Last month's "How It Works" story gave you the basics of the four-stroke cycle, describing the motion of the intake and exhaust valves in relation to the piston moving up and down in the cylinder.

This overlooked engine part controls everything, and most drivers never think about it.

Camshafts are simple devices, but important ones. Modern engines can have one or more intake and exhaust valves, and it's the camshaft's job to open valves precisely as the engine runs, supplying the ...

It's appropriate, we think, that a camshaft has lobes, since this relatively simple device is so often called the brains of an engine. And indeed, a camshaft does direct several engine functions in a ...

In the interest of preserving hot rodding history, we frequently republish old stories simply for the fun of it, but in cases like this camshaft technical overview from three decades ago (“Choosing ...