Thread: roller cam vs hydralic

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finally getting to the stage in my build up. it's time to pick a cam I have 400 block and it is preparing to be bored +40 I have KB flat top pistons 7cc dish 10:1 with the 76cc 441s heads block has been zero decked. I guess i'll have to run premium or race gas till i can offord aluminum heads this is the question i was thinking on going with the comp Xtreme energy 268 or 274 hydralic cam but i put off the build up long enough to have money for a roller cam my cousin switched to a roller in his 350 and he's says it's a 30-70 hp out the box his 1st cam wore out without a whole lot of use and i hear rollers last longer do to the less friction i already have 1.5 roller rockers and so on and i have to get springs and retainers either way it goes so is a roller cam worth the extra cash and what size still want it streetable

Roller cam hands down ,just on the fact it will not fail in the first 20 mins,like a flat tappet cam on break in.Theres no break in on a roller cam to possibly destroy the whle engine.
Anything I ever build is going to have a roller cam from now on,I got lucky on my flat tappet cam soo far,about 1hr + of run time.
Theres just too much worry on a flat tappet on break in.
You can knock about 50 bucks off the price of the roller cam,because you will not need the 50 dollars in special oil to break it in ,like a flat tappet.
2 bottles gm eos 20 bucks and then the oil and filter that gets replaced right away ,meaning you have to replace the oil and filter after break in,might be more than 50 dollars in oil and filters and additives for a flat tappet,plus none of that means theres no chance for it to fail.
I have seen roller cams where the spider broke and the roller was sideways on the cam and had eatin most of the roller away,it was almost square,all that was needed was a new lifter on that same cam ,because a few wear marks are irrelevant on a roller because the is virtually no friction .
Beyond the fact it will not fail on start up,it will produce more power and idle better than a flat tappet.
A flat tappet is taking the rest of the motor out with it when it goes,I have never heard of a roller cam failure ever.........they may fail I just have never heard of it.The roller in my 200000 mile 5.0 motor looked brand new when it was inspected......

Roller. Not even a contest....

What Dave said . . . No more flat tappet cams for me - ever.

There not more expensive, if you ever have i failure with a flat tappet. "FLAT" tappet does that tell you anything

Originally Posted by Dave Severson

Roller. Not even a contest....

yep i will not build a big block chevy with out a hyd or soild roller .i have seen the flat s. fail before they removed the zinc in the oil

So there is no break in regiment with a roller cam? Very interesting, this Vortec is the first roller cam I've had, and was planning on doing the usual 2000 rpm break in ritual. Not needed, huh?


Don

Nope. No need to break in the cam.

on soild roller we run over 300lbs at the seat just start them up on idle . well they idle around 1200 rpm check for leaks i brake in the valves springs and its ready

what size roller should i get for the 408 compression is supposed to be around 10:1 i want it to be a street ride rarely ever going to see 6000 rpm hopefully never

i would look at a cam with a lsa of 107 or less

Originally Posted by maineevent

finally getting to the stage in my build up. it's time to pick a cam I have 400 block and it is preparing to be bored +40 I have KB flat top pistons 7cc dish 10:1 with the 76cc 441s heads block has been zero decked. I guess i'll have to run premium or race gas till i can offord aluminum heads this is the question i was thinking on going with the comp Xtreme energy 268 or 274 hydralic cam but i put off the build up long enough to have money for a roller cam my cousin switched to a roller in his 350 and he's says it's a 30-70 hp out the box his 1st cam wore out without a whole lot of use and i hear rollers last longer do to the less friction i already have 1.5 roller rockers and so on and i have to get springs and retainers either way it goes so is a roller cam worth the extra cash and what size still want it streetable

....Is it really feasible to add 30 to 70 Hp with just a switch from a Hydraulic Flat Tappet to a Solid Roller cam in a combination such as this??? Not trying to steal your thread but your combo is similar to mine & this sounds really good! Thanks, Bill

For driving on the street, think HYDRAULIC roller, not SOLID roller.