How to Build High-Performance Chevy Small-Block Cams/Valvetrains (S-A Design) [Paperback]

Graham Hansen (Author)

Book Description

Series: S-A Design | Publication Date: November 10, 2005

Graham Hansen, author of the best-selling SA Design title How To Build Big-Inch Chevy Small Blocks, takes the mystery out of camshaft and valvetrain function, selection, and design. He covers camshaft basics, including a thorough explanation of how a cam operates in conjunction with the rest of the engine and valvetrain. He discusses technical terms like overlap, lobe centerline, duration, lift, and cam profiling. Comparisons between roller and flat-tappet cams are addressed and analyzed. This book covers rocker arms, lifters, valves, valvesprings, retainers, guideplates, pushrods, and cam drives, as well as detailed information on how to degree a cam and choose the proper cam for your application. Finally, matching cams to cylinder heads, analyzing port flow, and proving it all through dyno tests round out this informative volume.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Corvette Enthusiast, January 2006



"This book is a must have for anyone trying to squeeze all the available horsepower from the ever-popular small-block Chevy."

Product Details

• Paperback: 144 pages
• Publisher: S-A Design (November 10, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1932494081
• ISBN-13: 978-1932494082
• Product Dimensions: 11 x 8.5 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #727,222 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Darn good book on Chevy Valvetrain technology, April 7, 2006

By 

Hib Halverson (Southern California) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: How to Build High-Performance Chevy Small-Block Cams/Valvetrains (S-A Design) (Paperback)

In 20 years as an automotive writer, I've read, probably, a dozen books on valvetrain subjects. Of those, I've probably written reviews on four or five. Without a doubt, this book, <u>High-Performance Chevy Small-Block Cams & Valvetrains</u>, was best--by a freakin' country mile. This title's most attractive feature is a killer mix of Author, Hansen's, choice of Chevrolet SBV8 valvtrain subjects, the clear, understandable and detailed way he explains each those subjects and his comfortable-to-read style. Camshafts and the valvetrains are at the top of the list of most misunderstood aspects of Chevrolet engine technology. Misinformation and urban legend abound on these subjects. This book corrects the misinformation and explodes the myths about cams, cam drives lifters, rocker arms, valves, springs, retainers, guideplates, pushrods, and a multitude of other valvetrain parts. With this new book, Graham Hansen, who also wrote CarTech's popular, <u>How to Build Big-Inch Chevy Small Blocks</U>, has done gearhead Corvetters a great service. In fact, forget it has 'Chevy Small-Block' in the title. It's a standout just for its coverage of cams and valve gear in general. Whether you have a Small-Block, Big-Block, LS1, heck--even if you come from the darkside and with Ford five-oh--if you're looking to really learn about cams read this book. Basics? You want basics? Author, Hansen, takes the mystery out of: camshaft and valvetrain function, selection, and design. He covers how a camshaft works with the rest of the valvetrain and other engine parts. He discusses technical terms like: 'overlap', 'lobe centerline', 'duration', 'lift', and 'profiling'. Differences between roller and flat-tappet cams are explained. More advanced subjects, such as: matching camshaft profiles to cylinder heads and analyzing port flow with respect to camshaft profiles. The book finishes with a chapter on dyno-tested engine build-ups, each having detailed information on the camshaft used in the engine. <u>Chevy Small-Block Cams & Valvetrains</u> is a great read because of it's detail, Mr. Hansen's clear and concise writing, the wide-ranging choice of valvetrain subjects and it's unquestioned accuracy. From this day on, it's the number one reference for cam and valvetrain information on my car book shelf.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars very good for price, but not great however, February 17, 2008

By 

ron "ron7000" (CT) - See all my reviews

This review is from: How to Build High-Performance Chevy Small-Block Cams/Valvetrains (S-A Design) (Paperback)

I have purchased over a handful of chevy small block related tech books over the past few years. This book is very good... for the price. It restates a lot of information you ought to be easily able to pick up on from magazine articles (like chevy hi-performance or gmhtp) and even for free of the web from credible sources, but the whole purpose of buying such a book is to have all that information in one place for reference. So for a fair price, it's a very good book and a good read. I doubt I will buy another head/cam/valvetrain type book for a while; book would be very good for those who know little to nothing on the subject because it's written rather simple and straight forward, and also not a bad book for those who know a lot already because the book does cover a lot and by going over ALL the fundamentals you still learn stuff.

Only things I were disappointed with were errors, like statements such as VE is at the peak horsepower rpm point(page 100) when pages earlier the statement of VE is highest at the rpm point of peak torque (page 13). And I wasn't too thrilled with their chart on LSA narrow vs wide, that seemed to contradict previous and later information that goes into detail and describes how & why the change in LSA has an affect (which then doesn't agree with their chart). The book doesn't have all the answers and there may not even be a correct answer for some questions but it does a good job of at least bringing them to your attention and helps you to think about them. Only other thing I was disappointed with was the lack of math and science on certain subjects like cylinder head flow and port shape/sizing, they always give you the beyond the scope of this book excuse and dumb down the topic. Dumbing down only keeps people dumb! Next time add the hardcore math/science/physics stuff !

3.0 out of 5 stars Good but, March 30, 2009

By 

A. Sattar Al Murshidi (Muscat , Oman) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: How to Build High-Performance Chevy Small-Block Cams/Valvetrains (S-A Design) (Paperback)

It is a quality product , no doubt. The content is rich but could have been written in a simpler style for beginners like me. If you are the same level of me , an engineer with all the basics but new to engine building, you'll still need to read it at least twice before you get the drift. My benchmark for readability is the material published on HowStuff Works website. There they can talk about much more complex topics and still able to explain it better. No regrets though, still a good book and I am sure its value will get better as I get more acquainted with the subject.