Are your cams in sync?

[8upZR1]

Much has been said about the benefits of syncronizing cam timing on an LT5. Haibec's web site has a really nice article. Some guy I know through mustang racing ( they are faster you know) showed me his ultra quick method of checking whether or not the cams on his motors are degreed evenly from side to side. I have used it on my SOHC 4.6 Mustang and he uses it on his DOHC 4.6 motors. It will work all the same on an LT5. It doesn't really tell you the exact timing but it does let you know if you are close. Here it is:

Run a compression test on your motor and average the numbers on each side. If your motor is relatively healthy the difference in pumping pressure will be mostly due to differences in cam timing from side to side. If the averages are close then your cam timing is close from side to side. If it is significantly different then most likely your cam timing is out of sync, or you have no rings on 1 piston.

If you do this with the motor apart you can dial in the cams to be in sync without degreeing till you need IV fluids. For best results leave the bank that makes the lowest compression numbers alone and dial in the cams on the side that makes higher copmpression. The guy was telling me about his sure fire method of adjusting the intake first and then the exhaust and then back to the.........whatever I was thinking about my SOHC motor at the time and didn't think to pay attention to his ramblings about which cam to adjust first. I think it was intake, or maybe it was exhaust. Probably both in the end.

Anyway this is the method. For me and my SOHC this is a lot easier for adjustment purposes, but for LT5's this could be a viable way to check whether or not cam timing is in sync. Even my motor, as F'd as it is, pumps relatively even numbers from side to side. If you are bored one day and want to know, try it out.