Thread: could it be a roller block?

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ok i got a 350 out of a van that was TBI. when i took it apart it had solid lifters and cam but ive heard most TBIs were roller cams. how many bolts hold the lifter retainer on? theres 2 spots on the block where it would mount and it looks like they broke bolts off in there.
and is it possible to drill and tap the holes and buy the parts to make my block a roller block?

you could possibly check the numbers on the Mortec web site to find out for sure.

wow great site. i didnt find my number though maybe cuz its a canadian block. anywas i googled it and it said it came with roller lifters. can i just go to like napa and buy a new retainer plate? and will 4.3 lifters fit in a 350?

Yes, 4.3 lifters will fit a 350, they're the same block. Flat tappets don't use retainers or anything, so that would be a giveaway of a roller block.

well when i was tearin the motor down it didnt have any retainers or anything just the flat tappets

The retainer(spider) for the rollers has 3 bolts on it and the lifter bores have a flat spot on them for the alinment plate. And the nose of the cam is machined for a retaining plate and uses a diffrent timing gear for the cam. A lot of the truck and vans got a flat tappet cam untill early to mid 90s,

yeah idk. it had flat tappets in it but the casting number is a roller block number

have one just like yours in my shop bolt towers in the lifter valley has spot for the cam plate to so i will make it a roller cam engine you will need a roller engine timing set .cam spider. lifters. dog bones.push rods .retainer plate .for the cam. make sure you use the right cam gear with the steel core roller can

ahhhhhh ic thanks guys

I have a simular motor that I just built that came out of 90 model 3/4 ton truck. It has 1-piece rear seal but no provisions for roller cam. So far all roller cam blocks had the 3 bolt holes tapped. Also along with what the others said, the late models (1-piece main/roller) have to have a different flywheel/flex plate as the bolt pattern is smaller. If you do have a roller motor, I think I have a new ZZ4 cam, lifters, retainers, spider and pushrods. I think you also need to use self aligining rockers.
Hope I haven't confused the issue. If you only have two spots on top of cam I don't believe you can make it a roller motor.
Jim

hmmm i honestly dont know whats going on with the block the serial number shows that its a roller block but theres only 2 holes on the cam tunnel thing

I know what you mean. Mine is the same way and I had a hard time figuring mine out. Does your motor have a 1-piece rear seal?

if it has what i said you can put a roller in it .if it has the towers in the valley and hole in the front of the block.for the cam plate to use the gm stuff the rockers have nothing to do with the rolller cam like said they came with rollers cams and flat cams

i looked up the block casting number and it said it originally came with a roller cam
yeah its a 1 piece main seal

My '94 block had the spider risers that wasn't drilled and had flat tappets. It is also a one piece rear seal and also didn't have the push rod hole drilled for the fuel pump on the side of the block, had the bosses but no hole.

Kodiak