...the rabbit will save you
cam timing...very good question..
pontiac 400 ..early 80's..we put 150 hp plate on..it ran fast..10.40's consistent..then we upped kit..175..it ran 10.45's..200hp , ran 10.50..what was happening?..the pontiac has an extremely fast small port, built for torque at reasonable rpm..with the cam timing we had, it had reached the limit of what the port could pull in and use effectively..but it wasnt as most suspected the intake was to blame, it was the exhaust..with out sufficient exhaust volume, our incoming charge ran into a wall, and stalled..ever so slightly..no damages, but the motor shook like a 6.5 richter..it was fighting with itself..back to 150 hp jets, and all was fine..no shake, best times..
learned then that each combo has a limit..step over the limit and bad things happen..then of course the nitrous gets blamed, when its the fault of the idiot who built the engine combo in the first place..
too many times, folks get greedy, and go for max power..ya wouldnt turn twin 106 mm turbos lose on a stock block would ya?..it may run for a minute at boost, and i mean a literal minute..then boom!..
if your gonna put nitrous in, ya gots to get it out..and cam timing becomes a balancing act between the port size, header size, cubic inches, rod length, stroke, etc..there is no one nitrous grind cam that works for all engine designs..i believe in flow at tdc overlap..and it works well..we see more power at the same jetting..i attribute this to more actual nitrous flowing into the cylinder, since the flow isnt as "stalled"..i also believe that the more nitrous you run, the exhaust size most grow..almost exponentially..people told me my pipes were too big, i'd lose torque..
..we had some much we broke torque converters every pass..people actually took photos to try to dissect the "american junk" kit..tee hee, i couldnt resist that one for trevor..
if you know your cylinder heads basic flow figures at tdc overlap, about 20 degrees to both sides, you can arrange your timing to do the same..it cant go in if it has nowhere to go..waiting for the piston to drop just means less time to get the intake column moving,hence less nitrous into the cylinder..remember, all this goo has mass, and it needs to be moved..that takes power..use the most efficient means to achieve this..
so, bottom line..its not lobe separation that matters, its actual valve events..IO..IC..EO..EC..your flow at initial intake valve opening and their balance with your systems..
and stepped headers or bell tubes are a almost must..we need the expansion area to take the reversion pressure off the exhaust..i wish they would allow short zoomies, cuz the total nitrous ride will need that..it will run like a funny car
rainbow love, from not so sunny california..i couldnt live in wet cold britain..