Sig Erson who supplird cams for Otto Parts had five different "stages" of cams for normally
aspirated engines and another five for the turbocharged engines. Not much detail about these cams
was available in their catalog, kinda made the generalization that it was computer generated. But in
1975 only had five cams total, none stated for turbos.
They start out mild with a .430 lift and a 272 degree duration, (110H)
All out racing has .480 lift and .310 degree duration. (500H)
These are all hydraulic cams made by Sig Erson. Why they decided
to make cams for turbo, I don't know except possible with a standard
cam in a turbchrged engine.
Isky does make Corvair cams yet?
Howard, I don't know if they're around anymore made cams for Star Corvair and maybe
Kings.
I've seen specs for normally aspirated but no turbos.
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flat6_musik
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Re: Cam suggestions?

Post by flat6_musik »

doctorwire wrote:Thanks for the suggestions. @flat6: what other, if any, upgrades did you have to make to run the 20 cam?
I didn't need to make any upgrades to run that cam, but I did go with the "fail-safe" gear setup from Clark's. It was at least a good $350 (approx.) for the cam, new gear and the fail-safe modification. Other than that, I'm just running a Pertronix ignition setup with their HV coil and a straight pipe from the turbo, no muffler. Next on my list is to rebuild my turbo.
miniman82
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Re: Cam suggestions?

Post by miniman82 »

rough andy wrote:Isky does make Corvair cams yet?

No idea, I got mine a long time ago from Larry's Corvair when it was still in Gardena.
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cvair4life
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Re: Cam suggestions?

Post by cvair4life »

1966 Corsa Coupe
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flat6_musik
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Re: Cam suggestions?

Post by flat6_musik »

See my above correction......I meant to say TB-20. Turbo cam.
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