its it a big deal to degree the cam for street use or just put it in straight up ? s/b 340 520 lift comp solid lifter cam

From what I've read, straight up will have your peak power in a higher rpm range. For the street, most will advance the timing 4 degrees to lower the peak power rpm, which would be better for street driving. I'm sure some more knowledgeable people can give you better insight.

If you want to be sure the cam is installed where you intend, degree the cam.

If you trust the crappy tolerances that dot to dot might provide, roll the dice.

I had one timing set, dot to dot was 8 degrees retarded!

Yes, it's a big deal. If you don't do it, how will you know where the cam is timed? If you have tuning issues, or performance problems that will be one thing you can't cross off your list.

Classic trade off of time and money. If you have the time and you have the tools it is a good thing to do. If you want to learn more about how an engine runs then it is a good thing to do. If you're trying to squeeze the last little bit of performance out of your engine then it something that you need to do. If you're just trying to get the sucker running so you can get to work on Monday then skip it.

Degree that rascal and try at least 3 to 5 degrees advanced on the intake lobes
What lobe separation angle is this cam ground on? 340 motors aren't torque monsters to start with so by advancing the cam you will increase the bottom end torque for a very small amount of loss on top end HP
Torque is what moves the cars,(monsters ) not HP

Does anyone make the off set key ways anymore mp no longer carries them

I have not installed a cam withOUT degreeing it in since I was a teen

Ummmm..........I'm thinking that's not what you meant.

Right you are! I fixed it

For a street car with a SB 340, and that cam yes, You will definitely want it advanced. At minimum, put it in 4* advanced.

Most newer timing gears have up to the 4* advanced and 4* retarded adjustments. Pick the 4* advance slot if you decide Not to degree it.

No way, would I put that cam in a street car, straight up.

The most important thing is, your question is wrong from the start. You have no way to really know if the cam is installed straight up unless you degree it in.

The advice to advance the cam 4 degrees makes sense, except for one little thing.....Most any street cam you buy will have the cam ground 4 degrees advanced with the cam installed dot-to-dot, assuming that all the keyways and dots are in the right places. So installing it with the timing set in the 4 degrees advanced setting will probably put the cam ahead by 8 degrees.

If you're using a single pattern cam, straight up will be when the engine is at TDC and the intake and exhaust lifter are even with each other. This is called "split overlap" and is a quick and dirty way to see if you are close. The more modern asymmetrical lobes won't be as close as older symmetrical lobes, but probably close enough. If the exhaust lobe is larger, then the lifters will be even when the cam is advanced. (I think I'm right on this.)

If you are asking the question then you probably aren't building an engine looking for that last tenth. You're probably OK just installing dot-to-dot. But if you have the time, it's worth it to learn how it works. Your life will be richer for it.

R.

During the last cam I degreed, I had 3 timing sets to choose from.
Just for poops I degreed all 3 of them, and none of them came out at the same number.

Oh yes, forgot about some of the cams already ground 4* advanced. And Comps is one of them, which he has. Thanks for the correction.

Summit has them.

Try Mr. Gasket at Summit or Jegs. I keep several of each degree offsets and types, SB cam and early hemi as well as for BB cranks and bushings for the cam gear on B and RB motors.
I've seen more than one 3 way BB three bolt timing set have the can gear dot off by one tooth Which is 12 degrees

Agreed, I would definitely degree it then you will know if you are good & you will know how to do it in the future. it takes a bit of reading to catch on to how it works but once you grasp it it is simple (it is when the intake lobe reaches max lift, how many degrees is that exact point past TDC) IE 106 degrees and if that lobe peakes earlier such as only 102 degrees past TDC then the cam is advanced as it is peaking earlier.

And the reason it gets confusing when reading how to do it, is because the whole 'use a piston stop, spin one way, note the degree, spin backwards the other way, note the degree, subtract the 2, divide by 2, move gear wheel that far' process and conversely before max lift, past max lift is because of dwell times where the piston sits at TDC for a degree or 2 of crank rotation, and how the valve hangs at max lift for a few degrees, and you're trying to find the exact point in the middle

It's confusing to read the steps but once you start doing it, it just clicks and makes sense

The reason I had to learn how to degree by lobe centers is the first solid roller cam I bought (Sig Erson brand ) and installed in a customers 392 hemi in a flat bottom V drive boat was ground 8 degrees retarded It sounded great on the trailer and wouldn't fall out of a tree in the water
Once burnt, twice shy I always check the valve to piston clearances on any cam swap I do so it is real easy to finish degreeing it and check the lobe centers once it is set up for that check

What made the whole concept easy for me to think about, was that when you're trying to find the center point of something that is circular, you have to read an equal point on both sides of the curve and do the math to find the center.

Plus you can verify the timing marks on the balancer are correct. 2 birds/1 stone!

1) Millions of cams have been installed without degreeing.
2) Degreeing a cam does not make it the right or best installed position, it just makes it a known position. If you don't plan on going back into the motor and changing the cam position, arguably there is no need to degree it. Degreeing it does not mean it will run better.

What you do get is knowing that the machining (that effects cam timing) of the cam/both gears, and crank are correct. You can make adjustments to install it per the manufactures recommendation, if that matters to you and, what I think is honestly the best reason for a typical guy to degree his cam is that if there are problems with how the motor runs, you will know that cam timing is not the problem.

I disagree with the motor won't run better with the cam degreed in It will, every Mopar V8 I have tested on the dyno and at the track, run worst if it is retarded at all

That is what you have found. That is not what I have found. Nor is it what everyone has found.

Back in the late '70s when I degreed my first cams, I think the first three I did were advanced if you lined up the dots. I even had a more experienced person check my work on the first one 'cause it was advanced 5 degrees out of the box! After several more cams were also found to be advanced (one a pontiac) my friends and I came up with a theory.
Since most beginning rodders are tempted to pick too big a cam for a street car, we decided the manufactures were grinding them advanced on purposed so the car would run ok and the owner would be happy! I think they figure that experienced rodders/racers would buy the correct cam and then DEGREE it!
That first cam was a Cam Dynamics that I put in a '72 340, it sounded very nasty, after being retarded 5 degrees, I wish I had just lined up the dots on that one!

Always degree, you'll know for sure were it is and most important it verifies the timing cover and damper are correct for TDC. my .02$

Degreeing the cam on the #1 cylinder is only part of the story. As long as you are that far along, it would be a real good idea to check #8 and compare it for "Twist". I have heard of some cams being off as much as 6 degrees front to back. Good luck trying to find a performance problem on that after the engine is assembled.

I always check the LSA on #1 and #6 to make sure the cam is ground correctly, I have had one early hemi cam that was FUBAR by Sig Erson Very frustrating You don't know what you don't know
I've also had more than one Mopar LA engine cam have the exhaust lobes ground wrong on the duration at .050 and the LSA

On the first roller I put in my 340 I lined
up the dots to start with and was gonna check
it.. I TRIED to roll the crank over and it
stopped dead... after checking things out I
found the key way on the cam was 23* off.. the
lobes were right so I degreed it in and was fine
so I always degree them in.. and I advance them
if I want to lower the torque rpm curve IF I dont
need the upper rpm level.. on a street car you can
use the lower torque rpm since you rarely use the
high rpm