A few salient points:
1. A "professional welder" is still going to be a ****** at welding V8 SHO cams while STILL INSIDE THE MOTOR. Sure, the welds may be the best in the world, but if the motor blows up afterwards that would really just make them a "professional engine destroyer".
2. The "settings" of a welder are MEANINGLESS unless you are using the actual welder from which the settings have been provided (not just the same make and model, but the actual welder), and you have the exact same electrical supply characteristics. Along with the same wire, same gas, and same pressure too. There are way too many factors to just say "this is what you need" and you're good to go. When we go on the road to weld cams, we need different settings than at the shop, and those settings are different for each location; Nashville we use one setting, Houston another, Tulsa yet another, and so on. You also have to compensate for the type of oil used in the motor as different oils react differently as the beads are being applied.
3. We hear the "I don't have the time/money" arguments every day. We've got a customer's car in the shop right now who couldn't justify spending $750 to have his cams welded when he first called about 3 months ago. His car died while we were in Memphis. When his motor swap is done on Wednesday he'll be paying us about $3200 from a bunch of credit card cash advances to get his one and only source of transportation back. If you don't have the time or money to get the cams welded properly, I hope you have the time and money when they fail or when the motor dies because some "professional" rookie warped a camshaft, cracked a tensioner, let welding debris get somewhere it shouldn't, etc. You'll either be whacked with the cost of a replacement motor or the prospect of getting maybe $500 for your lawn ornament.
4. I wouldn't care if someone had 20 years experience as a professional welder, another 20 years as a professional Ferrari technician, and spent 10 more years designing and manufacturing camshafts. If they haven't welded V8 SHO cams before, I might let them drive my car or change my oil, but they're sure as **** not going to learn V8 SHO camshaft welding on my car.
There are about a dozen people in the country who have a track record of reliable cam welding service. If a four hour drive and a few hundred dollars is too much for you to know that it's done right, by someone who loves the car and has a lot of experience with welding V8 SHO cams, then you might want to reconsider if the V8 SHO is the right car for you.
jpc
