New stage 1 Cams and Cam gears

[hellkins]

I just installed new stage 1 cams and skunk2 cam gears in my 94 gsr. I had them adjusted at the local firestone. I now have a lag problem right at 4400 rpm. until redline. I was wondering what the best settings would be for the cam timing to set at. What deg of retard or advance for intake and exhaust. And what else I should adjust. Thanks. I have I/Header Back/

 

[TegSox]

I estimate that putting VTEC activation at 5,000 rpm would be a good location. The specs of your Skunk stage 1's (I'm guessing you have Skunk cams) are pretty close to the specs of my Spoon cams, and when I put VTEC at 5K (when I had stock pistons), VTEC crossover was silky smooth, no more lag.
And try advancing intake 4 degrees and retarding exhaust 2 degrees, it worked for me, but I have high comp. pistons, which are what you now desparatley need. It may not be ideal for your particular setup, but It'll be better than leaving the cams at stock degree settings. You'll need to get on a dyno to do it right and get max gains.

 

[PogKai]

why stage 1? I don't get it.. for a few $ more you get stage 2 wich is far more better..

 

[DC2-Integra]

welcome newb

 

[speedin]

why stage 1? I don't get it.. for a few $ more you get stage 2 wich is far more better..

driveability issues mabye?? also the fact he is stock internals.

 

[ca86108]

stage one so he couild keephis stock valvetrain components

 

[hellkins]

why stage 1? I don't get it.. for a few $ more you get stage 2 wich is far more better..

what everybody else said. because I didn't want to have to upgrade my entire valvetrain. i still almost have to upgrade my valve springs atleast.

 

[hellkins]

I estimate that putting VTEC activation at 5,000 rpm would be a good location. The specs of your Skunk stage 1's (I'm guessing you have Skunk cams) are pretty close to the specs of my Spoon cams, and when I put VTEC at 5K (when I had stock pistons), VTEC crossover was silky smooth, no more lag.
And try advancing intake 4 degrees and retarding exhaust 2 degrees, it worked for me, but I have high comp. pistons, which are what you now desparatley need. It may not be ideal for your particular setup, but It'll be better than leaving the cams at stock degree settings. You'll need to get on a dyno to do it right and get max gains.

its not my vtec trying to kick in at 4400 its when the 2nd rollers are kicking in. vtec still kicks in at 5700rpm. i took back to firestone guy(he is also a tuner with an integra, and an NSX!) he said it seems like a fuel problem. not getting enough. getting too much air so i'm choking the engine basically. he is going to boost my fuel pressure. skunk cams and gears. my cam settings are: intake +1.5 and my exhaust is at -1 deg. i'm taking to dyno next week to get it finely tuned. thanks for the tips though.

 

[hellkins]

welcome newb

thanks. i love my Acura/Honda my first car was an 88 integra. went 357,000 miles on that car then sold it still running great.

 

[TegSox]

VTEC activates at 4400 in a GSR, your dual stage intake manifold's secondaries open at 5700. They are two totally independant functions of the engine. They complement one another, but have nothing to do directly with each other.
If your "Firerstone guy" is supposedly an Integra tuner, and he doesn't understand why you get lag at 4400 rpm in a B18C after installing aftermarket cams, he shouldn't be tuning Integra's.
Your getting the lag in power when VTEC activates because your cams are now lifting the valves so high for so long that your bleeding off a large amount of cylinder pressure out your valve openings. Your losing compression, adding fuel won't fix that problem. You need to regain the lost cylinder pressure, which requires a sizeable compression increase. A bigger compression increase than a thinner headgasket or milling will get you. You need high compression pistons, like I said before. Sure, adding some fuel will get you a little HP and is a good idea for the safety of your engine, but it won't fix the problem.
Now, before I added high comp. pistons to my engine, I had the same problem. I moved VTEC up to 5000 and it went away. My engine was still overcammed, like yours is now, I was still bleeding off a lot of cylinder pressure but at least I got rid of the lag.

and what are second rollers?

 

[DownShift96GSR]

Yeah, Tegsox is right. That's one thing alot of people forget about when building all motor, is the compression.

 

[PogKai]

stage one so he couild keephis stock valvetrain components

oh yeah, forgot that detail

 

[hellkins]

your're right my mistake. i was thinking when you hear the engine tone change it was v-tec. the human ear unaided can't hear the vtec cross over at 4400rpm. i was told now to go and buy an s-afc or a v-afc to fix my problem. what do you think about doing this?

 

[ca86108]

i had vafc i hated the thing.. get hondata

 

[TegSox]

Your getting the lag in power when VTEC activates because your cams are now lifting the valves so high for so long that your bleeding off a large amount of cylinder pressure out your valve openings. Your losing compression, adding fuel won't fix that problem. You need to regain the lost cylinder pressure, which requires a sizeable compression increase. A bigger compression increase than a thinner headgasket or milling will get you. You need high compression pistons, like I said before. Sure, adding some fuel will get you a little HP and is a good idea for the safety of your engine, but it won't fix the problem.
Now, before I added high comp. pistons to my engine, I had the same problem. I moved VTEC up to 5000 and it went away. My engine was still overcammed, like yours is now, I was still bleeding off a lot of cylinder pressure but at least I got rid of the lag.

I can't believe after I explain to you what is causing your dilemma and how to fix it, your still asking the same question. I guess your still unsure because you "heard" this or "heard" that. Well, go with what you just "heard" from me, because I'm right.
Your engine is overcammed, your bleeding off cylinder pressure (aka compression), compression must be raised.

Baldy and Eviloliv3 can back me up on this, they know what time it is.

Can you use a V-afc to move the VTEC point higher to get rid of the sudden lag, and to add some fuel? Sure, but it will only be a temporary solution. In the long run, when you raise compression as high as it will need to be raise to cure the problem itself, a V-afc will be an inadequate tuning device. You'll need a system that allows much more presice fuel tuning that a V-afc can do.

Installing a V-afc right now is like popping asprin for a brain tumor.