| One of the most sought after segments of | | | | aftermarket performance camshafts still available. |
| Vintage Car Collecting is Vintage Race Cars. It's | | | | But if you want it to be original or the engine is |
| easy to understand why. In any segment of car | | | | very rare then you should look into "Reverse |
| collecting the most valuable cars or the ones that | | | | Engineering" the cam shafts. |
| are the rarest. Lets take a look at the Mustang. | | | | The "poor man's" way to reverse engineer a |
| They made thousands of them. But if you have | | | | camshaft is with a dial indicator and degree wheel. |
| one of the rare one, such as a Boss 429, the | | | | This can work well if you have lots of time and |
| price sky rockets. And there were even fewer | | | | are careful. However, a $200,000 Jag deserves |
| race cars made and survived the race track, and | | | | better. There are hardware and software |
| that means the prices are usually very high. | | | | packages out there that specialize in capturing the |
| But there are also problems with owning such | | | | profile of camshafts so you can reproduce them |
| rare vehicles. The fewer vehicles that were | | | | more precisely. They use VERY precise rotary |
| made, the smaller the market, and the fewer | | | | encoders and electronic dial indicators and |
| parts available to repair them. What do you do | | | | software to create files that can be used in CNC |
| when it comes time to rebuild the engine? If you | | | | machines to reproduce the original camshafts. |
| are a purist, you want the vehicle to be as close | | | | People have been using these systems for years |
| to original as possible. For example, the engine's | | | | to keep their vintage vehicles (and race cars) as |
| camshaft(s) really defines how the engine | | | | close to original as possible. Whether you need a |
| operates, the shape of the power curve, | | | | cam shaft for your 1930's Duesenberg, Cadillac |
| driveability, and even how the exhaust sounds. If | | | | with a V16, a 1950's Formula One car, or even a |
| you need to replace a camshaft, you "might" | | | | 1964 Ford 427 Thunderbolt, you have the |
| have options depending on how popular the engine | | | | possibility to reproduce the cam shafts to keep |
| was back in the day. There might still be | | | | your vehicle as original as possible. |