Jakerx

ok some questions...for about $450 bucks i can get a webcam camshaft they said adds 8-10 hp on my n/a...is that a good deal compared to just getting my camshaft ground and refinished and all?

and also, what exactly does making a crankshaft lighter do?

Jay W

Grinding a cam changes the lift and duration of the opening of the valves which will change the performance of the engine. Its not done to lighten it.

Jay W

Oops just read a little closer. Grinding a crankshaft is done to remove scratches and imperfections on the bearing mating surfaces. Once again it is not done to lighten it in most cases, just to make it usable.

Jakerx

well i talked to castilla cranks in california and they said their race crankshaft is 10 lbs lighter than stock...i was just wondering...are you sure weight doesn't make a difference?

hacker-pschorr

Please read this thread if your considering welded cams, the don't work too good in 928's. I don't see why a 944 would be any different:

https://rennlist.com/forums/showthre...highlight=cams

Jakerx

well i don't think i would have a problem with a webcam camshaft or a john milledge camshaft...the ones in the thread seem to be the poorly grinded ones from the "performance" shops...

Jakerx

o ya...castilla crankshafts...i was recommended them by webcam...

hacker-pschorr

They are welded cams, that is where the problem is. The type of metal Porsche used on the 944/928 do not weld very well.

DanG

I have the second best aftermarket cam for an NA 8-valve. Its from Elgin, and it is the same part that JM dyno tested when comparing his cam to the rest of the industry.

So Milledge cam = #1. Elgin cam = #2 (probably by a fair margin). If you can afford the Milledge cam, go for it. He's the best in the industry, and starts from a blank, rather than just regrinding a stock cam and using lash caps like most (all?) the other performance cams for 944s.

BTW- Elgin cam = no appreciable change in performance. If there are any gains in hp, then it lost it in torque at the bottom for sure. Stock cam is certainly good enough for any non-racing 944. If you need more power, get it other ways.

Mongo

Though I do agree about the material that Porsche used being different and unreccommended for welding, I had never heard of any complaints about Webcam regrinds before. If you do get a cam grind, be sure you know where you want your powerband at before ordering the grind.


Some of the local Porsche club guys had cams in their cars ranging from a .430-.450 lift and the cars had no low end performance, mid-high rpms the cars were powerful than stock. a .450" is great if you want power above 4300 rpm and its noticeable. You'll get that smile on your face as well as enjoy the loping your motor makes.....only down side would be gas mileage. I'd like to do a mild cam (.450" mild to me ) someday on my car since I enjoyed riding around in one that did have one

Andy

Geo

Do you have dyno results to back this up or are you just using a butt dyno. Butt dynos are notoriously inaccurate.

Matt H

You asked two questions.

1) if your cam is hosed then buy a new one, for most applications it wont matter. Ideally you would have a billet cam ground with custom lobes matched to the intake and other mods (i.e. cam without the rest is not going to gain a whole lote, maybe 8HP, usually upper end)

2) Grinding a crank is usually done on these cars when they lose a bearing. I DO NOT recommend lightening the crank on a stock car. I do recommend lightening assemblies as a unit and having them balanced. I had it on my last NA and hated it (combined with lightweight flywheel)
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Danno

"Do you have dyno results to back this up or are you just using a butt dyno. Butt dynos are notoriously inaccurate."

yeah, if you got that 8-10hp increase as claimed, you definitely won't feel it. Only the dyno will show this increase. You're gonna get a +/- 1-3 HP variation on the dyno between runs as it is.

DanG

My car has never been on a dyno. I called up Milledge, asked if he had any discounted cams. He said none of his, but he did have one of each of his competitors used for benchmarking. He cut me a deal (as they were "used" once for his comparison) and gave me the best of the bunch.

So no, I don't know actual stats. Milledge might, I don't know if they're on his website or something. I'd be curious to see what my car makes, but I'd rather drop $100 at a track than a dyno shop.

Camgrinder

DanG, What part number Elgin cam do you have? We have more than one camshaft for the N/A 2v engine. If you had to use lash caps on yours, it was not our normal N/A grind. I remember a few experimental cams he tried about 6 years ago.....but I never heard how they worked out.

As for welded 944 and 928 cams, the material in German chill cast cams welds fine. If there was a material problem in the cam core, you would have a cracking problem. This is not happening.
The above referenced thread on welded 928 cams did not involve an Elgin cam.

I have new castings for 944 2V engines. Chill cast, the same ones....