SG4206 said:
I understand what
you are saying, but the cam-grinder may-not have been '
technically' wrong when he said the duration could change a degree or two.
Years ago, a buddy changed rocker-ratios on his 454" BBC that ran 10-ohs @ 131, and he knew that I have some engineering back-ground, so he asked me if we could verify that duration at .050" increased.
He ran a true roller cam, and even figuring-in the lash (can't recall the exact number now), the lobe starts 'rising' a very short time earlier with the increased ratio, and closed a very short time later, too.
An easier way to envision this would be to have a SBC cam ground so that
BOTH intake and exhaust of the same cylinder were ground on the
SAME center-line (
both valves opening and closing together), and having the same lobe-profile.
Put a 1.5:1 arm on one stud, and a 1.6 arm on the other, set the valve-lash identical (i
rregardless of 'where' the rocker-arm finally is on their respective studs), and slowly begin turning the motor over, by-hand.
When the lobe in-contact with the 1.6:1 ratio rocker has rotated enough that the contact-point between the lobe and lifter is at .031" off base-circle (
and it's valve would be .050" off the seat), the adjacent valve (
with the 1.5 rocker) would only be .047" (.
031" x 1.5 = .0465") off the seat, correct?
Now, nudge the crank another 1/2* (
30'), and quite possibly, the off-base-circle dimension is now .034", where the 1.5:1 ratio valve would be .050" off the seat.
A similar 1/2* (
30') difference may appear when the valves close.
We're
ONLY talking a very minute difference here, but it
could amount to something worth mentioning, especially if you where running some 'one-off' valve-train pieces, such as Competition Eliminator.
I get '
this' honestly, as my dad was a draftsman/engineer, and he pounded the fact into my head that
"when you change anything, no-matter how small, there is a difference!"
He would say:
" Extrapolate on this..... Envision a ratio of 1.5:1 , and a ratio of 3:1!!!!! You just KNOW that, at those ratios, something has changed..."
:crazy