Welded Camshafts for regrinding

General engine tech -- Drag Racing to Circle Track

Moderator: Team

donforeman
Member
Member
Posts: 163
Joined: Mon Feb 02, 2015 11:04 pm
Location: Medford OR
Contact:

Welded Camshafts for regrinding

Post by donforeman »

I have 70s 1.2L Civic I am redoing for SCCA vintage racing. It's not really that fast with only about 100 hp at the wheels, but it does OK in its class with the Mg Midgets and Sprites. Speed parts used to be available, but now are getting really hard to find. I had two new semi machined cast cam blanks i purchased from King Motorsports in the 90s. I sent one to Schneider cams a few years ago and spent about 30 minutes on the phone with the tech guy specifically telling him what I wanted and this was not a street car. They ground a very mild street grind into my new cam blank being lazy and not paying attention to my request, basically ruining the blank for my use. So that leaves me with just one cam blank left to try again. Not sure I want to risk that one at this point. Some people say that the original cams can be welded up and reground others say it's not a great alternative finding a new blank. What is the scoop on welding cast cams to end up with a usable core for grinding? I keep looking for new blanks but so far none in anyone's stock I can find. If the oem cam is reground without welding and the base circle reduced the rockers get all messed up geometry wise so really I don't want to do that either.

Image
Truckedup
Guru
Guru
Posts: 2728
Joined: Mon Jan 21, 2013 2:41 pm
Location: Finger Lakes

Re: Welded Camshafts for regrinding

Post by Truckedup »

Call Colt Cams in British Columbia , Canada. They build custom cams to customer specs,often welding lobes.I had them do a cam for me years ago..
https://coltcams.com
Another cam grinder I dealt with was Oregon Cams. They do a lot of odd ball vintage grinds...I don't know if they do one off cams.
Motorcycle land speed racing... wearing animal hides and clinging to vibrating oily machines propelled by fire
donforeman
Member
Member
Posts: 163
Joined: Mon Feb 02, 2015 11:04 pm
Location: Medford OR
Contact:

Re: Welded Camshafts for regrinding

Post by donforeman »

Thanks for the advice. I had one colt cam done about 2001. Geoff is a nice guy. He will grind the cam, but its a smaller base circle with messed up rocker geometry. Good luck getting a cam card out of them to degree the thing also or even basic specs like lobe centers. That's why I went with Schneider this time, they gave me a real cam card and using the core it got a factory base circle diameter, the problem is they ground a cam that was totally different than what was asked for. Very mild as in 216 at .050 I think finding someone to weld up the factory core before grinding may be my best shot, just incase someone grinds the "wrong" specs again.
pdq67
Guru
Guru
Posts: 9841
Joined: Thu Mar 04, 2010 8:05 pm
Location:

Re: Welded Camshafts for regrinding

Post by pdq67 »

Where is, "Camking", at?

pdq67
User avatar
CamKing
Guru
Guru
Posts: 10709
Joined: Wed Aug 08, 2007 4:05 pm
Location: Denver, NC
Contact:

Re: Welded Camshafts for regrinding

Post by CamKing »

We don't mess with welded cams. You could try Webcam in California.

We make custom billet cores, but have a 10 piece minimum order, for something like this.
Mike Jones
Jones Cam Designs

Denver, NC
jonescams@bellsouth.net
http://www.jonescams.com
Jones Cam Designs' HotPass Vendors Forum: viewforum.php?f=44
(704)489-2449
bill jones
Guru
Guru
Posts: 2649
Joined: Sun Sep 05, 2004 6:38 pm
Location: salt lake city, ut
Contact:

Re: Welded Camshafts for regrinding

Post by bill jones »

---Dema Elgin and John Dougherty have both done a lot of cam welding
---Dema's website has a pretty good story about it all

---I don't know for sure if they are still busy doing cams these days

---John 's web page is drcamshafts.com
---Dema's web page is elgincam.com
pdq67
Guru
Guru
Posts: 9841
Joined: Thu Mar 04, 2010 8:05 pm
Location:

Re: Welded Camshafts for regrinding

Post by pdq67 »

Might consider here..

"Camshaft | Engine Cam | Camshaft Repair - Delta Cam
https://www.deltacam.com
Cam Shaft complete needs at Delta Camshaft. Call (800) 562-5500 for engine cam work. Camshaft repair for every situation. Call (800) 562-5500 today!"

pdq67
Chris_Hamilton
Pro
Pro
Posts: 316
Joined: Sun May 24, 2015 11:50 pm
Location:

Re: Welded Camshafts for regrinding

Post by Chris_Hamilton »

You may have better luck finding sources on some of the Japanese oriented forums like http://japanesenostalgiccar.com

Japan has a lot of parts that aren't available here in the US and can be hard to find searching on the web due to how google filters search results and the language barrier.

This guy (name escapes me atm) is Japanese and has restored vintage Honda's and Subaru's along with more common Japanese stuff. He's based in the LA area. If there is a source for camshafts in Japan he would be able to find them and import them for you. I have gotten several hard to find things here in the US from him for a 240Z. He's reputable.

https://jdm-car-parts.com
Tech Support (310-308-8986)
High quality metal, body and paint work
http://www.spiuserforum.com/index.php?t ... inia.9030/
Truckedup
Guru
Guru
Posts: 2728
Joined: Mon Jan 21, 2013 2:41 pm
Location: Finger Lakes

Re: Welded Camshafts for regrinding

Post by Truckedup »

Well, I guess Colt Cams is not so wonderful.....Web Cams......ordered two sets of cams from them for my dual motorcycle engine land speed racer...Ohv ,separate intake and exhaust cam for each engine.I had to send in cores for welding, but they are a catalog grind..They were like robots on the phone..One set of cams was way out of spec, more conversations with robots... I sent them back, there were redone, they never offered to pay the shipping from me to them .Both cam sets were the same and 5 degrees short on duration .But the workmanship was good.
Cam cards? Nice to look at but if you don't have one it's easy to find lobe centers ...
Motorcycle land speed racing... wearing animal hides and clinging to vibrating oily machines propelled by fire
donforeman
Member
Member
Posts: 163
Joined: Mon Feb 02, 2015 11:04 pm
Location: Medford OR
Contact:

Re: Welded Camshafts for regrinding

Post by donforeman »

Thank you all for the information and the recommendations. It sounds like my best shot is finding 10 others people with 1.2 civics that want a quality cam on a custom blank. I did mess with Delta Cams a little but for some reason, again the cams would come back different than what I ordered. I ordered a hydraulic roller with 108 lc for a Street/Strip Mustang back in the late 90's and it came with a 113LC. I called them, they told me to run it and I would like it as is. I sold it untouched at a swap meet and after a few of these types of problems with them I have not used them since. Maybe after 20 years they have better people taking orders and grinding?
S10LS2
Member
Member
Posts: 115
Joined: Tue Dec 17, 2013 3:25 pm
Location:

Re: Welded Camshafts for regrinding

Post by S10LS2 »

Try Tim Iskenderian at small engine camshafts. He seems to do all sorts of odd ball requests. 1-4 cylinder stuff.
donforeman
Member
Member
Posts: 163
Joined: Mon Feb 02, 2015 11:04 pm
Location: Medford OR
Contact:

Re: Welded Camshafts for regrinding

Post by donforeman »

Truckedup wrote: Mon Aug 10, 2020 1:13 pm Cam cards? Nice to look at but if you don't have one it's easy to find lobe centers ...
If a business is so lazy they make they customer find out the specs after they ordered it and install it, I can't see them taking much care with anything else. That is my thoughts anyway.
Truckedup
Guru
Guru
Posts: 2728
Joined: Mon Jan 21, 2013 2:41 pm
Location: Finger Lakes

Re: Welded Camshafts for regrinding

Post by Truckedup »

Perhaps...but I'm thinking the stuff you work on is like mine, otherwords ,you're on your own with cam timing. I can't remember if the Colt cam came with a timing card...
Motorcycle land speed racing... wearing animal hides and clinging to vibrating oily machines propelled by fire
dhidaka
Member
Member
Posts: 118
Joined: Sun Jul 25, 2010 10:19 pm
Location:

Re: Welded Camshafts for regrinding

Post by dhidaka »

WebCams produces a nice hardweld product. The last person I talked with in sales is female and she knows the product. Grinds are available that are not in their catalog. Just ask. She sent me a list with timing specs for the parameters I requested.
KnightEngines
Guru
Guru
Posts: 2682
Joined: Fri Jan 09, 2009 8:51 pm
Location: Australia

Re: Welded Camshafts for regrinding

Post by KnightEngines »

Tighe cams in Australia will scratch make you a cam blank for pretty much anything, they'll do 1 off's no problem.
Post Reply