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EURO CAMS!


MY1PATH
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Hey folks just a heads up, 4x4parts.com sells the euro cams that fit the vg30 and vg33. I was not aware of this until now and the price is pretty good for a set of brand new cams ground from billet. This is a factory nissan part.

 

These are the same cams I am running in my 10:1 vg33+

 

The ad states 5% increase in power but it is probably more like 10-15% in a 3.3 compared to its baby cams. You also benefit in having a flatter top end of the torque curve.

 

https://www.4x4parts.com/nissan/euro-cams-p-423.html

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Thanks for the heads up! :aok:

 

 

new cams ground from billet.

BTW, that always makes me chuckle when I see it: billet. Billet is one piece of rolled material, as opposed to cast material. Something machined out of billet is cut out of a raw chunk, plate or rod. There can be a lot of material waste from this process and it is not necessarily stronger regardless of heat treat due to lack of work hardening and/or grain structure orientation.

The cams are made out of a forging, ie raw material that is formed in to the aproximate shape, then machined, heat treated and finish machined/ground. Far more efficient and stronger.

Check out the cams and see how much of it appears to have a raw stock look, just the journals and cams are ground... ;)

 

B

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WOW! Those have skyrocketed in price since the last time I looked at them!

 

They used to be $175

Yeah you are right...I was looking at those cams there about 4 months ago and they were $200 then.

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Hmm. I really want these but I just can't justify it still since shipping to Canada from 4x4parts is ridiculous.... i can get first gen z31 cams for quite a bit cheaper at the jy and they are .393 lift with 252/252 duration, local pick a part charges 10$ per cam.

I'll use them on my vg33 until a more affordable option comes along to Canada. It's a shame! Really love the results of that set of cams

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Thanks for the heads up! :aok:

 

BTW, that always makes me chuckle when I see it: billet. Billet is one piece of rolled material, as opposed to cast material. Something machined out of billet is cut out of a raw chunk, plate or rod. There can be a lot of material waste from this process and it is not necessarily stronger regardless of heat treat due to lack of work hardening and/or grain structure orientation.

The cams are made out of a forging, ie raw material that is formed in to the aproximate shape, then machined, heat treated and finish machined/ground. Far more efficient and stronger.

Check out the cams and see how much of it appears to have a raw stock look, just the journals and cams are ground... ;)

 

B

Yes, your right B

I think the common phrase cams ground from billet is a layman's term (actually a bastardization as you pointed out) to describe a cam that was ground from an original cam blank (usually a hardened casting) and has no limitations maintaining the original base circle with respect to the desired lift (as long as it fits in the head).

Whereas a reground cam often suffers (unless welded and ground) a smaller base circle to proportionally increase the lift and relies on the lifters to make up for the difference.

 

The factory cams, NisMo cams and the JWT cams are ground from original cam blanks.

Edited by MY1PATH
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Price just went up 50 bucks. They must of realized someone advertised in a forum and expected people to buy.

 

Are these actual Nissan cams? I through maybe they were aftermarket.

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Price just went up 50 bucks. They must of realized someone advertised in a forum and expected people to buy.

 

Are these actual Nissan cams? I through maybe they were aftermarket.

The price is the same as the minute I posted here ($250)

Euro Cams are Nissan cams. They came stock in european z31t.

They should have come stock in very vg3x

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When I looked a few weeks ago I swore they were $200 so I thought they stayed the same.

 

What I meant, are these actually from Nissan? Or did a aftermarket company make these and they are calling them Euro cams. $250 from Nissan seems cheap.

Edited by Trogdor636
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Can i reuse the cams from my VG30 on the VG33? Or would it be easier/better to get new cams...and what else would I need to change with the cams?

 

You can reuse stock 3.0 cams in a 3.3! that's the cheapest way to upgrade the cams in a 3.3 when doing a 3.3 swap.

I highly recommend it over leaving the stock 3.3 cams in there.

 

 

When I looked a few weeks ago I swore they were $200 so I thought they stayed the same.

 

What I meant, are these actually from Nissan? Or did a aftermarket company make these and they are calling them Euro cams. $250 from Nissan seems cheap.

 

Why wouldn't they be? I got mine directly from directly from Nissan for $200 a few years ago.

I'm pretty sure they are from Nisssan but you can call and ask if you have any doubts

Edited by MY1PATH
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No, only the European VG30s had them along with better flowing exhaust and more aggressive ECU tuning. The VG30ETs put out 240hp over there, here its only 200hp.

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i'd like to use the Euro cams but will prolly just reuse my cams then. Man, my VG30 can't get out of its own way now. Almost no power anymore. Thinm my cat may be getting plugged though. It's coming out on Monday since my exhaust is about to fall off anyway.

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i'd like to use the Euro cams but will prolly just reuse my cams then. Man, my VG30 can't get out of its own way now. Almost no power anymore. Thinm my cat may be getting plugged though. It's coming out on Monday since my exhaust is about to fall off anyway.

eXHAUST leaks are a huge source for lost power.

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Hey MY1PATH, completely off topic but I see you have a big thumper, '79 yamaha xt 500. I have a '79 honda xr 500 i'm fixing up. Both are cool bikes.

 

Now back to your regularly scheduled programming. :lol:

 

And yes, i'm sure my exhaust leaks are contributing to the loss of power.

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  • 6 months later...

Can anyone give me an idea of the difference in power I would see if I use my VG30E cams instead of Euro Cams in the VG33E heads I'm getting?

 

perhaps more importantly,

 

Is the power delivered using the euro cams, enough to justify buying them from 4x4parts instead of using the cams out of my VG30E heads?

 

Thanks,

 

TXpower

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I think it is absolutely worth it. But worth it is all relative. So let me try to give you some perspective.

 

A stock vg33e is 180 HP (R50 pathfinder, xterra, frontier)

A stock vg33er is 210 HP (Supercharged xterra and Supercharged frontier)

My VG33+ is also about 210 (NOT supercharged)

 

The differences in my vg33+ vs a stock vg33e include 10:1 compression ratio (more torque and throttle response especially when done with cams), port worked heads (better flow Potential) Increased quench zone (better VE and runs better on leaner fuel) Headers (more HP and Torque) Euro Cams (more HP and Torque from ~2500 RPM UP) and 2.5* Cam timing Retard (shifts the the power upward a little)

Although this seems like allot of modifications I would say 80-90% of the all out power gains came from Cams and headers. The rest of the mods mostly define, how it drives between idle and peak.

In other words, if you just did euro cams and headers, you would probably make about 200hp but your throttle response, MPG and acceleration characteristics would be different than mine.
This build was targeting a 200hp torquey motor that would be a great Daily driver for a family car. And I does exactly that (only it didn't wind up in the family car lol)

It drives great, you don't have to downshift to take the mountain passes and it gets about the same or better MPG as a stock motor as long as you don't romp on it. And I can say I put more to the wheels than a stock 3.0 puts to the crank.

I know its not a straight answer but Hopefully it helps.

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Excellent answer, very clear and concise. Can you explain the VG33+ designation? You running stock VG33e pistons? Sorry, I'm still learning. What I'm looking for is exactly what you described in terms of power, torque, mpg, fun driving etc.

 

Thanks,

 

TXPower

Edited by TXPower
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I did the forbidden and Milled .070" off the heads. This is the cheapest way to arrive at a higher CR and it also increases the area of your quench zones. Now Because the heads are moving down closer to the crank it retards the timing because of the slack in the T-blet. A .050" head shave will retard your cams by 1.17 degrees which is nothing to worry about probably runs better that way anyway; My excessive head shave retarded me 1.65 degrees and I find it runs really well at this timing. (using adjustable cam gears I played with different cam timings as well)
0.070" is the most you can take off before you nick the intake valve seat and that's why I tried it. BUT it also leads some intake manifold fitting and sealing problems because the heads sit closer so the manifold catches on the sides of the heads, the studs bind in the manifold and the holes have to be slotted making it ... Long story short 0.070" is too much but I made it work. I was very close to just scraping the heads and starting over.

 

I did a test fit with 0.050" and it works well, CR is more like 9.75:1 but assembly is more trouble free and I really should have left it at .050". To get the best alignment of parts here You should use the 3.0 Lower manifold with the thinner 3.3 lower manifold gaskets. Also, when you shave the heads it puts more slack in the timing belt so the sleeve on the tensioner must be replaced with a sleeve that is 2.5" OD. Then I worked the rest of the heads in the same way as Mr.510 did here http://www.nissanpathfinders.net/forum/topic/31418-building-a-vg34-and-installing-it-in-my-88-pathy/ and put it all together using his pulley adapter.

Edited by MY1PATH
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Lastly, once all assembled and running I found my High CR throttle response was really snappy and I needed to tame it a bit. The Factory Nissan throttle linkages have a ramp to it to flip the throttle faster in the beginning and slower as as it opens wider. I modified this for a constant slow rate from start to finish, smooths out my driving a little bit...
th_Cablepath_zps66cfbc97.jpg

 

Edited by MY1PATH
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