okay question for those that know their cam business. if i want to put a ns2 cam on a stock head with stock valves and springs, since its a reground cam, will i need to adjust the rocker arm lifters with some sort of shim to bridge the gap for whatever was ground off the camshaft? since they grind off the bottom of the lobe when the valve is shut in order to raise the lift at the other end im assuming this is going to be needed for the valve to function properly without any ticking or other funny stuff. i dont see how else the cam going to lift any higher then the stock grind if there is no adjustment to the rocker arms? Or can i straight up just throw on the new cam without changing anything else and expect the camshaft to function correctly? if im thinking about this all wrong please let me know as i feel a bit confused right now and just trying to learn. im bringing this up because iv been reading about how for most cars when you swap for a reground cam you need to shim the lifters to make up for the small gap that had been ground off. please tell me what you know about this.

 

Which is why they don't do a whole lot more than the stock cams...lol

There are better options out there where you don't have to worry about that...

 

+1.

I'd talk to someone who's dyno'd cams before buying one. Depending on what your goals are, there are several cams to choose from that'll give you exactly what you're looking for.

 

Thumper, what other cams would you recommend than over the NS? Or are you simply referring to porting the head vs. a reground cam?

Also, I notice many of the spec's on NS, shrick, newman, etc. cams all are claiming of increased lift over the stock cam. With them being regrinds we know this to not be true of the cam and only due to the use of a rocker arm with an increased lift ratio. Seems dishonest to advertise increased lift from a cam when its actually due to a rocker arm.

As far as I'm concerned, the only thing a reground cam can offer is perhaps increased duration? Either way, I've searched everywhere to find who sells these rocker arms with different ratios than stock and can't find them anywhere?

Who sells these rocker arms for the mini and would it perhaps be more effective to simply install a higher ratio rocker arm than to spend all the money on a reground cam??

 

I personally recommend the Newman cam. It will work without a tune on your stock head and it is NOT a regrind.

 

Bingo...



Bottom = Stock
Middle = NS1
Top = RMW/Newman Street (base)

Even though this is the NS1, you can see its not much over stock. The NS2 is a little more, but still smaller than the base Newman.

Newman/RMW cams are NOT re-grinds, and neither are Schrick (billet).

They are ground from cast blanks (just as the OEM cam is). RMW has numerous cam grinds from Newman that can suit an individual's needs. I personally have one of the newest...it has the lift of the RMW Race/Grand Am cam, with slightly less duration, but more duration than the street cam. The added torque for street driving is fantastic, and it just keeps pulling hard all the way up to 7000+.

I'm at 231whp with this cam, on the stock JCW head. The results speak for themselves

 

Thanks guys! That's definitely good to know that not all the cams out there for us are regrinds! This should probably answer the OP's concern too concerning the need for shims on a reground cam.

Looks like if a cam is in my future it would be of the Newman or Schrick type.

 

yeah i was guessing that newman and schrick were pretty much my only options for new cams. are there any other companys out there i dont know about that make new cams from a raw billet for r53's? my goal is in the top end so i guess i should be looking into rmw's race cams. anyone know how different jans race cams are from each other? i know there are a couple different stages he sells. also how different is the schrick cam from the ones from rmw? who all is running these and what do you have to say about them?

 

Would lash caps on the end of the valves help close the gap between the rockers and the valves on the NS1 cam?

 

Do the hydronic lash adjusters that are already on the lifters do what a lash cap might also do? Close the gap?

 

Lift is defined as the eccentricity - height of the lobe over the base circle. By grinding away the base circle, you INCREASE lift by changing this relationship

 

that's not what we are talking about. by grinding away the base circle you cannot technically make a higher lift until the rocker arm ratios have been corrected. until the lash has been adjusted all that is changed is how the valve closes. once the hydraulic lash adjusts or a lash cap is applied the rocker ratios will be corrected thus making a higher lift

 

im just trying to figure out if and/or how you would alter the lifters to correct the ratios for a reground cam. iv already chosen my cam but still want to understand

 

You would have to re design the geometry in order to compensate. if you ask the hydraulic pots on the tips to extend to far you could break them. not saying that this cam will do that. but the correct way is to change the pick up points.

 

What's wrong with putting a cap on the end of the valve stem? I don't see how that could break something? How would you extend the hydraulic pots?