sr20boston

The Great SR20 Cam List – V 1.03

I’m working on adding a new section for other assorted valve train components, mostly for valve springs and retainers. Some manufacturers have specs for their valve springs listed, some don’t, so it may be a little spotty, but it should at least cover all the part numbers. I’ll also include other miscellaneous items like cam gears, rocker arm stopper kits, etc.
Note: Cam makers are never the most honest people. Its not that they lie straight out, its all in what exactly they are measuring. The problem is even larger here, with most of the cam makers being Japanese. For instance JWT’s advertised duration is from .003” open to .003” closed. You can probably take it to the bank that no Japanese cam maker’s advertised duration is measured exactly like that. Also, a cam is more than just duration and lift. I have assembled these numbers to help provide a baseline, but the amount of faith you put in them is up to you. Hopefully what they can do (and what I went to all the trouble to get them for in the first place) is provide a flavor of what the cam has been designed for.
I compiled this list with FWD sr20s in mind (namely SE-Rs). However, I tried to note when a manufacturer had either GTi-R or roller-rocker grinds available. I did not note if they had S14 or S15 grinds.
I compiled this list for my own personal curiosity only. I included only cams made from fresh billets; no re-grinds were listed. There are still other cam makers out there, if I run across their specs or if someone who knows is kind enough to e-mail me (calum@calumsult.com), I’ll add them to the list. Also I’m sure I’ve made many mistakes. If you spot one, I’d be happy if you told me. If you buy cams based on this list, don’t blame me when they suck!
-Calum
Quotes heard on the ‘net – take these with a grain of salt.

From Jay Whitley (excerpt from a post on www.sr20deforum.com):

”The RWD and FWD cams are exactly the same and they are interchangeable, no problem. The only thing that is different from an OEM FWD cam and an OEM RWD cam is the length of the dowel pin on the exhaust cam.

The FWD OEM cams (intake and exhaust) both use short dowel pins). The RWD OEM intake cam uses a short dowel pin and the exhaust cam uses a long dowel pin. This long pin is there to engage the crank angle sensor/distributor drive gear.

So, all you need to do use FWD cams in a RWD SR20 is to remove the long dowel pin from the OEM exhaust cam and install it into the FWD exhaust cam. Done.

Any machine shop that resurfaces flywheels can do this. It requires the same tool that they use to remove the dowel pins from flywheels. It is a slide hammer.

I installed a set of JWT S3 cams in my customer's RWD S13 Silvia red top just recently."
From Andreas (excerpts from posts on www.sr20deforum.com):
“As far as cams go they do not work the same NA as they do on turbo. All I will say is this: the S4 works better than the C1 in the racecar. Also if you are going to rev a car high the better combo is more duration and less lift S4 verses higher lift and less duration. The more lift you have the quicker the valve will float. As far as cams go the turbo dictates more than the cam. T78 with S4 is still making power at 8400 and goes linear to 8900 before we start to see any power loss.”
“In my travels of SE-R I have seen to bone stock SE-Rs that have gone up to 9000 RPMs. I was so baffled by this I had to put a NISSAN Consult Comp on it just to make sure my eyes were not fooling me.

It is possible for a JWT comp to go past 8000 RPMs, just have them program it with no rev limiter. It’s that easy. Here is what happens when you go past 8000 RPMS the comp just keeps on thinking it is at 8000 RPMs and can not make any more adjustments, so the higher you go in the RPMs past 8000 your fuel map and timing map will progressively wonder off from where it should be.

I always get my comps for my personal car with no Rev limiter because having the rev limiter kicking at full throttle cause a whiplash effect in the motor that causes the rocker arms to get thrown out. What happens when this happens at high RPMs: broken pistons, bent valves and broken rockers. So as long as you have [aftermarket] valve springs and retainers I would advise you to go for the no rev limiter option. Very useful on High HP Turbo and NOS cars when coming out of the blocks because this avoids power loss and damage to the motor if you run into the rev limiter.”
“You do not need a solid lifter kit to go to 9000 RPMS. The racecar I built is still Hydraulic and the power does not start to drop off until 8700 RPMS. My street car revs to 8500 RPMS I do have C3 cams and if you want a comp to go past 8000 RPMs I can get you one. There are some very simple mods to make your valve train stand up to 8500-9000 RPMS but I will not get into that right now.

S4s work better than C1 cams, that’s not an opinion that’s a fact. S4 cams will give you a much wider power band. For all who say that S4 cam do not work good with a T25 just look at Dougnosser's SE-R in the turbo section. Check out his dyno curve and come up with your own opinion. If you do not know how to tune a car and do not know how these parts can work together then leave the repeated comments alone. All you need to do is know how to match you parts together to make them work together.

As far as cams and valve float goes, the C cams have a lot of lift compared to duration. This causes the valves to open and close at a greater speed. C cams are more likely even with springs and retainers to float valves and toss rockers they will also cause valve float to occur quicker. Easier said the C cams will bounce on the seat. The S4 cam with about the same lift as a C3 but with more duration will hold up better than a C1.

If you are NA use S4, C2 or C3.
If you are turbo I swear by S4 cams. The best all around cam there is.”
“As far as which C cam I would recommend, that depends on what compression ratio you are running. 9.5-10 to 1 I would run C1s. If you have a 11 to1 compression motor that is stroked or bored out I would run C3 cams.”
“Well here we go, I have know idea who started this crap that you have to run JWT springs and retainers with JWT cams, that is silly. Cams are all made the same, they just differ in lift, duration and the actual open and closing points, that’s it. I have run JUN, TODA, FERREA, and also one with JWT cams with no problems. I have had 2 different sets of springs in the 9 sec racecar, JUN and FERREA, while running JWT cams and these springs ran up to 9000 RPMs with no problems. We have two motors for the racecar: one’s a backup motor and we built them just a little different when it cam to parts and they both worked great. This harmonic tuning bullsh*t that is supposed to be in the JWT springs is all sh*t. [It’s] just JWT and others trying to sell a product. I am a great JWT fan but I do know when the sh*t is laid on too thick.”
From Rob Cadle (excerpts from posts on www.sr20deforum.com):
“I wouldn't run C1's on an NA car unless your prime objective was drivability with no loss of low-end power.

They cost a lot for the power they produce. I think that they are the ultimate smaller-turbo cam, though (a GREAT T-28 cam).

If you stay NA, get C2's. They lope, but they are livable, and they gain 25 whp over the stock cams.”
“Andreas is right: the bigger the turbo, the bigger the cams you can run (as a very rough generalization).

Overlap only hurts you if you are back-pressuring the engine. If the engine is in cross-over, or has very little negative delta P, you can run huge cams without mercy... the overlap will work even better on a turbo car than it will on an NA car as long as you are in crossover.

I think that C3's would be badass on a turbo car with a *very* large turbo. This is drag-race only kind of stuff. Take exhaust manifold pressure data if you want some guidance on the kind of cams you should use. If your exhaust manifold pressure (*BEFORE THE TURBO*) is less than or equal to intake manifold pressure throughout the engine's operating range (hard to achieve), then big cams are no problem.”

 

stoney78

Stock roller rocker (97-99 UK SR20)

SR20De (UK 10:1CR unpainted VC)
IN 232 9.2mm lift
EX 240 9.4mm lift

SR20DE (UK 10:1CR Blacktop)
IN 232 9.9mm lift
EX 240 8.8mm lift

Straight from the electronic service manual.

__________________
Midnight Blue 97 Primera SRI, UK blacktop SR20DE & ECU, Apex'i SAFC-II, RSM-GP & G-sensor, Hotshot C.A.I., ETCC spec TB, SSautocrime header(wrapped), JWT S3R, Walbro 255, Nismo AFPR, Magnecor KV85,, Jun U LW FW, B&M SS, Eibach springs, Koni Adj. shocks, Innovate LMA-2.

scrubnick

What about the Brian Crower cams? What about C6M's? How about VE cams? This list is far from complete.

__________________
92 NX1600 - Now JDM sr20DE powered. 8.37:1(?) SR16DE coming soon. (and probably a turbo)
92 SC400 - RIP June 2006
98 I30 - dented Wifey's car.
88 Yamaha XT350 - Registered, Insured and runs like crap

Bowlcut

this list was moved from an old list from ooooh about 4 years ago probably. So if people wanted to submit new info they can. or just put it here. this is far from out of date, it isnt complete, no, but the info on it is still usefull

__________________
-Kevin

We are a community

chriscar

Let's keep this as a database of cam specs. Questions can be asked elsewhere.

Thanks

__________________
cogito ergo zoom................