S13 Cam Swap

[1991S13]

I have searched and done a lot of research on swapping cams, but I am still fuzzy on some things and would like to ask some questions...

My primary question is can you put the intake cam (232 degrees) out of an S14 into a S13? I want to know this because I read that a good setup is 248/232, for stock-like lowrange, and improved mid to upper response. When you do this, you would still have to set the intake cam back 4 teeth since it will not be repinned, but would you set the S14 intake cam (now the exhaust cam) at zero or advance/retard it at all? But then again, this may not even be possible, which is why I am asking.

Second, a popular choice seems to be putting the S13 exhaust cam on the intake side (248/248). To my understanding, since I wouldn't be getting the exhaust cam repinned I would just have to set the sprocket on the intake cam back 4 teeth, and Im good to go. Am I correct on this?

Third, after setting up the 248/248, would it help to add larger injectors to compensate for the added amount of air? Or would larger exhaust valves be smart so since there is more air going in there is more air going out, or does that totally defeat the purpose?

Finally, on a NA '91 with just I/H/E and 140,000 miles on it (in good condition-doesn't leak oil, good compression), would this even be worth it?

Thanks in advance for answering my questions, giving me input and your suggestions, and whatever else you may post.
Modified by 1991S13 at 10:57 PM 1/3/2005

[guyaverage]

I've been doing a little bit of searching on this same subject lately. For the 248/232 setup, you dont want the S14 intake cam, you want the S14 exhaust cam (altough they are both 232 anyway). Put the S14 exhaust cam on your S13 exhaust, then take the S13 exhaust and put it on the intake side and set it back 4 teeth.

What kinds of benefit this will see on an S13 I dont know, as I have also wanted to try it but havent yet (anyone have a good cond set of S14 cams they want to get rid of, dirt cheap?), not to mention the only threads I have seen where people have done this are people with S14's or KA-T's. I would be concerned that the 232 exhaust would hurt top end (compared to the S13 248 exhaust), but since I dont go past 5k or so very often anyway I personally wouldnt mind that so much if there really is any benefit to low and mid-range response. I plan on trying it anyway, sooner or later. Not much incentive to go into the garage and tinker when its only 25 degrees even with the door closed. I guess if someone were to throw a cheap set of S14 cams at me I'd do it.

As for the 248/248, my understanding on that is that the benefit is all top end and it hurts low end, which doesnt interest me at all (vert, auto, lots of city driving) so I cant help you there. I would doubt you would need different injectors or anything else to compensate if you did try it.

[1991S13]

Yeah...From what I read it seemed like the 248/248 was most popular, so thats what I think I might experiment with first. I don't know how smart it would be to do a mod like this to a daily driver, so I want to know if it would be a bad idea in that situation. I recently bought the sister car to mine, and Im planning on pulling the engine and start a KA-T project, so maybe this cam experiment might float over to that car. Thanks for your input, I'll let you know how it works (if I can find another s13 exhaust cam soon).