RB26 cam regrinding

[Rowdyr32]

Ther is still a $600 plus difference in price and there is nothing saying that you won't have to reshims the valves anyway. Just because the clearances are fine on the standard cam doesn't mean the will work on all aftermarket cams even though the a/m cam should go closer to bolting straight in. To save $600 plus dollar in a week seems ok to me. I'm not after massive lift or duration just something that will work a little better and I can do it all myself.

[Fitzpatrick Speed Works]

yeah i know its the ramp rate but on a profile used in a rb26 anything over 9.5mm lift usually has over 264 degrees and this will cause the standard valve springs some greif, but i was generalising just to save explanation..... Also If you do buy after market cams i would stick with either HKS or Apexi as both of these I have worked on have had a base circle of 33mm same as standard (actually standard is 32.6mm once i measured with micrometers so is HKS and Apexi)... The Jun and tomie high lift cams I have worked with both have a base circle of 30.6mm, so they need shimming and unfortunately the biggest non aftermarket shim available in 12.3mm od. is 3.5mm which isnt big enough so you will need to get a set made or buy some from the cam manufacturer!!!

RB 26 heads are expensive no matter what you do as the time involved is a killer, it takes me nearly a day to set tapet clearences with new shims or cams, maybe Im slow though???!!!

[proengines]

Gareth, with most new billets your clearances are going to be very close as the base circle is the same as STD so you probably can get away without changing many shims at all. Most of the time you will only need to adjust by .001-.002 and can usually swap shims around to do it so you might not need to buy any shims at all.

I agree, if you're doing all the work yourself you will save money using regrinds. I'm thinking of it from the position of doing the job for someone and them paying me the labour to do it at an hourly rate.

The other thing that might be worth considering is just fitting an exhaust cam with more lift and duration, say 256 duration and 9.1mm lift. It will up the exhaust flow which is a little low percentage wise compared to the inlet and will give you a noticeable improvement.

[Turbo1958]

I recomend that you give wade cams a ring .. they are about the best in town for regrinding ..

How much extra lift is it possible to get out of stock rb26 cams by regrinding them and also being able to achive the right durations as well? I was thinking that if I was to change the cams with other ones the valve shimming needs to be changed so why not just get my cams reground. Have any of you had it done and what does it normally cost?