Measuring A Camshaft To See If It Is What Its Meant To Be

[Pugmanian Devil 1]

Hi,

 

Could someone please tell me how/what the formula/procedure is to measure a camshaft to actually find out if it is what the manufacturers say it is. i.e... for example a piper 285 degree camshaft with 11.49mm of lift how would you measure this (with the cam is out the engine) to verify it has the stated duration and lift (Ignoring the stamp thats on the cam).

 

Regards -T

[Sandy 191]

If you've got a head off the car, set the cam up with a solid follower in the head and an overlength valve (so it's not on the seat), fix a degrees disc solidly on the campulley with a stiff pointer, centred about peak lift and a DTI zero'd on the valve, then you can accurately plot and record the whole profile as desired. Bear in mind to subtract spec clearance from solid profiles.

[petert 601]

As Sandy says, the cam needs to be in a head, opening a follower, to measure the duration. The lift however, can be measured by taking the difference in the X and Y axis of the lobe.