Skimming head with gear driven cams
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- Lane
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Re: Skimming head with gear driven cams
Mike Norman told me that skimming 0.5mm off the head on the VFR engine increases the compression ratio by about one point, so 11.5:1 to 12.5:1Cammo wrote:As blueflag says, using rvf400 pistons (vfr are discontinued) will increase the compression ratio. Easier than skimming the heads and the rest of the work.
I don't know how much this increases the c/r by, anyone have any idea?
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Re: Skimming head with gear driven cams
Second hand set in good nick with new rings will do the trick. It's the cost of a head gasket that's the head scratcher. (no pun intended)
If you go the offset gear route, just weld it better than I did! Lol!
For what it's worth, and it is only a feeling but I SEEMED to have more power with the V4 pistons. Different dynos but with the offset gear it was putting out 56 ish, now after some expert carb set up by a mate (on another dyno) it's putting out 60.7 and feels stronger everywhere. (Alright, yes, I won the championship this year
)
Keep us posted what you do.
If you go the offset gear route, just weld it better than I did! Lol!
For what it's worth, and it is only a feeling but I SEEMED to have more power with the V4 pistons. Different dynos but with the offset gear it was putting out 56 ish, now after some expert carb set up by a mate (on another dyno) it's putting out 60.7 and feels stronger everywhere. (Alright, yes, I won the championship this year

Keep us posted what you do.
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Re: Skimming head with gear driven cams
As with all racing, its the guy with the most money that wins.
From experience 87-2012.
V4 pistons are hard to get and a gasket set is £30 and I can do all the other work myself.
There are loads of stories of engines with V pistons blowing.? any ideas? before I commit?
The thing about the cam gear mod is getting the cam timing right after.
If all I want is raised compression, why can't I just skim the head and elongate the cam gear mount holes to offset them a little?
From experience 87-2012.
V4 pistons are hard to get and a gasket set is £30 and I can do all the other work myself.
There are loads of stories of engines with V pistons blowing.? any ideas? before I commit?
The thing about the cam gear mod is getting the cam timing right after.
If all I want is raised compression, why can't I just skim the head and elongate the cam gear mount holes to offset them a little?
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Re: Skimming head with gear driven cams
Head gaskets (NC23) are around £60 each,
If you really want to do the mod you might as well remove the quietening gears on your cams and make them adjustable, I did this when I offset my cam drive gears but I found it a reall pain in the backside setting the cam timing. I reckon it's worth doing but I would caution doing it unless you have access to a dyno and plenty of time.
I paid about £30 quid for my pistons......
I understand your worry about blowing an engine if you put the V4 pistons in but in my limited experience they worked just fine. I did check the valve / piston clearance though!
After my engine fail I took out the adjustable cams, modified idler gear train and standard pistons and threw them a long way away!
Just my tuppence worth.....

If you really want to do the mod you might as well remove the quietening gears on your cams and make them adjustable, I did this when I offset my cam drive gears but I found it a reall pain in the backside setting the cam timing. I reckon it's worth doing but I would caution doing it unless you have access to a dyno and plenty of time.
I paid about £30 quid for my pistons......
I understand your worry about blowing an engine if you put the V4 pistons in but in my limited experience they worked just fine. I did check the valve / piston clearance though!
After my engine fail I took out the adjustable cams, modified idler gear train and standard pistons and threw them a long way away!
Just my tuppence worth.....
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Re: Skimming head with gear driven cams
Cammo wrote:As blueflag says, using rvf400 pistons (vfr are discontinued) will increase the compression ratio. Easier than skimming the heads and the rest of the work.
I don't know how much this increases the c/r by, anyone have any idea?
Calculating Compression ratios
http://www.csgnetwork.com/compcalc.html
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Re: Skimming head with gear driven cams
This auction is only for the pistons. We sell the rings seperatly on our eBay store. Can supply the pins and clips as well.dunkenb wrote:http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/RVF400RR-RVF4 ... 2ec0429053 Bit cheaper..
Summery:
Piston SET, for one RVF400: £175.00 ( buy on our ebay store)
Ring SET, for one RVF400: £139.00 ( buy on our ebay store)
Pin set ( X4 pins): £39.00
Circlips set ( X8): £12.00
Combined Shipping, all above: £20.00
TOTAL: £385.00
Let us know when you are ready.
Kind regards,
Ido Kats
ISI Co., Ltd.
Web Site: www.isicar.com