Thank you, Bruce. Hope you are doing well...
I missed seeing the guys at the GTG at Kirk's. Had a run-in with a ATV and survived to talk about it.
Now, I am going to discuss a problem that really galls me about the types of cams sold for the Pumpe Duese motors. We have done a VERY thorough investigation of about every cam (except the CRAP ones...) to determine what is going on.
We collected every PD cam we could find and presented the group to our cam expert, John H., at Hillcrest Cam and Machine, Little Rock, Arkansas. His opinion of the cams we showed him was very interesting.
He showed that all the cams were BILLET! Every last one. So, we will say as plainly as possible. Don't be a sucker and pay EXTRA MONEY for EXACTLY THE SAME THING!! All the cams produced that we know, in current production ARE BILLET, except a few that are even a lower quality of cast iron, which we would never use.
The reason all manufacturers changed to billet is quite simple. The poured steel casting process is more expensive and requires a minimum run to justify the pour. So, if you want to pay more for a cam, and if you can even find it, buy a CAST steel cam.
But then, there is the next line of baloney. Just because it's a cast steel cam, does NOT MEAN IT IS FORGED! The reckless way people use terminology that they know little about...
IF there is truly a FORGED CAM out there that fits into a PD, it is VERY EXPENSIVE, as the process to make it as such is time-consuming, and rich in the expense of BTU's. But even then, if you don't get the cam profile corrected, compressing the metal to make it denser, as forging does, will still not overcome an incorrect profile. So, don't buy into FORGED or BILLET. They are NOT MAGIC WORDS that make your car run longer or better. I don't care in what manner the cam was made; cast, billet, forged... if it's the wrong profile, it will wear out prematurely.
But not to divert, the reason the aftermarket and VW's OEM cams have gone from the original cast steel cam to the billet cam is a matter of the bean-counters running the store. Billet cams are cheaper to make. They are not particularly worse or better, but definitely CHEAPER. The speed and lack of human intervention for the new machining processes is amazingly inexpensive and fast.
So, to continue about John from Hillcrest, I asked why the billet and what's the big deal. Which is better? John said, "It makes no real difference. The cast cams will have directional hardening."
Or in other words, as the cam chills in the mold, the tendency is the outer surface's metal has directional hardness and become austenitic... finer grained. The Billet cam's grain structure is more lateral; in line with the extrusion forces that molded the round billet, which tends to make it overall, more uniform.
So, John's statement,"It's the correct hardness and the profile that count, not the method of forming." Either cam can be hardened and tempered to the correct level.
Then, John made a statement about WHY the cost difference between cast and billet machined cams...
"Frank", John said, 'You know the 8 lobe cams you always send down."
I said, "Yes, the ALH and AHU cams.."
John said, "In our Landis custom cam machine, that cam can be produced, ready to harden, in 2 minutes."
TWO MINUTES! And then, all the scrap is collected and sent back to the steel company that made the billet and they make another one, from the SCRAP! There is little or no loss. On top of that, if they want to make a single cam or 200 cams, it's 'push button'; make another. So, with today's 'just on time' production and the need for companies to reduce and control inventory and the inevitable taxes, making only what you need makes great sense. In that way, machining a billet core is far superior. The final nail... 95% of all the automotive cams in the world can be made from the same size billet. But a cast cam requires a very expensive mold.
Bean-counting means cast cams have become an anachronism.
If you are insistent for making poured and cast cams or forged cams, there is an additional requirement to make 'a run'. Nobody is going to fire a foundry up to melt steel for a SINGLE CAM! Of course not. So, in today's technology, the billet process and high speed machining makes perfect sense.
Now the real kicker... All the cams we looked at, including the one from AMC that claims was made in Spain, was not. The grind marks on many of the cams, including the AMC, Febi, and one marked 'Billet' showed the fingerprint of them having been made on the SAME MACHINE. I had to laugh. I am wondering if the people selling the so-called Billet cams actually paid more, themselves, for the EXACT SAME CAM that is AMC, Kolbenschmidt, Febi, etc.
Most of the PD cams are made from the same location. The only thing we may have found, and believe is true, the company may grade the cams for better or worse quality, and sell some for less money to the 'low ball' companies.
So, "Caveat Emptor"
You get what you pay for... Sometimes.
Billet is an overused adjective that everyone should stop and consider what it really means. The honest truth is billet, in itself, makes no difference. The real story is properly engineering of the cam lobe design.