Club 80-90 Forums

As part of my parts sourcing investigation for my 2500E rebuild and the spin-off engine builds that are resulting, I may soon be in a position to supply a "sensible but improved" profile, hydraulic-specific wbx cam that will be ground to suit this engines 24mm diameter cam followers (lifters) as distinct from type 1 cams that are ground to work with bigger diameter mechanical mushroom-head lifters.
Duration will be around the 264 degree mark, designed for standard ratio rockers and with an emphasis on useable torque and mid-range punch, but still capable of running to 5000rpm before starting to tail off.
More in a couple of weeks, once I have had the first small batch in for my own use.
Price-wise they will be well under VW Classic €€€ and made from best quality chill-cast iron, not the cheap hardenable iron that VW used.
These cams will last!
The plan is to supply these with a USA-sourced vernier adaptor enabling your existing cam gear to be reused and the valve timing to be set spot-on.
I wouldn't recommend these going into 1.9 DG engines, they will be best suited to DJ and MV injected motors as well as bigger capacity wbx.
The modest changes to the engine's breathing should be easily handled by the general tolerances within the Digijet/fant system, but some tuning would be advisable to get the best out of these cams once installed, along withbuse of a lambda gauge to ensure that the mixture is correct under all load conditions.

silverbullet wrote:As part of my parts sourcing investigation for my 2500E rebuild and the spin-off engine builds that are resulting, I may soon be in a position to supply a "sensible but improved" profile, hydraulic-specific wbx cam that will be ground to suit this engines 24mm diameter cam followers (lifters) as distinct from type 1 cams that are ground to work with bigger diameter mechanical mushroom-head lifters.
Duration will be around the 264 degree mark, designed for standard ratio rockers and with an emphasis on useable torque and mid-range punch, but still capable of running to 5000rpm before starting to tail off.
More in a couple of weeks, once I have had the first small batch in for my own use.
Price-wise they will be well under VW Classic €€€ and made from best quality chill-cast iron, not the cheap hardenable iron that VW used.
These cams will last!
The plan is to supply these with a USA-sourced vernier adaptor enabling your existing cam gear to be reused and the valve timing to be set spot-on.
I wouldn't recommend these going into 1.9 DG engines, they will be best suited to DJ and MV injected motors as well as bigger capacity wbx.
The modest changes to the engine's breathing should be easily handled by the general tolerances within the Digijet/fant system, but some tuning would be advisable to get the best out of these cams once installed, along withbuse of a lambda gauge to ensure that the mixture is correct under all load conditions.

I just love it when he talks like this!! A WBX that has longevity and power like an EJ 25 is the ultimate!

What about a DJ under a carburettor? And how soon?

Bigger market for dg's, just sayin

DG's dont even like a 2.1 spec cam from what I hear, it just robs what little low speed torque they have and makes them more revvy.
It might work, but then again it might not. Its not a route I am going down right now, I am concentrating on building an honest 130-140bhp, 200Nm efi engine which to my mind is what a T3 needs in modern traffic, as a minimum.
The DJ/MV cam is a very tame low-overlap 10/50/48/0, the DG is even more conservative. The cams I am getting made have 18/58/58/18 timing and should be delivered in the next two weeks.
(Further batches of 5 min will require about 2-3 weeks lead time)
This basic timing was used by loads of UK manufacturers for decades, its a good allrounder and funnily enough served Jaguar from the mid-50's up until the mid-80's! It has enough overlap to scavenge well but without throwing any fresh inlet charge straight down the exhaust.
A more radical step would have been something like a 22/62/62/22 but that is getting a little fruity and we all want efficiency, good mpg and a nice clean idle...
DJ on a carb should be ok, but it depends which carb... if you have a Weber conversion at least it could be rejetted but thats down to you finding a competent rolling road I'm afraid.
FWIW, I have a 2.1 SS running a new Weber 32/34 DMTL (on a modified manifold) that is actually jetted for an LT 2.4, goes ok and mileage is better than I got from the 2E3, the cable choke was a bit of a faff to sort but works well.
The installation worked out a bit tall so would only suit a syncro bus, pritschen or doka. Now surplus to requirememts btw...

silverbullet wrote:... and should be delivered in the next two weeks.

Are all of the ones in your first batch spoken for?

silverbullet wrote: DJ on a carb should be ok, but it depends which carb... if you have a Weber conversion at least it could be rejetted but thats down to you finding a competent rolling road I'm afraid.

I was planning to use the standard 2E3 from my DG. But I've heard that various other cars used the 2E3, but with different jets (I think someone even pointed out the one model that used the same jets as the T25 - was it a Carlton perhaps?). Anyway, do you know enough about the jets in other versions of the 2E3 to suggest which one might suit this cam better?

I *might* have one spare, once they arrive I will pipe up. Not convinced that it will work at all well on a 1.9 though, the short stroke makes them poor cylinder fillers which is why they have such limp timing, otherwise youll just have to rev it all the time and it will be both thirsty and gutless.
I obviously don't want to be associated with that!
I cant tell you anything about 2E3's, after my Weber experiment I have moved on from carbs, it was a bit of fun but efi has been the way forward for over 30 years...
Just remembered that I had the DMTL on a DJ before the SS and that went really well. Until it ran a big end!

silverbullet wrote:I *might* have one spare, once they arrive I will pipe up. Not convinced that it will work at all well on a 1.9 though...

Thank you - I'd like to get first dibs if I can afford it and if it's a sensible choice for my engine. Note that it's not for a 1.9 - it's for a DJ with the carb out of my current DG. If it's likely to be OK with the standard carb for now, I might look into a differently jetted version at a later date. I'm not really interested in the DMTL if it's too tall to go under my camper's engine cover.

The LT 2.4 also used a version of the 2E3 iirc

I'm in definitely for my spare mv

I've been looking for a suitable cam for ages, knew something would turn up eventually !

I was planning to tidy up the ports and gas flow to let it breath better, being the low comp mv I'm after a low to mid-range improvement

silverbullet wrote: The plan is to supply these with a USA-sourced vernier adaptor enabling your existing cam gear to be reused and the valve timing to be set spot-on.

After the initial excitement of seeing your post, I've noticed this. Can you explain what that means to this layman. Will this cam just drop in in place of the stock cam, or am I going to need specialist tools/skills?

it will mean drilling out the rivets that hold your existing gear to the existing camshaft and then fitting the gear to the new cam shaft, which I'm guessing will be a machine screw and locknut arrangement
if you are able to strip and rebuild a wbx then this won't be beyond you but Ian may offer a fitting service too

I see, thanks. That word 'vernier' - does that mean I'll need to adjust the fitting to get the timing right?

I wouldn't recommend drilling them out because the holes need to remain a close fit on the new screws.
Cam is a direct swap but if you have access to modest sized lathe its easier to turn the backs of the rivets off and then just tap them out with a punch.
Failing that then careful application of a grinder to the rivet heads will do.
In either case, work on on the shaft side to avoid marking the alloy gear.

Thanks Ian - I don't have access to a lathe, but I reckon I can cope with getting the rivets out carefully. If there's adjustment needed after fitting the ring gear though, my experience/skills/equipment in this area are 'modest'. I assume this would be done in situ in the engine case, so that crank and cam can be set up together. Or am I making this too complicated?