The history of the club cam-shaft by Gary Adnitt

There is no getting away from the fact that when Terry Collier proposed a club cam-shaft for 2cv racing, the shock waves through the club were amazing, so why do it? One reason and one reason alone, to even up the racing and make it fair for everyone, new racer and veteran racer alike.

The story started in 2000 when after a few seasons racing a car we bought from someone else as a going racer, Terry and I decided to rebuild the car, from the ground up and incorporate the things we had learnt from fellow racers into our car, this included going 'in house' with our engines.

Whilst Stuart Palmer, Shaun Calvert and I built the car; Terry stripped and built the engines with Alan Cropp, a family friend, but during the stripping something unusual was noticed, all of the twelve cam-shafts we had stripped we compared and found to be different, and I mean no two were the same.

So, as a racer you fit the best one you have in your best engine and off you go, but is that fair? The person with the most cam-shafts (and a way of checking them) has the best opportunity of finding a fast one and potentially the best chance of winning, didn't seem fair to us. So we set out on a little project

Terry looked into what a cam-shaft actually does in detail and how we could, along with help from Kent Cams, create a performance cam-shaft for the club with four key objectives:

1. It should generate an optimum level of performance.
2. It should be able to be made from existing 'doner' camshafts, to keep the costs affordable.
3. It should be easily replicated so multiple numbers could be created the same.
4. It should be safe to use in our current race engines without further modifications.

All of these objectives were achieved, costed and cam-shaft tested back to back with our best engine on testing days then presented to the 2004 AGM.

The cam-shaft was approved and has been run since as the 'Club Cam'.

Since the Club Cam has been introduced I have yet to meet someone who can deny that the racing has become a lot closer. Anyone who was a Mallory for the last round of the 2006 season was in for an absolute treat of close racing, aided in no small part by the level playing field the Club Cam was introduced to help create.

Fitting

Fitting the Club Cam is straight forward for the experienced engine builder, but can also be fitted by a novice racer/engine with the right tools, a Haynes manual and of course plenty of time. Whoever is fitting the cam needs to also consider the following:

It is strongly recommended that anyone fitting a Club Cam should also fit new Valve Springs and Cam Followers.

This is because historically, engine builders using pre-used Valve Springs and Cam Followers have reported failures in these parts when used in conjunction with the Club Cam. Engine builders using new Valve Springs and new Cam Followers have had no issues with parts failures.

Cam Verniers

It is permitted in our current racing regulations to fit a vernier to your Club Cam. This should only be attempted by an experienced engineer for obvious safety reasons. But why go to the trouble?

When you fit a cam to a crank there is usually a varying degree of slack, this can be dialled out with a vernier, some engine builders also prefer the opportunity to play with advancing or retarding a cam to dial in the best performance of an engine.

Many of the mechanics advertising their services on this website can put you in touch with a company that will vernier a cam for you, once you have one you'll then need to modify your engine block to allow access to the adjustment part of your vernier so that you can adjust it to your preferred setting whilst in place.

This does not have to be done, you can as many others do, simply fit your Club Cam and go racing the choice is yours.

It's all too scary, help!

Do not panic. The mechanics advertising their services of this website can do all or part of the Club Cam fitting for you, or simply give you some advise, what ever you want, we're all here to help.

Club Camshaft Scheme

There are two options for obtaining the 2CV Racing Club Cam:

1) Individually: Send your camshaft to Kent Performance Cams Limited, who will grind them and return them to you.
Note: You MUST send details of your racing club membership number with your camshaft as this will be logged and recorded against the camshaft number. Failure to do this will mean that your camshaft will not be ground.

2) Batches of 10: Kent Performance Cams Limited will grind batches of ten camshafts at a lower cost per item when sent via the club's appointed representative. ##Click here## for details of how to contact the representative, who will add delivery and collection to the price to the individual members. Again, you will need to provide your membership details for logging. Failure to do this will mean that your camshaft will not be ground.

Please note that you MUST be a FULL MEMBER of the 2CV Racing Club to obtain the Club Camshaft.

Your membership number must be in the following format: the year as four digits (e.g. 2007), followed by a dash and your Race Club membership number as two digits.
YYYY - NN

Actions by Competitors:

The number of the camshaft MUST be indelibly marked on the crankcase of the engine in which it is used.
The camshaft number MUST be declared and recorded in the cars log book.
Competitors must carry Kent Cams decals on their cars in a position advised by the committee.

CAM PRO PLUS Cam Card Report - 16/1/04

Spec
Value
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
File C:\PROGRAM FILES\AUDIETECH\2CV\2cvrc1.cpp
Lobes I1, E1
Lobe Separation 111.2 Cam Deg.
Checking Height 0.012 Inch
Valve Overlap 47.3 Crank Deg.

Intake Exhaust
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Centreline 111.2 ATDC 111.2. BTDC
Open 22.7 BTDC 68.8 BBDC
Closed 65.9 ABDC 24.7 ATDC
Duration 268.6 Crank Deg. 273.4 Crank Deg.
Area 22.55 Inch Deg. 22.75 Inch Deg.
Lash 0.0000 Inch 0.0000 Inch
Rocker Ratio 1.15 1.15
Peak Cam Lift 0.28414 Inch 0.28749 Inch
Peak Valve Lift 0.32677 Inch 0.33062 Inch
Lift @ TDC 0.0458 Inch 0.0478 Inch

'04 Engine Hints & Tips - Updated 25/4/2004

The first races for engines fitted with the new regulation Club cam were run at Oulton Park on Easter Monday. A few malfunctions, but most cars and engines finished both practice sessions and both races intact.

The new MSA / BARC Eligibility Scrutineer, Paul Hewer, was there as well, keeping an eye on things. No doubt he will be clarifying a few 'grey' areas of the technical rules as the season progresses.

As we collect hints and tips about fitting the new cam and adjusting things to get the best performance, we'll post them here. The idea of the Club cam is to make a level playing field for all and to close up the gaps between the cars. Close, low cost, racing is the true spirit of the series.