It boasts a 2.8 Liter engine with a cross drilled 3 liter crankshaft, Pauter connecting rods and Mahle 2.8L stroker pistons. Sitting atop the block is a Lindsey Racing prepared cylinder head with ported intake port, hi-velocity exhaust and a solid lifter camshaft package with a Web Cam camshaft custom made for Lindsey Racing. Also included is a Lindsey Intake Manifold, Lindsey Stage V Intercooler, Lindsey Super 75 T4 Turbo, SPEC Clutch Kit, Hard Pipe, BOV, Coolant Bottle, Turbo Filter, Bilstein Escort Suspension, Big Red Brakes and a host of other Lindsey Racing products. The car is currently being equipped with a Tech 3R engine management system.

Theo’s car will be street driven as well as track, plus it will make the local car shows in the area. The beautiful paint job and attention to detail will assure Theo of many trophies.

SHOP TALK

The reason to degree in your camshaft can vary. Perhaps it's a new camshaft and you want it set to the manufacturer's specifications, or you want to move your power band around a little. Both will require you to know where it's at.

We were recently doing a solid set-up on a in-house motor for a customer. We thought we may be able to save him the expense of the adjustable cam gear should his new cam be in the proper position with his stock gear. We simply checked the relationship with our new Lindsey Racing Camshaft Degree Wheel Kit and discovered his cam was 5 degrees retarded. The adjustable gear was absolutely necessary in this case since the performance we were looking for required the cam in a particular position.

Just the other day, a customer was telling Mike that he assembled his engine and checked his positions and his cam was 9 degrees off. The customer had his cylinder head milled .040" to boost compression which added to the stacking up of tolerances. You can have a number of things cause this. Keyway location in the crank gear. Keyway location in the cam gear. Belt stretch. Block deck height. Cylinder head thickness between the cam and gasket surface.

Bottom line is... you NEVER really know where you cam is until you check it.

Locating TDC (Top Dead Center):

To accurately locate TDC on the #1 cylinder, we need to bring the piston to the top of it's stroke. With the dial indicator protruding down through the #1 spark plug hole and the pointer resting on the top of the piston, we want to find the point where the piston is at it's highest point. Rotate the crankshaft slowly clockwise while watching the dial indicator. We are looking for the exact point where the dial indicator is indicating the highest position of the piston (TDC).

Positioning the Degree Wheel:

With the degree wheel installed on the mounting hub, slip it over the power steering pulley but leave the set screws loose enough to allow you to rotate the wheel. Install the pointing device to point to the degree marks on the wheel. The pointer should be attached to the engine block and not touch the degree wheel. Providing the piston is still at TDC, rotate the degree wheel until the pointer is aligned with the "0" on the degree wheel then tighten down the set screws locking it in place. If the piston had moved, then once again locate TDC and then position the wheel. Rotate the engine a couple of revolutions to make sure it comes back up TDC on the piston and "0" on the degree wheel.

Checking Cam Location:

NOTE: It's much easier to perform the next step if you have a Lindsey Racing prepared cam box with inspection ports machined down the side. These ports are there to allow you to access and measure the lash on the valves. They also make it much easier to locate the dial indicator foot on the #1 intake lifter. It's very difficult to look down the top bolt access hole and position the foot on the lifter with the dial indicator in the way. We recommend if your cam box is off the car, and you're equipped to do so, drill and tap a hole in the cam box for a pipe thread plug. You can contact us for the exact location if you like, but it's in line with the center of the cam lobe. We are going to assume from here out that you have an access or view port.

Remove the 2nd cam box bolt cover plug and #1 intake lifter inspection port plug. Set up dial indicator with the ‘LR Lifter Foot’.

Adjust the position of the dial indicator so the LR Lifter Foot rests on top of the #1 intake lifter next to the cam lobe. It is important to make sure the Lifter Foot does not get under the cam lobe. That would trap the Lifter Foot between the lifter and cam lobe and possibly scratch or damage either part. Adjust the dial indicator to read ‘0’.

Using a breaker bar or torque wrench, and 24mm deep socket, rotate the engine clockwise until you see the dial indicator just begin to show valve lift. The longer the bar, the more accurately and easily you can turn the engine over.

Slowly turn the engine until the dial indicator reads .050" lift. It can help to have a second person with you. One to watch the dial indicator and the other to watch the degree wheel and turn the crankshaft. You will see that once you relax the breaker bar, the degree wheel will back up 2-3 degrees so we don't want to do that before taking our reading. Holding the tension against the cam belt, now read the degrees before TDC on the degree wheel. Turn the engine through its revolution and check this lift vs. crankshaft position 2 or 3 times to make sure you are getting an accurate reading.

Different camshaft grinds have different set up specifications. Refer to your LR cam set up sheet to determine your cam’s number of degrees BTDC. For this example, we will use the Webcam 274 cam profile. This cam has a set up dimension of 5 degrees BTDC. This means that at .050" lift on the intake valve, the crankshaft should be indicating and located at 5 degrees BTDC (Before TDC) on the degree wheel.

So on this particular cam, if your degree wheel is not on the 5 degree BTDC mark, you will need to adjust the cam gear to correct the setting. For those using the Lindsey Racing Adjustable Cam Gear, simply loosen the four bolts on the face of the cam gear. Now gently turn the engine while watching the alignment marks. Start by making small changes since one mark on the cam gear will make several degrees of change at the crank. Retighten the 4 cam gear bolts and recheck your cam position. Repeat the process until you get the correct relationship between the camshaft and crankshaft.

Checking Valve Lash on LR Solid Lifter Cams:

Once you have your cam tower box installed on your cylinder head and torqued down to our specifications, it's necessary and imperative to do a final check on the valve lash or clearance between the back side (base circle) of the camshaft lobe and the solid lifter. Even though we pre-set all clearances on the valve train and tell you exactly what part goes where, it is possible to install a lash cap crooked or have something out of whack and not know it during your final assembly of the top end of your engine. This is the final check to make sure you did everything correctly.

For this, we are going to mark the cam gear for positioning reference. The later LR cam gears have small numbers already stamped on the outer edge of the gear for this reason. If you have an early gear, or your own gear, then you should mark the gear as indicated. A magic marker or paint works good.

Put a mark 5 teeth left or counter clockwise from the alignment mark (blue arrow) on the cam gear. Then count 10 more teeth and put another mark. Then 10 more, and 10 more. You end up with 4 marks 90 degrees apart from one another.

When you align these marks with the accompanying alignment mark on the distributor cap "clam" housing, you're able to check the valve lash on TWO different cam lobes. So you only need to rotate the engine to the 4 positions to check all 8 lifters.

Once you have you cam in position, you simply slide your feeler gauge in through the access port between the lifter and the camshaft. Your trying to find the appropriate thickness gauge that will slip between the two. This gives you the distance, or "lash" for that valve. The particular lash values your looking for come with your camshaft package. In a future issue, we will explain how you correct the lash if incorrect. Since the kits are set-up when it leaves Lindsey Racing, you don't have to worry about it that for a while.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Until next month, we wish you many safe and quick laps.

- The Lindsey Racing Crew