9 replies to this topic

[datsun100a]

During my recent engine rebuild I replaced the kent 286 scatter cam with an sw-05. Sort of regretting this now as the car has really lost it's edge and although the sw-05 is a lot smoother and pulls low down much better I am disappointed with it, it sort of reminds me of an mg metro cam.

Anyone else use this cam and maybe feel I am expecting too much from it? My engine just feels choked and restricted now.

[icklemini]

an sw5 and a 286 scatter are two totally different animals... and result in two totally different engines and driving styles.

SW5 are great for low (engine) speed torque, whilst the 286s prefer revs to get them going...

Anyone else use this cam and maybe feel I am expecting too much from it?

Um... what were you expecting exactly??

[jayare]

As above - the SW5 is a really mild cam which is great in a daily driver that spends a lot of time in town. Compared to a 286 Scatter it will feel a bit lifeless and lacking the 'coming on cam' kick as you accelerate.

A better choice would have been the SW10 which is similar in performance to a 286 but coming in a little earlier and having better idle emissions, etc.

Did you speak to Swiftune before you bought?

JR

[datsun100a]

Didn't know what to expect, should have done a little more research. I knew it was not going to be as hot and did want the car a little more drivable just didn't think it would be such a huge difference. Going to remove the stage 4 head, roller rockers and twin hs4's and put an mg metro head on and standard carb, no point running it with this stuff as the cam does not seem to make use of them

[dklawson]

I agree with the comments above. I chose the SW5 for my car because I wanted a street engine with good low end torque. I was not disappointed in the least. However, if I were choosing a cam for high-speed power I would have chosen something different.

[Cooperman]

Whip it out and put the 286 back in. Ahhhhhh, the 286, my favourite cam.
I think the SW05 is more like a Kent 266, although I don't have the SW05 timing figures or curve data (does anyone have this data?).
Now, the 266 is very much like the MG Metro with similar timing.

[Nightrain]

There are a lot more things to consider than just swapping the cam. If your motor was built to make full use of a 286, just changing the cam will give you a crap result. A engine built with a 286 in mind would have crap volumetric efficiency at low rev's ie. your stage 4 head big ports low gas speed at low rpms. Where as the SW5 is designed to have high VE at low to medium rpms, so you've got a mismatch with a engine built for high rev's with a cam designed for lower rpms. What compression ratio was you running with the 286, it will most likely be too much for the milder SW5.

[datsun100a]

There are a lot more things to consider than just swapping the cam. If your motor was built to make full use of a 286, just changing the cam will give you a crap result. A engine built with a 286 in mind would have crap volumetric efficiency at low rev's ie. your stage 4 head big ports low gas speed at low rpms. Where as the SW5 is designed to have high VE at low to medium rpms, so you've got a mismatch with a engine built for high rev's with a cam designed for lower rpms. What compression ratio was you running with the 286, it will most likely be too much for the milder SW5.

I didn't build the old engine and was lead to believe it was 10.5:1. Been a long time since I built a mini engine and truth be told I was in a hurry to get this back on the road after the oil pressure failure. Should have took an extra week and thought about what was going in and how they would work together. It's easy to swap the head etc and I think it will go a lot better. to be honest I have had standard mg metro engines that were just as fast and this is a 1380. The car is going for sale after the MOT next week anyway and going to concetrate on the other mini.

in short lesson learnt

[Nightrain]

Yep because the valves are shutting earlier with the SW5 you've actually raised the dynamic compression ratio. 10.5:1 is perfect for the 286, with the SW5 you need to be looking at a max of 10:1 and that's only if you have a well sorted ignition system.

[datsun100a]

As above - the SW5 is a really mild cam which is great in a daily driver that spends a lot of time in town. Compared to a 286 Scatter it will feel a bit lifeless and lacking the 'coming on cam' kick as you accelerate.

A better choice would have been the SW10 which is similar in performance to a 286 but coming in a little earlier and having better idle emissions, etc.

Did you speak to Swiftune before you bought?

JR

didn't speak to them just ordered it on another guys say, should not have listened to him but he has been building mini sprint engines for longer than I've been driving. Decided to take the engine out and put the mg metro engine in for selling the car, going to look at a morspeed ph3 or sw10 for the engine and put it into the other mini.