Degree it where it is suppose to be and be happy 
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I have a cam that has 115* LSA and has 4* advance ground in. i installed it straight up and checked it, i get 115*. recommended centerline is 111*. am i done or do i need to degree it to 111*? thanks
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Put it in a 111, never rely on the dots to be correct
The confusion on this always comes in with the "ground in" statement. As cab said, put it in per the cam manufacturers recommendation. Kinda silly to second guess them right off the bat. After you have run the car for a while and you feel you need more power at the bottom or top end, then you can go ahead and make a change. 
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ok, how do I check it with the open/close specs on the card?
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ok, how do I check it with the open/close specs on the card?
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ok, how do I check it with the open/close specs on the card?
Google "how to degree a camshaft" and take your pick...
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For the life of me i can't understand the reasoning for the cam manufactuers doing this. Just make it straight up. For a stock engine, dot to dot. Race cam degree it in like it should be. Maybe cam guys did this for the person who has no idea how to degree a cam in the first place but knows how to dot to dot. Reminds me of the time a dude brought me a 383 that wouldn't fall out a tree. Checked the cam and found a 8• retarded button on the cam pin and 4• retarded crank keyway. After i fixed it i told him not to touch the engine again, he said why...
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For the life of me i can't understand the reasoning for the cam manufactuers doing this. Just make it straight up. For a stock engine, dot to dot. Race cam degree it in like it should be. Maybe cam guys did this for the person who has no idea how to degree a cam in the first place but knows how to dot to dot. Reminds me of the time a dude brought me a 383 that wouldn't fall out a tree. Checked the cam and found a 8• retarded button on the cam pin and 4• retarded crank keyway. After i fixed it i told him not to touch the engine again, he said why...
Problem is dot 2 dot isn`t always where it should be.........
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I have a cam that has 115* LSA and has 4* advance ground in. i installed it straight up and checked it, i get 115*. recommended centerline is 111*. am i done or do i need to degree it to 111*? thanks
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For the life of me i can't understand the reasoning for the cam manufactuers doing this. Just make it straight up. For a stock engine, dot to dot. Race cam degree it in like it should be. Maybe cam guys did this for the person who has no idea how to degree a cam in the first place but knows how to dot to dot. Reminds me of the time a dude brought me a 383 that wouldn't fall out a tree. Checked the cam and found a 8• retarded button on the cam pin and 4• retarded crank keyway. After i fixed it i told him not to touch the engine again, he said why...
Problem is dot 2 dot isn`t always where it should be.........
For a 318 2barrel it is or any dead stock engine for that matter
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For the life of me i can't understand the reasoning for the cam manufactuers doing this. Just make it straight up. For a stock engine, dot to dot. Race cam degree it in like it should be. Maybe cam guys did this for the person who has no idea how to degree a cam in the first place but knows how to dot to dot. Reminds me of the time a dude brought me a 383 that wouldn't fall out a tree. Checked the cam and found a 8• retarded button on the cam pin and 4• retarded crank keyway. After i fixed it i told him not to touch the engine again, he said why...
Problem is dot 2 dot isn`t always where it should be.........
For a 318 2barrel it is or any dead stock engine for that matter
Any time you introduce aftermarket parts into the mix, you run the risk of parts not being machined or stamped correctly.
I always degree a cam even if its a stock rebuild!
Dot to dot does not cut it!
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For the life of me i can't understand the reasoning for the cam manufactuers doing this. Just make it straight up. For a stock engine,
Some people CAN'T read, STOCK parts. Who said anything about after market parts, besides any John Does car comes in for a rebuild, whatever it is will be flat rated and out the door no cam degreeing no anything, get in the real world please. Machine shops can't compete with the sweat shop builders now poping out small block chevys for under a grand complete with 3 year 100,000 mile waranty, do you tjonk thdy degree a cam,heck do you think any of the big 3 degree their cams? It is a waste of time but you do it your way and the other 99.99% there way. Now go give Monte a kiss
Problem is dot 2 dot isn`t always where it should be.........
For a 318 2barrel it is or any dead stock engine for that matter
Any time you introduce aftermarket parts into the mix, you run the risk of parts not being machined or stamped correctly.
I always degree a cam even if its a stock rebuild!
Dot to dot does not cut it!
Thank you............as Monte said; Some may actually run well once they stop "ASSuming things are correct.
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i degree'd it to 111 and the @50 specs don't match whats on the card. that's why i asked how to check @50 op/cl.
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As an example of "dot to dot", I installed a Cloyes Tru-roller and MP .528 mechanical in a 440 a few years ago. Dot to dot was 8° retarded!
Once you have the tools (cheap!)it's a simple process to do it every single time!
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yes, i set it straight up to see where it was at and get some direction on which way to go. i advanced it with a 9way crank gear A2 slot and get 111.25, but the @50 intake close spec does not match card.
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one thing that may be an issue is the crank socket doesn't fit tight enough on the keyway. i'v used several of these comp. sockets(Pontiac,sm chevy, bg chevy and mopar) and they all have slop in the keyway. I tried tightening them up with tape, but it doesn't eliminate all the slop. I get about 1* of movement either way.
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As an example of "dot to dot", I installed a Cloyes Tru-roller and MP .528 mechanical in a 440 a few years ago. Dot to dot was 8° retarded!
Once you have the tools (cheap!)it's a simple process to do it every single time!
8* is 1 tooth on the cam gear and may be easier than adjusting the crank gear if it is not made for that much adv.
That gear set needed the cam dot a tiny bit to the left of the crank dot to make it degree in correctly 
When I first inbstalled that gear set the cam dot was a tiny bit to the right(looking from the front of the motor)of the crank dot instead of straight up, it was retarded twelve degrees no matter which keyway I used on the crank sprocket 
I moved it one tooth to the left and the dang thang line up to the left a tiny bit and degree in where it shoud have been 
That is the main reason I insist on here and to anyones that ask me to ALWAY degree the cam when changing any part of the timing gear set or cams
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ok, I was gonna use a trimmed piece of feeler gage, but i'll try the beer can. i'm second guessing myself because as I barred the engine I noticed the exhaust lifter was on the lobe past TDC, alittle further than I thought it should.
OP, I have several different degree wheels, I haven't found the perfect one yet The width of the pointer can have a affect on how they read, as much as 1/2 degree BTW, I've yet to see a motor that would react to one degree change of valve timing LSA or lobe center timing on the dyno or at the track, maybe the little C.I. motors will react to that
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Im a little surprised here. There is a lot of information being tossed around here,but no one has asked the question, " who SPECD the cam". Typically,in a Procharger application,someone with pressure or boosted knowledge is involved in the cam selection process. Just like in turbo,charged anf nitrous set up,you start seeing some wider LSAs for a reason.Just because the cam card says Xxx degrees ground in, it doesnt mean it MUST be installed there. I would ask the person who actually specd the cam and or Procharger first if it was my momey
that's what I did. Steve Morris was my starting point also. Ended up with a comp cams grind. 
one intake and one exhaust. Never had a cam where one # lined up while others didn't. Possible though, as I never checked them all.
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Im a little surprised here. There is a lot of information being tossed around here,but no one has asked the question, " who SPECD the cam". Typically,in a Procharger application,someone with pressure or boosted knowledge is involved in the cam selection process. Just like in turbo,charged anf nitrous set up,you start seeing some wider LSAs for a reason.Just because the cam card says Xxx degrees ground in, it doesnt mean it MUST be installed there. I would ask the person who actually specd the cam and or Procharger first if it was my momey
I always use the positive stop method to find true TDC. Most accurate way. I also run my dial indicator directly off the lifter ( home made with 2 lifters and a section of pipe in between ). To eliminate any confusion, I always degree using the opening / closing #'s ( @.050) on the cam card. I don't do all the lobes, but I dodo
One degree either side can be chain stretch or optical error Did you check the intake lobe timing by checking it at max lobe lift? Also are you checking intake and exhaust valve to piston clearances? If please do so with a soft checking spring on both valves I do that and check the intake and exhaust lobe timing for lobe seperation angles at the retainers on the same valves at the same time I do check them 3 different times at. 200, .100 and .050 before max lift on both valves to get rid of the one degree errors found at one place or the other I have seen some ILC change by one degree at all three places, 105,104 and 103 That cam went back to the maker
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ok, finished degreeing cam today. I check open/close numbers. card says 23 open and 65 close. @.050 open I get 22 and @.050 before max lift I get 65. am I doing this right? the install centerline is correct at 111*. thanks
Quote:They don't provide any information on .050 before or after max lift on any cam card I ever seen
I thought the @50 open/close numbers where measured at .050 open and .050 just before close, but at the 50 before close I got 115. didn't match card, so I tried 50 after max lift and no match either. 50 before max lift and I get 65.
why do they give the close point at .050 before max lift?
i'm done with it now. I told him to check valve clearance and button it up. thanks
Most of the checking numbers on the cam card are in reference to before top dead center BTDC and after bottom dead center ABDC on the intake and before bottom dead center BBDC and after top dead center, ATDC, on the exhaust Finding the max lobe lift on the exhaust and intake lobes in relation to BTDC and ATDC is the hard part without coaching, mentoring, or further instructions