new cams
 

If i get a new cam for my sohc vtec, what will it do for my perfomance? What exactly do cams and camshafts do?

RE: new cams
 

Im not sure what the difference between cams and camshaft but i like to call them camshaft. Anyways i heard that its kinda hard to install camfshaft since you gotta kinda take your engine apart.

RE: new cams
 

Jus to clarify, the cams are on the camshaft(s). They are the lobes that activate the valves. It's actually not very hard to replace camshafts. You just have to be very very careful. With SOHC engines, you have to take the entire valvetrain off and keep it clean and assembled. After that, you just have to remove the cam gear(s) and the camshaft retainers (on the ends) and it should come right out. You probably want to find some directions if you want to do it yourself.

RE: new cams
 

will aftermarket cams help with performance? Also should i replace just my cam or the comshaft too?

RE: new cams
 

its all one piece. and yeah, it will help noticeably. but you should probably do other mods first. like the standard intake/header/exhaust.

RE: new cams
 

Yes they help with performance, mostly by having more agressive cam lobes and changing the amount of overlap. You need to make sure you get a camshaft that is right for your car. Don't get one for super high performance car with like 400hp, because it will just be bad for your engine. Like stated above, the cam, or cam lobe, is actually part of the camshaft, and you cannot replace just single cams (or at least not very easily as far as i know). There are many cams on a camshaft; for a SOHC engine with 16 valves, there would be 16 lobes on the camshaft, one for each valve.

RE: new cams
 

On a SOHC VTEC (like ballplaya4eva07's) I believe there are 20 lobes on the camshaft.

RE: new cams
 

also you should probably (depending on the new cam you get) think about replacing your valve springs

RE: new cams
 

How many new cam gears will i need to replace them all? And only 1 camshaft right?

RE: new cams
 

SOHC = single cam gear.

And yes, only one camshaft