B20 camshaft

[jamie]

has anyone used an ipd cam, they offer two, street and performance?
Has anyone had actual experience of using a K or R cam?
Has anyone used a cam that has the low down tractability like the D cam and the upper pulling of the R cam?
Thank you for your time
Amazon1954

[tdz840]

Hi
You need to speak with Rob Henchoz of Amazon cars; he certainly is very knowledgable when it comes to the B18/20 engine.
What he told me was the K cam has all the advantages of the D but the engine is more tractable above 6000RPM.
The R cam as far as I am aware operates further up the rev range and is not that suitable for street use.
As I say talk with Rob - he will put you right.
Russ

[TimB]

I recently bought a P1800 B20 with an R cam. Driving it home down the motorway and fast A roads it fairly flew and sounded great....however, over the subsequent months it drove me mad as it just would not idle smoothly and power really only came in at over 3,00rpm. It was virtually undrivable through traffic. I would absolutely NOT recommend an 'R' cam for anything other than competition use. (Doesn't 'R' stand for Racing after all?) I tried everything to make certain it was the cam, ie. changing distributor, timing, carb settings, all the usual suspects. Once I was certain it was the cam and changed it to a new standard 'C' type. Car was transformed, smooth tickover and plenty of power, above all it meant the car was drivable in any traffic.

Incedentally, since swopping the cam I have also changed the inlet manifold to the earlier, simpler type without the secondary butterflies and wierd crossover system. This has further improved the smooth running and flexibility of the engine. If I were starting again from a standard engine, I would follow Mike Gilbert's advice and fit the simpler (alloy) inlet mainfold first before considering changing the cam. I think you would be pleasantly surprised by the improvement. This does assume that you have the later inlet manifold to start with.

Good Luck!

[jamie]

Originally Posted by tdz840

Hi
You need to speak with Rob Henchoz of Amazon cars; he certainly is very knowledgable when it comes to the B18/20 engine.
What he told me was the K cam has all the advantages of the D but the engine is more tractable above 6000RPM.
The R cam as far as I am aware operates further up the rev range and is not that suitable for street use.
As I say talk with Rob - he will put you right.
Russ

Thanks for your reply, do you have a contact for Rob Henchoz?
Jamie
PS I did google his name and got his rally results but no telephone number

[TomTom]

www.amazoncars.co.uk

[222s]

Here's a link to his website:

http://www.amazoncars.co.uk/

[jamie]

Originally Posted by TimB

I recently bought a P1800 B20 with an R cam. Driving it home down the motorway and fast A roads it fairly flew and sounded great....however, over the subsequent months it drove me mad as it just would not idle smoothly and power really only came in at over 3,00rpm. It was virtually undrivable through traffic. I would absolutely NOT recommend an 'R' cam for anything other than competition use. (Doesn't 'R' stand for Racing after all?) I tried everything to make certain it was the cam, ie. changing distributor, timing, carb settings, all the usual suspects. Once I was certain it was the cam and changed it to a new standard 'C' type. Car was transformed, smooth tickover and plenty of power, above all it meant the car was drivable in any traffic.

Incedentally, since swopping the cam I have also changed the inlet manifold to the earlier, simpler type without the secondary butterflies and wierd crossover system. This has further improved the smooth running and flexibility of the engine. If I were starting again from a standard engine, I would follow Mike Gilbert's advice and fit the simpler (alloy) inlet mainfold first before considering changing the cam. I think you would be pleasantly surprised by the improvement. This does assume that you have the later inlet manifold to start with.

Good Luck!

Thanks for your advice. The engine is in bits at the moment, but I do have the inlet manifold you mention. I will replace the R cam with a K cam which is dedicated to the injection head which I am using. I was surprised you dropped to the C cam, usually the D cam goes with the twin carb set up as standard. Perhaps you had a reason for that? Let us see how we go with the K cam.

[classicswede]

A cam is for single carb engines
B cam twin carb engines
C cam P1800 and 123 GT
D fuel injection cam
K cam fast road B18 or mild street B20
R cam Very fast road B18 or fast road B20
S & T full race B18 Very fast road B20
U & V full race B20

I hope that explains all the cam profiles

[mike gilbert]

Further to this thread. I have a 1967 1800S with a replacement B20 engine that a previous owner recovered from a low mileage written off 140. How do I ascertain if this is a single carb 140 engine or a twin carb? Does the engine number give this information? It does not have the big valve head so presumably came from a carburettor car but I don't know which one.
Mike

[222s]

Originally Posted by classicswede

A cam is for single carb engines
B cam twin carb engines
C cam P1800 and 123 GT
D fuel injection cam
K cam fast road B18 or mild street B20
R cam Very fast road B18 or fast road B20
S & T full race B18 Very fast road B20
U & V full race B20

I hope that explains all the cam profiles

Very useful - thanks! Would a D or K cam give a slightly lumpy idle? I've no idea what cam is fitted to my twin carb B20 but I've been told that the idle is due to the cam. However, there's still plenty of low down torque, so I doubt it's an R!