obx cam gears flooding ebay,, worth it ?

[pulsarca18det]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors...wItem

these are flooding ebay right now..

what is the point of an adjustable cam gear, when the CAS can be adjusted as is to retard or advance the timing?

is this a worthwhile investment ?

[ceniack]

it is for fine tuning the cams, alot of people running aftermarket cams use those, but you need someone that knows what they are doing to properly set them up right

[driftin8ez]

Ya what he said... and also you can use them to just advance or retard one of the cams. It will change the overlap timing. But if you dont know what you're doing they are not worth ****.

[davidricardo86]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors...wItem

these are flooding ebay right now..

what is the point of an adjustable cam gear, when the CAS can be adjusted as is to retard or advance the timing?

is this a worthwhile investment ?

Hey whats up pulsarca18det! I bought a set of those OBX cam gears and i say theyre worth it. They really arent too bad. The quality actually looks pretty good. The label tells you a little about the way it was made and the type of material used. The black coating looks nice and durable although ive yet to run the engine. The bolts that it came with were beefier than another heavier set of adj. cam gears. Also not to mention its actually got the clearly visible degree markings. I'll give them a thumbs-up!

I bought these so later i can adjust and move my powerband a bit. I've been wanting to try this on stock cams and seeing what you can squeeze out of them. Just a thought. Later id like to get bigger cams and have the adjustablilty aswell. The CAS adjusts ignition timing advance and retard. The cam gears will adjust the timing of intake and exhaust valves opening and closing. Purpose of this would be similar to changing to different size cams. You cant just go in a play with these until you can get on a dyno and are running right. I just want to get mine in already, ill worry about adjusting later.

OBX adjustable cam gears for engine model CA18DET. I bought these and figured id give them a shot. Its a cam gear, its not exactly a complicated device.

It actually looks very nice in person and i liked how the degree marking are very visible and easy to adjust.

Its not the greatest but itll get the job done.

Heres a side-by-side of a "Tomei" style cam gear and the OBX unit. The OBX is aluminum and its very lightweight. The Tomei one is steal and aluminum, still a little bit heavier.

Check this out! The bolts on the OBX ones are thicker and bigger. I see that as an advantage. Both probably lock just fine. Im selling the Tomei cam gears by the way!

Belt is installed.

[float_6969]

Damnit David, your motor made me spooge on the screen again...

[niscort]

so the actual gear is alloy?

fingers crossed they don't have horrendous wear like the infamous hks rb gears.. does hard coated black sound up to the task?

[good morning]

Something about OBX and cam gear should not go together. It slips, your valves are gone.

Either way, you should degree your cams.

[davidricardo86]

Damnit David, your motor made me spooge on the screen again...

It'll look better as soon as i get those cam covers back!

so the actual gear is alloy?

fingers crossed they don't have horrendous wear like the infamous hks rb gears.. does hard coated black sound up to the task?

Apparently all of it is aluminum. Im no expert but the label says "Aircraft grade 6061 T-6 billet aluminum and CNC machined." Hopefully it doesnt fall apart as that would be THE worst thing that could happen. I doubt it though.

Something about OBX and cam gear should not go together. It slips, your valves are gone.

Either way, you should degree your cams.

Hopefully they wont. Some OBX products arent a waste and some are. Lets just hope these arent. Theres no need to degree these cams.

[DjLiquid]

I picked up a set as well because of your post. If they fail im blaming you =p

jk.

[bentvalves]

If you have Tomei cams David, how come your selling them for the OBX's?

[davidricardo86]

I picked up a set as well because of your post. If they fail im blaming you =p

jk.

Uh sure bro! If you can find me! Have you installed them? Whats your opinion on these?

If they do mess up anything, id go after OBX and have them pay for a new engine. That or sue them somehow. I do have a lot of pictures, receipts, and they're "lifetime warranted." I doubt ill have to sue anyone soon but **** happens right?!

If you have Tomei cams David, how come your selling them for the OBX's?

Well i bought the Tomei ones from ebay member mx83*gx81 and he advertised them as RB and CA cam gears. I bought them thinking they would just bolt on but the alignment dowel was a little off. Not to mention it doesnt have any degree markings. You'd have to get a degree wheel to know how much youre moving. They would fit if you enlarge the alignment hole with a cuting or drilling bit. They bolt on fine and are the same as the oem one except they're adjustable.

I emailed the seller a while after i bought them but he never responded back.

Mar-31-07"This has nothing to do with these cams i just didnt know how else to contact you. Hi my name is David. I bought a pair of CA18 adj cam gears from you a few months back but they didnt fit. I am sad. I should have contacted you sooner but i never did. The alignment pin didnt match the one on my cam. My CA18 is stock and it didnt fit. It seems like the alignment dowel and hole do not match. Well if you can help me out, id really appreciate it. Thanks!"

[johngriff]

I dont think those are tomei gears, all the tomei gears are labeled.

As far as the OBX is concerned, How deep is the thread on the Outer gear that grabs that bolt. The obx gear uses a stainless steel bolt, and the other one uses a grade 8 coated.

Also, the spring type lock washer on the OBX does not look very fun, you want those bolts locked, but not loaded.

Check the ID/OD of the bolt and the slide hole in the center piece. Then check the flatness of the mating surface on the back of the inside and outside gear to make sure they are FLAT against each other.

Personally I dont like fully floating gears (which these are). This design is what got HKS and TODA into LOADS of problems a couple years ago.

Upgrade the hardware to Grade 8 coated, and dont forget to ballance the bolts. Change the washers to something like the "tomei" gears.

[johngriff]

ughhh one more thing...

back in the day we used to hit the mating surfaces some sand paper, and some locktite cylindrical bond. If you allready know your endgame Cam Timing (which you should) just set them up like this, and you wont have to worry about slip.

[bentvalves]

John, you seem to know a thing or two about using these adjustable gears with the CA.

Care to shed more light on the subject?

[good morning]

Hopefully they wont. Some OBX products arent a waste and some are. Lets just hope these arent. Theres no need to degree these cams.

Why even chance it?

BTW, why did you get cam gears if the cams do not need to be degreed? What you think you are doing when you move them?
Modified by good morning at 12:45 PM 4/22/2007

[davidricardo86]

I dont think those are tomei gears, all the tomei gears are labeled.

As far as the OBX is concerned, How deep is the thread on the Outer gear that grabs that bolt. The obx gear uses a stainless steel bolt, and the other one uses a grade 8 coated.

Also, the spring type lock washer on the OBX does not look very fun, you want those bolts locked, but not loaded.

Check the ID/OD of the bolt and the slide hole in the center piece. Then check the flatness of the mating surface on the back of the inside and outside gear to make sure they are FLAT against each other.

Personally I dont like fully floating gears (which these are). This design is what got HKS and TODA into LOADS of problems a couple years ago.

Upgrade the hardware to Grade 8 coated, and dont forget to ballance the bolts. Change the washers to something like the "tomei" gears.

You know what, there arent any markings on it that would tell me the manufacturer so i cant honestly say they are Tomei. To me they even look similar to the Jun Adjustable Cam Gears. They are what they are.

The threaded hole for the OBX outer gears is about 1/4 inch. Maybe about 0.5cm. I cant measure it unless i go back into the engine, remove the covers, and disassemble the whole thing. Im not in the mood to that right now as im trying to get my project finished and running. Maybe later.

Im sure the lock washer will hold up. The "Tomei" gear uses flat washers with smaller allen bolts. I think it would take a lot of vibration for this to come apart. My engine is new and should be running smoothly so i dont think i have to worry about it. Not saying i wont keep it in mind either.

Ill try and pick up a set of the strongest bolts i can get my hands on just as an insurance thing. I'll make sure to add a little Loc-tite.

Why even chance it?

BTW, why did you get cam gears if the cams do not need to be degreed? What you think you are doing when you move them? Modified by good morning at 12:45 PM 4/22/2007

Well considering i cant predict the future, ill have to use Loc-tite, stronger bolts, and maybe different washers as my "insurance." Other than that i really cant control it know what i mean?

"I bought these so later i can adjust and move my powerband a bit. I've been wanting to try this on stock cams and seeing what you can squeeze out of them. Just a thought. Later id like to get bigger cams and have the adjustablilty aswell." This doesnt mean that i have to degree them, which i didnt because i set it up to "zero" or stock timing. I'll adjust later. I'm trying to get my engine fired up and running already.

[r34 gtr]

so, not takers yet? i might be willing to give those crazy unlabeled gears a shot. why not, i mean, my engine is so shoddily built already whats the harm? i break it weekly so its not much of a problem. i also understand my ca16 intake cam needs to be advanced somewhat. anyway, if you want to let me uber low ball you, hit me up. ramsete AT auburn DOT edu.

[johngriff]

Seriously.

I have a CA. Today, I heard a knock from the top of the intake 4 valve cover.

I removed the engine.

Tomorrow. I am putting a fresh ca in.

All this stuff gets so expensive that double, triple and quad checking everything is a must.

Just make sure the depth of the threads is MORE than the width of the plate on top. There are metal considerations also, harder metal up top, softer metal on the bottom.

Those stainless threads like to vibrate loose, so yeah grade 8 coated asap.

The other thing is, the lock washers force the stud to pull the threads up w/o locking the two surfaces up (cam gear), a flat washer will pull the top plate down against the second plate.

Hmm, I am going to call mcmastercarr tomorrow to see if they have a toothed seat allen selection in metric.

And when you do the new hardware, balance them by removing material from the heads.

[johngriff]

John, you seem to know a thing or two about using these adjustable gears with the CA.

Care to shed more light on the subject?

I have not used Adjustable cam gears on the CA yet. I cant really say, "this works, this does not". The gears in this thread are similar to the old b16 junk that was floating around years ago.

Are you speaking of shedding light on advancing/timing cams?

My school, which is not everyones, is to increase overlap. When i say you should allready know your endgame before putting the cams in, it is basically.. you will be sizing the cams, w/ the intent on their end timing and overlap.

Overlap quickly explained is the time in the stroke when both Intake and Exhaust valves are open. In a turbo engine, you can use the pressurized fuel rich air to sweep out exhaust left in the cylinder. Also, you can use this type of method to push fresh air/gas (fuel) out the exhaust before the ex is closed.

This is "typically" where you see your fireballs on racecars. The overlap is used to cool exhaust and cylinder temps, get a better all fuel burn.

Could cam gears be better than Bee*R rev limiter? lol probably not.

If you are really interested in this topic, there is an awesome book i can refer you too: "The scientific design of intake and exhaust systems". There are about 4 chapters on cylinder head design/valve design and valve timing. I remember reading this when i was 16, and walking away with a full understanding of how I was going to time my 4ag. Less than $20 shipped on amazon.

[iliketocrash]

Personally i wouldn't screw around with them. I've seen first hand what happens when you use cheap adjustables. They didn't slip but they actually completely broke into pieces. Running only 300hp at that. Of course they were not OBX but they were still a knock off brand. My friend was very unhappy because the valves chewed two of his pistons and completely wasted the head.

[good morning]

"I bought these so later i can adjust and move my powerband a bit. I've been wanting to try this on stock cams and seeing what you can squeeze out of them. Just a thought. Later id like to get bigger cams and have the adjustablilty aswell." This doesnt mean that i have to degree them, which i didnt because i set it up to "zero" or stock timing. I'll adjust later. I'm trying to get my engine fired up and running already.

What do you think degreeing cams is? Another thing is, checking to see if the cam gears timing is correct. If you have milled the head or block, I would degree them.

"The scientific design of intake and exhaust systems". There are about 4 chapters on cylinder head design/valve design and valve timing. I remember reading this when i was 16, and walking away with a full understanding of how I was going to time my 4ag. Less than $20 shipped on amazon.

Another good book: Design techniques for engine manifolds by DE winterbone and RJ pearson

[johngriff]

What tomei cam gears for the RB look like.

[davidricardo86]

What tomei cam gears for the RB look like.

I know these are the newer style cam gears by Tomei, would you know if they've made any other models similar to the ones i have? I've also seen pics of the Jun cam gears aswell and iirc they looked similar.

Lets see theres Tomei, HKS, and Jun as the top dogs. Did Toda ever make the for the CA? Then would be the ebay brands like OBX, the "no-name" ones i got and... if anyone else can toss some more in the mix the better.