I have had many requests and PM's about why I advise against buying or having your stock cams reground. No company makes H23 billet cams they only do regrinds for now. But this advice follows all engines and anyone considering reground or new cams cams should look at this...
Ok you asked for it...
New camshafts are produced from all new castings. In order to meet the high demands of aftermarket use (or abuse if you will), new cam castings usually have a higher chromium and nickel content when compared to the OE material. This better quality raw material is the foundation of a long lasting dependable cam.
Long term resistance to wear is aided by heat treating the surfaces of a cam. Most OE cams have a thin layer of induction hardening. These hardened layers of a "used" OE cam may be worn thin during it's first life. When a used cam is re-ground, much (or all) of the hardened surface can be removed resulting in a less than ideal situation.
Most engines have an ignition distributor that is driven off of the camshaft. Stable ignition timing can only be achieved if there is a proper mating of the distributor "driven" gear and the cam "drive" gear. Unfortunately the distributor drive gear on a "used" cam cannot be reconditioned when a camshaft is reground. Using a reground cam with a worn distributor drive gear can cause exhaust emission problems and poor engine performance.
Cam lobe profile (the actual shape of the lobe) is a critical part of valve train operation and engine performance. New camshafts are produced on CNC machines that can duplicate the same profile, part after part. The production of new camshafts is monitored by using SPC (statistical process control). By analyzing SPC data from daily production, all processes and results can be maintained to assure consistent quality.
Used cams are mostly re-ground on manually operated equipment. The total outcome of this type of process (manual operation) depends on operator skill and consistency.
There isn't much that can be done with the bearing journals of a used cam. After the lobes of a used cam are re-ground, the journals are polished to a slightly undersized condition. Unfortunately these undersized cam journals can lead to excessive oil clearance. This additional oil clearance can result in lower overall engine oil pressure. If a "new"" cam is used, you can be assured that the journals are of the proper size and no oil pressure will be sacrificed.
Okay, some very good points. But I'm about out of useful boltons. I don't want to spend thousands on boost and I don't trust N20. So what's my next step here, I need more power. I have an extra set of cams that only have about 6K on them. Is this still a bad idea for me?
My mods are:
i/h/e/ply/short shifter, nice plugs/wires/full tune up/all scheduled maintenance complete. Not fast enough. The only other things I can think of are a polished intake manifold and a larger throttle body and maybe a fuel pressure regulator. I'm also sending an extra set of injectors to RC for balancing and blue printing if it's actually worth it.
Originally posted by slo mo There goes any plans for building a H23 N/A monster. I guess I'll have to settle for boost!
Join the club... I had to come to this ugly realization about a year ago, when I found that nobody makes good N/A parts for H23s, besides the obvious bolt-ons that everybody has, anyway.
J
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Jason (AIM-->JDMSLICK96, or MSN IM-->JDMSLICK96)... For SALE: Recaro SRD Limited Edition seats, VTEC sub enclosure w/ Kicker 6x9 Free Air subwoofer (& free amp). PM w/ offers. Rest In Eternal Peace, Capt Derek Argel, Capt Jeremy Fresques, Pfc Chris Hill, & Sgt John House (all lost to Iraqi conflict).
Anybody want to buy my Lude? (Will sell in either stock or fairly modded trim).
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