crowley? CAS holder

[bentvalves]

there was a company from australia that was making those billet aluminum CAS holders for our engines. I cant find their website online, but that aside, anybody have one of these on their engines? How are the CAM splines and CAS splines holding up?

[mbmbmb23]

there was a company from australia that was making those billet aluminum CAS holders for our engines. I cant find their website online, but that aside, anybody have one of these on their engines? How are the CAM splines and CAS splines holding up?

http://www.growly.com.au/products.html

[ca18detgabby]

there was a company from australia that was making those billet aluminum CAS holders for our engines. I cant find their website online, but that aside, anybody have one of these on their engines? How are the CAM splines and CAS splines holding up?

it is growly

memito is using both IIRC

[r34 gtr]

^ True, but Meminto's car does not yet run, so it would not be a valid candidate for evaluating the, if any, additional wear it causes on said parts.

[DALAZ_68]

wasnt there an issue with the back plate piece...i dont remember to well

[meminto]

Correct, mine does not yet run so I can't give feedback on how it performs, I would like to do a couple of thousand km too before I provide feedback on its ability to keep the cas under control... The only thing I will be looking for is pressure on the shaft and issues with breakages...

It bolted on ok, everything lined up where it needed too, it has adequate clearance between my tomei gears and the plate itself, the cas was a snug fit is a little stiff to manouvre but it improved significantly when I polished the cas up..

I think it is a nice looking setup..

However one piece of feedback I can provide is that the backing plate needs some sort of a mount, so you can move the cas plug lead away from the rotating inlet gear..

It does have a threaded rod (i cant think of any other way to describe it lol) that you can use your original tabs to lock the lead away (although I used my own solution), it would be a value add to not use threaded rod, but create an anchor point during manufacture for a cable tie instead..



You can see the anchor point i am using, that is the rod with the thread, i think it is a 6x1mm thread, but i need to double check....

Yeah there is a lot of the cam/belt area exposed, I have an alloy bash plate, so the risk has been significantly reduced for anything flinging up from the road..

[bentvalves]

If running the top cover open, I think running no bottom cover is the best option. It acts as a funnel at this point and will catch all kinds of small debris.

best bet is to run it wide open, and blow behind the harmonic balancer with compressed air everytime you pull the car in garage at night

[meminto]

The issue with removing the bottom cover is removing the reference point for timing.

I had an open cover for a couple of years on a previous build, when pulling the motor apart there was dust but no adverse issues...

[bentvalves]

Yup no more reference arrow anymore. I marked the upper timing cover at 16 dbtdc before I tore the front down however.

[D_Stirls]

well i have done 5000 km's with my CAS bracket and backing plate including a fair bit of track work and there hasn't been an problems at all. When we designed the brackets we were very careful to make sure that the CAS spacing was exactally the same as the factory spacing.

Memento, didn't matt include an aluminium bracket with the CAS bracket to hold the CAS wiring. I though that he was including that in the kit. Or as you saying that you need something to go on the end of that bracket to hold the wiring, like the P-Clip that i'm using.


Modified by D_Stirls at 5:33 AM 12/15/2009

[D_Stirls]

I even went a took some pic's to satisfy your curiosity;

After 5000 km's (3125 miles)

[T-M]

D: Which AN fittings are you using on your valve cover? I wanna do this to my car, but have no clue which size or number I need to buy. It makes the motor look cleaner. Let me know please.

well i have done 5000 km's with my CAS bracket and backing plate including a fair bit of track work and there hasn't been an problems at all. When we designed the brackets we were very careful to make sure that the CAS spacing was exactally the same as the factory spacing.

Memento, didn't matt include an aluminium bracket with the CAS bracket to hold the CAS wiring. I though that he was including that in the kit. Or as you saying that you need something to go on the end of that bracket to hold the wiring, like the P-Clip that i'm using.



Modified by D_Stirls at 5:33 AM 12/15/2009

[D_Stirls]

The fittings (as far as i can remember, it was 3 years ago i put it together) are speedflow fittings. There is a 1/2" taper thread to -6 adaptor which which is screwed into the cam covers (I taped a 1/2" NPT thread into the covers of course), then attached to that are -6 90 degree push on fittings.If i was doing it again i would probably go up a size to -8 fittings and hose. Also make sure that the hose of filter that you have running from the can are a lot bigger than the two hoses you have feeding it.

Part Numbers:Adaptors = 816-06-08

90 degree Push on Fitting = 403-06

http://www.speedflow.com.au/product_range.html
Modified by D_Stirls at 5:17 PM 12/15/2009

[meminto]

Nah no clip included, but I used an 8mm cable tie anchor point so no biggie...

[themadscientist]

those gears would match my ross damper nicely. I wonder if the bracket can be had in blue as well. I would like the contrast against the polished CAS.

[D_Stirls]

Anything can be anodised (if it's the correct material grade) or powder coated.

[BQ.05.TD]

my cas holder,gears and backing plate have done over 6000km and have not missed a beat yet. no issues wat so ever and my tuner said its the best thing and one has done for a nissan motor. the ease of adjusting the gears is greati mounted my cas wire with a earls c clip

[LEE_08]

I bought one of these off Matt also and might i say the worksmanship is great they are finished to near perfection! like some one else on here said. one of the best after market parts u'll find for a CA18

[1600god]

Are these guys still in business? I've tried to contact them a couple of ways and no reply or response???
PM me if the growly guys read this.

Thanks

[Matej]

Are these guys still in business? I've tried to contact them a couple of ways and no reply or response???
PM me if the growly guys read this.

Interested as well.
It seems that they made a few different versions, but I am specifically looking to purchase the style that meminto has, with the peep hole and no logo.


I do hope they still make them, as it is definitely one of the best parts ever created for the CA.

[dash]

as it is definitely one of the best parts ever created for the CA

except that such a nice part is still 'buillt around' finicky (and diminishing supply) 23 year old CAS's and failure prone exhaust cam splines
crank trigger, megasquirt, etc may qualify as "best parts ever"

[themadscientist]

It simply replaces a factory part which was not problematic in the first place. I think the best product ever for the CA18 is aftermarket rods.

[dash]

yeah, stock covers r fine as long as alignment dowels in place. This holder is 4 bling
misaligned covers claimed a bunch of CAS and exhaust cam half moon/splines.... affecting availability
nimerous post of having trouble finding 'good' replacements
add the folks that have posted issues with CAS itself failing. Replacing with another CAS fixed it

ca18 rods seem fine n proven to take a beating in some hairy setups. Prep, bolts n rebore make oe rods war-ready
Oiling problems, wear, abuse will kill any rod bearing. CA18 more prone than others

[Matej]

as it is definitely one of the best parts ever created for the CA

except that such a nice part is still 'buillt around' finicky (and diminishing supply) 23 year old CAS's and failure prone exhaust cam splines
crank trigger, megasquirt, etc may qualify as "best parts ever"

Someone actually put the effort into making a niche part for an old motor, which is why I think it is neat. I am not a fan of how the CAS is attached to the front cover from the factory, and this bracket attaches it solidly to the head, similar to the VG and RB.

However, the more I contemplate it, the more I want to get rid of the CAS altogether. Is there a way to do so and still use the factory ECU? Or would the only solution be a complete system such as MegaSquirt? I know the MegaSquirt would be nifty, but I really have no aspirations of building a motor that would necessitate aftermarket management, other than for getting rid of the CAS.

I am also curious about this setup.

[themadscientist]

If you are going to lose the CAS lose the cam mounted timing all together. Trigger wheel on the crank is better, no chance for belt slap causing spark scatter.

[tommey]

Agreed, i myself like to have both.
The one on the cam only for sync.

The CAS holder is just for show and hardly qualifies as "best product"

[mdb4879]

Actually, the best thing ever made for the CA is the Garrett GTXreallybigfingturboR... IMO

[themadscientist]

I remember back in the day people were all hot and bothered about starchy vegetables dancing on a lighted floor.

[float_6969]

They still are, only now they're Organic Vegetables.