The truth about wbx cams

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silverbullet
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The truth about wbx cams

Post by silverbullet »

I had always suspected that the lobes on wbx cams were always less than truly hard, suspecting that they are made from cheap "hardenable" iron rather than the superior chill-cast iron.
On a US type 1 engine builder's website I saw pictures of long-stroke crankshaft clearance being machined into an aftermarket camshaft with ordinary HSS tools...suggesting that they can't have any appreciable hardness at all!
So I pulled a dead VW cam from the bucket o' wbx crap and put it to the Sheffield test. A few strokes of the file:
http://i1103.photobucket.com/albums/g47 ... 0aacsd.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Soft as poop when compared to the near-glass hardness of the cam followers...

I know of only one UK manufacturer that makes flat 4 cams from chill-cast blanks: Newman Cams.
Their "phase 1" 264deg 18/58/58/18 offering looks like a sensible choice, even though it means using a 3-to-4 bolt adaptor and limits oil pump choice to 26mm max...but with a proper oil cooler this shouldnt be a problem.

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