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I wanted to advance my cam to drop the "power band" rpm. The Cloyes timing set I have had 3 keyways in it. One was supposed to be "straight up", one advanced 2 degrees, one retarded 2 degrees. I used the 2 degrees advanced keyway but when I checked the timing with the degree wheel, it was more like 4 degrees advance. I went with that, but it is nice to know that the cam is advanced 4 degrees, not 2.
I mess with VW Beetle engines too. Yes, they hotrod the same as the V8's do, and parts for them are usually more expensive than they are for a V8 (ie $1500 for a forged CW crank). Anyway, the cams in them are gear driven from the crank. The gear can be made to attach to the cam with 3 bolts. Slot the bolt holes in the cam and the timing is now infinitely adjustable via flat washers whose OD registers in gear and whose ID is drilled with offset holes so the gear can't slip once set.
As mentioned above, if you are putting a stock cam in a stock engine, it's probably not worth the time checking. But when you start to mess with different cam profiles and lifts, advancing or retarding cam timing, different pistons, deck clearance, headgasket thickness, bigger valves, etc., Murphy's Law says that if you don't check each and every part and clearance, something that can go wrong, will. A part will be made wrong , a valve will be dangerously close to a piston, a valve retainer will bottom out on the guide because your new cam lifts higher, a 1.5 ratio rocker arm may actually be 1.55, etc, etc. Simply not worth taking the risk of damaging parts.
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