GM 602 crate how to check for a cheater cam?

[JBV-HEADS]

The easiest way to make it fair and cut down on cheating is to restrict air in and out. The carb is a 7448 or 4412 and checked with a gauge. Next you have a butt plug on the exhaust. Usually a 1 7/8 or 2 inch tube 18 inches long connected to the headers on both sides. This acts like an egr setup. It backs the exhaust into the chamber which cools the charge and makes the car act like a giant parachute just came out the back at the saturation point. The but plug doesn’t harm engines and it fact cools them. It’s tested by a loop on a pliers setup that opens in half and must slide the full length of the pipe. If it doesn’t make it, neither do you. You add cast iron heads and blocks. Weight the cars, do a visual, and check the 2 ends. Tech is over. Now try to figure a way to gain more than a slight advantage with the controlled air. It goes to the basic design of an engine which is nothing but an air pump with heated, expanded air. Have fun beating this simple tech . Good luck,

Joe

[In-Tech]

The easiest way to make it fair and cut down on cheating is to restrict air in and out. The carb is a 7448 or 4412 and checked with a gauge. Next you have a butt plug on the exhaust. Usually a 1 7/8 or 2 inch tube 18 inches long connected to the headers on both sides. This acts like an egr setup. It backs the exhaust into the chamber which cools the charge and makes the car act like a giant parachute just came out the back at the saturation point. The but plug doesn’t harm engines and it fact cools them. It’s tested by a loop on a pliers setup that opens in half and must slide the full length of the pipe. If it doesn’t make it, neither do you. You add cast iron heads and blocks. Weight the cars, do a visual, and check the 2 ends. Tech is over. Now try to figure a way to gain more than a slight advantage with the controlled air. It goes to the basic design of an engine which is nothing but an air pump with heated, expanded air. Have fun beating this simple tech . Good luck,

Joe

I bet there could be some cam development to reduce the egr effect, that's why they make inconel exhaust valves for small blocks, it ain't just for blown marine

[CamKing]

The easiest way to make it fair and cut down on cheating is to restrict air in and out. The carb is a 7448 or 4412 and checked with a gauge. Next you have a butt plug on the exhaust. Usually a 1 7/8 or 2 inch tube 18 inches long connected to the headers on both sides. This acts like an egr setup. It backs the exhaust into the chamber which cools the charge and makes the car act like a giant parachute just came out the back at the saturation point. The but plug doesn’t harm engines and it fact cools them. It’s tested by a loop on a pliers setup that opens in half and must slide the full length of the pipe. If it doesn’t make it, neither do you. You add cast iron heads and blocks. Weight the cars, do a visual, and check the 2 ends. Tech is over. Now try to figure a way to gain more than a slight advantage with the controlled air. It goes to the basic design of an engine which is nothing but an air pump with heated, expanded air. Have fun beating this simple tech . Good luck,

Joe

I bet there could be some cam development to reduce the egr effect, that's why they make inconel exhaust valves for small blocks, it ain't just for blown marine

Earlier exhaust opening, more exhaust area, and less overlap.

That would pick up the top end power, and hold it longer, and that took me a whole 30 seconds to figure out.

[RW TECH]

IMHO,

The best thing to do is tell everyone to bring whatever they have & put all of them on a 8" wide hockey puck tire that durometers high when it's new. This includes sniffer testing & impound.

That way the big power will hinder them on regular nights of racing & the promoter can run occasional events where the guys can throw the gum-ball slicks & side boards on then let it rip.

To me there's nothing better than watching a guy with a $45K SB2.2 run in the middle or back while the guy with the cast iron enduro motor is running in the front every week.

[JBV-HEADS]

Mike,

That’s about 15 seconds longer than I thought . Just kidding .


I would have expected compression as the first guess. Cheating the cam ramps and then anti-revision in the exhaust. Unfortunately these are the items any good builder would have attacked and the advantage would have been lost. They are very simple rules that are easy to tech. they limit anyone from getting too far ahead. There is one major downside. They work too good. A sponsor puts money up for advertising and expects to get more back in return. An engine builder puts his sign out and sponsors a class he is dominate in. all this to bring in more business. Now he is unable to give that large advantage to his clients. Joe Blow down the street might be a tad slower but very competitive. Why would someone want to pay the big bucks to be marginally faster. He still can’t pass anyone blocking or make up for a mistake. The businessman pulls his money because he is not making any return on it. So the promoter now pulls the rules. Back to square one. Its going on right now.

Another problem that caught me by surprise. Racers really don’t want rules. Locally we had been getting tighter and tighter, and better and better on tech. The class was getting smaller and smaller. This during the good times. The promoter said the hell with all the bitchin and opened the rules up. Only 4412 carb, cast iron heads and block, weight and rear percentage, any fuel, and the class has grown for 2 years during the recession. So what racers say and what they want, are two very different things. Go figure. I don’t think there is a real answer as racers really don’t know what they want, and it surly isn’t what they say. Good luck,

Joe

PS. Tires do work.

[ZIGGY]

I don't disagree that hard tires are way of limiting hp/$ but no panacea. I know from first-hand
experience how much more we can get down on dirt through hard 8in. tires with the (relatively) more
sophisticated suspensions/$ that have made their way on to the cars. Not to mention the constantly
evolving smaller & cheaper traction control devices. JBV appears to be a sharp guy and successful racer
and I'm sure he got that way by always thinking and working to go faster no matter what limitations are
imposed by the rules. Not directly contravening the rules, just working them to the max. For me, that's
one of the biggest attractions of racing. Somebody will always figure a way...