adjustable cam pulley group buy?

[sambb]

I'm about to pull the trigger on an adjustable cam pulley for the 1.8T 06A transverse (so this applies to Mk4 Golfs, S3's etc). I cant turn up any locally so am looking to buy from overseas.

The options that I can find are: (for one unit)


integrated engineering - 179 US (242 aus) + 80-90 US posted = $365 aus
IE Billet Adjustable Camshaft Gear, Cam Gear kit for 06A 1.8T

Cat Cams - 125 euro + 45 euro postage = $266 aus (quoted by email for part#CTVW008 )
ADJUSTABLE CAM WHEELS | CAT CAMS performance camshafts

eurospec - 140 US but cant get a hold of them for postage
Audi and Volkswagen Timing Gears & Components



So far the best deal and arguably/probably the best bit of kit is the Cat Cams one. However it wouldnt be as easy to setup as the IE with its nice timing marks. The IE could nearly be as cheap as the Cat Cams one if 3 units were bought. Postage is the killer so wanted to put it out there in case anyone preferably Sydney based wanted to grab one too which would split postage.
So if you are close to needing a timing belt or your water pump is leaking, or you just luv shiny stuff then this could be a perfect opportunity to get on board. I'm going to move quickly though so let me know asap.


here's an idea of the kind of thing that's achievable:
How to get the most out of your 1.8T with the IE Adjustable Cam Gear | IE AutoBlog

[rgvlee]

I've read the IE timing marks are printed the wrong way around
Probably easier to go with a freight forwarder out of the US, 80-90US post is redic. They'd probably do cheap ground post in the US and then hopshopgo will probably flat rate it to around 30US. I can't imagine them costing much.

[sambb]

they quoted me $90 for a cam pulley, manual cam tensioner/stud/nut. Dont really mind if the IE numbers are this way or that. Just as long as each increment equals the 1 degree step change you are after. The eurospec is similar. Autotech does one but from what I can see they only do it for the 058 1.8T's. The Cat Cams doesn't even have numbers. It'll go on TDC same as the stock pulley and then you need to know which way you are going and each hole which lines up on the front and back face of the pulley equals 1 degree - comes with a pin that slides in to confirm that you are exactly on 1 degree of change.
Just asked for a quote for 3 units shipped to see what the freight comes to per unit from IE.

[sambb]

ok IE just got back to me with a quote for 3 units. split shipping brings it to 179 + 47 (shipping) = 226US = $300 aus. hmm still too exy I think. I'll hassle eurospec and see what they can do.

[rgvlee]

There was some discussion recently about ie vs cat cams on the big turbo 20v facebook group, did you see it

[simon k]

what size is the camshaft keyway? offset keys are cheap... though I do use adjustable (multi-keyway, not vernier) gears on the mini

maybe I'll wait for you to see what advance is the ideal for a standard cam and then chuck in an offset key

[sambb]

got a link to the discussion. pretty keen to see how the cat cams one is setup/clocked etc
yeah there's not a lot of literature on the cat cams. I'm sure i'll get it with the pulley but not the info that IE is good at putting out on the webs

[sambb]

yeah for sure simon. If there's any hidden horsies in there that a pulley unlocks i'll let you know. If you see it in the classifieds section then you know it was a pricey fail ha ha
when I get it apart i'll measure up the keyway.

[Sydneykid]

Personally I'm not sure that I would bother with adjusting the cam timing on a single cam pulley/sprocket turbo engine, I've not found it to be good value for money. In general on a twin cam turbo engine we advance the inlet, around 4 degrees is common, and retard the exhaust, around 2 degrees is about the limit before the exhaust valves get too friendly with the pistons. The earlier opening inlet and later closing exhaust gives a faster boost build that is quite worthwhile so we get more power at lower RPM, whilst the max power stays around the same so we end up with a slightly more evenly spread power curve ie; not so peaky.

Accomplishing that with a single cam timing adjustment is of course not possible, so the incremental benefit is much smaller. Commonly similar to adding 0.5 psi of boost. Obviously when everything else is done and we want/need some more then maybe adj cam timing get a mention.

Cheers
Gary

[sambb]

Yeah thats the prob. You adjust the exhaust (advance it be say2 degrees I assume) but then it drives the inlet cam via the chain at the other end of the head by the same amount. From what I've read/been told by a guy who runs a pretty reputable tune house for these things it works on the 1.8's with standard turbo to thicken up the midrange a bit. Cat Cams do do a conversion kit that converts the 1.8T to a true DOHC independent adjustable pulley setup to get around this but its like a thousand pounds sterling including the dedicated cams to go with the pulleys. No I just want to do the last possible thing I really can on this turbo other than go to E85 and also future proof it for if I go Garret down the track. At the least the billet pulleys are lighter!!
And if it doesn't look like I can do it cheaper than say 240 bucks then yeah on a bang for buck basis i'll park the idea. Needing to do the timing belt just caused a rush of blood that I gave in to.