Ferrari cam

[keyser]

Hi!
I've seen some parts of a few years old Ferrari F1 engine yesterday. Unfortunately the cylinder head was assembled so I couldnt see whats inside but i saw the camshaft and there are some things I really dont understand. The lobes were conical and I know this is because the variable valve timing (the cam moves a few milimeters paralell to its axis- the standard Ferrari cam timing system) but!:the conics were growing narrof in the opposte direction. Maybe its not clear enough, I will try to send an image too.
So does anybody have an idea how is it working?
Thanks
Andras

[Monstrobolaxa]

Try posting a picture......since I've had a solid mechanics test a few days back...my guess would be it has something to do with the rigity of the part......but it depends on the direction of the cones....

[West]

Well, if the cam lobe seems to be "shrinking" then it is for a smaller lift for higher RPM ranges

[Guest]

This is not veriable valve timeing I'm afraid, it is for so called radial valves. The valves are angled towords each other to make a more hemipherical combustion chamber. MV Augusta use the same method on their F4 engine.

[Guest]

Ferrari use the conical Camshaft also in their roadcars (for example F355)
marcush.

[keyser]

I was unale to find an image of the camshaft. I realized that it cannot be the standard ferrari vvt- maybe there is a sliding triangle shaped part on the top of the valves.
The valves are so large and they are close to each other, so their axis must be paralell. Maybe they are trying to reduce the contact pressure (or Hertz stiffness , sorry i dont know the english terminology) or a strange valve rotating system.

[Reca]

The valves are so large and they are close to each other, so their axis must be paralell

The angle between each pair of valves is just few degrees, it was 6° in the Ferrari 049, the 2000 engine (25° was the angle between intake and exhaust valves), a minimum distance between the valves, when closed, of 3-4 mm is enough to avoid the collision.