GOOSE JR.

I would like to change the stock style cam set up to a roller hydraulic, will lifters, push rods, rocker arms or springs need to be changed?
Is there any machining to be done? The motor is a .060 over 427 in a 68 vette, 4 speed, headers,3.70 gears, 11 to 1 compression. I am looking for a street-strip cam, Thanks for the help.

zwede

You will need the link-bar style lifters, shorter pushrods and a cam-button. Depending on the cam profile it is likely you need better springs. Rollers have more lift and faster ramps so springs usually have to be stiffer as well as handle more lift.

Long slot stamped steel rocker arms do work, but roller rockers are sexier.

Edit: No machining required.

gkull

I have changed the cam and springs with the motor still in the Vette. Not the most fun, but it can be done.

Your best bet is to get the whole set as a matched kit. Cam, lifters, & springs/retainers. I kind of like Crane Cams. the H-roller cams from Comp cams are made out of soft metal and you have to run special BS like bronze fuel pump rods and dist gears. My 427 solid roller cam was a 242/248 110lc. It was a real TQ monster with@ 12 inches of vacuum.

You have to run more than about 236 duration if you really do have 11:1 compression to stay out of detonation.

I would not use an h-roller because of rpm limitations

jackson

Solid roller cam & link-bar solid roller lifters gonna start @ about $500 & up ... another $150-$250 more for hydraulic roller. For either, add in springs, retainers, pushrods, rockers, studs, guideplates, button etc. When upgrading from typical OE flat tappet cam ... Not unusual a proper hydraulic roller retrofit about $1000.

norvalwilhelm

No change to the push rods. Lifters with the link bar yes and a cam button. I also welded a large flat piece of stainless to the inside of my timing chain cover so the button had something more rigid to butt up against.
Actually changing springs on the car is easy. Easier to me then on the bench. You do need a air compresser.

zwede

Huh? What lifters? I'm not aware of any retro-lifters that do not require shorter pushrods?

gkull

H-roller lifters are much taller than s-roller lifters and even flat lifters for that matter. They do require a special length pushrod

Cam buttons are not required if you have quality timing chains and gears in standard cars. Cars with the ability to brake or launch in excess of 1"G" should consider some type of cam stop device such as a roller button

norvalwilhelm

I went from flat tappet cams to a comp roller and used the same pushrods with the roller lifters from comp.
Recently I wanted a slightly longer push rod for my new heads and just ordered a set of .080 over stock length.

norvalwilhelm

That might be it. I was going from solid flat tappet to solid roller.

Little Mouse

At that duration level use a solid lifter cam or one of the
street solid rollers.

jackson

The combo of oil pump drag & helical gears at dist/op-to-cam tend to walk sbc/BBC cam front-back during accel-decel; hi-capacity op amplifies the effect. For retrofit roller, a good timing set w/ torrington or wear plate at back of cam gear & a button at front is a good thing.

GOOSE JR.

Thanks for the info on the swap, is a change like this a sotp improvement?
On the solid rollers is the adjuustment of the rockers still a frequent thing? I had a 69 Z/28 and would have to adjust the solid lifter cam every weekend before going to the track.

gkull

adjustment these days for a quality stud girdle and allen locking nut equiped rocker arm is more of a check.

I have driven my solid roller Vette 1500 miles in one day and drove back in one day for a 3000 mile round trip. I popped the valve covers off when I got home. I had 3-4 valves that had opened up .005 - .007. Not even a big deal. This on a motor at does more rpm than most v-8's on the road

ajrothm

Personally don't see the effectiveness of sticking a big *** solid or roller cam in a basically stock motor? What are you going to gain maybe 20hp over an even matched hyd flat tappet if you are not going to rev the **** out of it?. Now with some good flowing heads and if you are planning to spin it to 6500 I can see it but....

Definetly not worth spending $1k in valve train to gain 20hp at 6000rpms.

Why not just get a good hyd flat tappet that will make good power in the rpm range you are actually going to run it? Say if you are going to shift it at 6000rpms, there is no reason to run a solid roller and the maintenance is definetly not worth it.

I have a solid roller in a 427 in my dad's vette. With the stock heads and intake/carb, it is totally pointless because the motor is done by 6000rpms. Granted it sounds awesome but...the maintenance and cost is not worth it in a basically stock motor. We bought the car this way, I did not install that big sucker.

My buddy just dynoed his 496" yesterday. 611hp on an engine dyno with 10-1 compression, hyd flat tappet and worked edelbrock heads. ya the cam is a pretty good sized cam but the motor made peak power at 6100rpms. Its going in a SS Chevelle cruiser.

Little Mouse

If you can afford another $200-$250 in cost buy a shaft system.

Little Mouse

Why would anyone buy a solid roller cam that only makes power
to 6000 rpm makes no sense. Your buddies engine if he will put in
a good solid roller in his engine that will let it pull to 7500 when he
puts it back on the dyno it will be making 750 to 800 HP if he has any
decent heads a single plane manifold and a carb to let it breath,
I don't know about you but
if I had his motor I would not be willing to throw away that kind of extra
power just to be able to not have to adjust valves
and if your friend is into NOS like you 750-800 hp is just the starting point.
You are right someone that spent a $1000 dollars to make an extra 20 hp
over a hydraulic at low revs thats not good, but a motor thats turning
7000/7500 will make way more power then the same size motor at 6000
as long as it can get the air it needs. A 496 sized motor even with
a cam that can make power to 7500 is still going to make enough
torque down low to fry the hell out of 99 percent of street tires
some drag radials may hook it up and there is no law wrote in stone
anywhere that says you have to run your motor and valve train at
7500 rpm all the time on a street car, its kind of like nos you can make up your own mind to use the extra power when you want to.

68 NJConv 454

I spoke to an engine builder in Columbia PA yesterday about an engine build and he gave me a lot of good advice and tricks of the trade.
He mentioned that if the car is going to be a strictly street car and you run the risk of having the car idle for a period of time that you would want to go with a hyd flat tap. Reason is the roller only gets oil lubrication from whats flung off the cam whereas a flat tap has the oil fed thru drilled holes. I don't claim much knowledge of engines and this might be this guys preference but I'm trying to learn as much as I can before my build. Any truth to this or is the oil difference not that much to even make a difference? We're talking about a car that could possibly be driven everyday if need be and possibly stuck in traffic once in a while. I know the HP drops a bit from roller to flat, but any other outragous pros or cons to a roller setup?
Just something to think about.

Little Mouse

What your engine builder told you use to be true, but now days
solid roller cams have oil holes down to the needles and the street
solid roller cams don't have the extreme race car lifts, they also
have iron gears on them so you don't have to have a brass dist gear
like the old race car cams.

shafrs3

What are the cam specs on your buddy's motor?