Solid roller lifters/hyd cam?

I talked to the tech guy at Comp and he says you can, but has anyone tried this?
I'm using the extreme energy 224/236 .573/.593 116 lsa hydraulic roller and I'm contemplating using solid lifters to gain valvetrain stability at higher rpm's, what do you guys think?
Thanks, steve

I talked to the tech guy at Comp and he says you can, but has anyone tried this?
I'm using the extreme energy 224/236 .573/.593 116 lsa hydraulic roller and I'm contemplating using solid lifters to gain valvetrain stability at higher rpm's, what do you guys think?
Thanks, steve

He said you can use the hyd. roller cam with solid roller lifters?That's the first time I've heard that but if their roller cams are both billet I don't know why you couldn't.
Let me know.You might want to call another cam manufacturer and see what they have to say.
I'm very interested.
John

That is what he said and I didn't even think to ask if the cam core was billet. He said I would have to run a tight lash of .006-.008.
Steve

A buddy of mine and I were just talking about that.He said that turbo buick guys, have been doin' it for years...Set valve lash one time,more efficient at higher rpm,etc...(i think) Hopefully he'll chime in on this.

Kinda pointless to sacrifice everything a hydrolic offers for all the downsides of a solid without even gaining the HP gains possible with a SR cam????

You can do it you just need to know the lash specs for the lobes you are running.

Bret

With it not being a billet core won't it damage the lobe?

If the spring loads are too high it definately could wipe one out.

Most likely it's not going to with the hardness of the lobes. If there is enough case you will be fine, and the spring pressure required on the cam will only be a little bit higher.

Bret

Kinda pointless to sacrifice everything a hydrolic offers for all the downsides of a solid without even gaining the HP gains possible with a SR cam????


I know nothing but positives on running a solid roller.
If you run polylocks you don't have to set them that often unless you're turning 9000rpm or more.Since you set the lash you know what you have and it should run more consistent.
Hydraulics can start leaking down and I noticed on my LT1 I had a diffenent problem.I've been adjusting them with the engine running.That's the only true way to get them right.But it can get messy.
My new engine is a pretty good size smb and I look at the solid rollers every day.

Ive always heard that the ramp on a hydrolic cam lobe was diffrent than a solid lift cam lobe?

I know nothing but positives on running a solid roller.
If you run polylocks you don't have to set them that often unless you're turning 9000rpm or more.Since you set the lash you know what you have and it should run more consistent.
Hydraulics can start leaking down and I noticed on my LT1 I had a diffenent problem.I've been adjusting them with the engine running.That's the only true way to get them right.But it can get messy.
My new engine is a pretty good size smb and I look at the solid rollers every day.

Well my downsides would be having to check and adjust lash, noise, and possibility of needle bearings shooting all over you engine. Not to mention cost.

While you can set your lash to .0XX, and technically should be more accurate, thats only going to be as accurate as the person setting it. You dont have near the leeway (sp?) that you do with a hydro.

Im not an engine builder, but i just cant see major gains, or the minimal gains being worth it. (at least speaking of hydro cam with solid lifters). A solid roller designed lobe + solid lifters you start to make up for drawbacks in power.

Ive always heard that the ramp on a hydrolic cam lobe was diffrent than a solid lift cam lobe?

For the most part a solid roller has much steeper ramps than a hydrolic cam. This is how you can have two cams with the same advertised duration, yet the solid may have much more .050 duration. Solids get the valve open quickly, hold and slams shut, where a hydrolic is more of gradual rise and fall.

I know nothing but positives on running a solid roller.
If you run polylocks you don't have to set them that often unless you're turning 9000rpm or more.Since you set the lash you know what you have and it should run more consistent.
Hydraulics can start leaking down and I noticed on my LT1 I had a diffenent problem.I've been adjusting them with the engine running.That's the only true way to get them right.But it can get messy.
My new engine is a pretty good size smb and I look at the solid rollers every day.

So is it true that when running a SR the lash should never change. If it does its a sign that something in the valvetrain is wearing or about to go?

So is it true that when running a SR the lash should never change. If it does its a sign that something in the valvetrain is wearing or about to go?

Generally that's true. They will have to be set every so often.
If ya set them after the first 500 miles and they don't go 5000 miles before setting needs to be done then something is going away. The first few miles seats everything in then ya should be good to go for a while.
The reason ya see it all the time at the track is to make sure nothing is damaged and get ready for the next pass.

For the most part a solid roller has much steeper ramps than a hydrolic cam. This is how you can have two cams with the same advertised duration, yet the solid may have much more .050 duration. Solids get the valve open quickly, hold and slams shut, where a hydrolic is more of gradual rise and fall.


Problem is the advertised duration on a solid is not rated at the same lift. A Hyd Roller is rated at .006 and a SR is usually in the .014-.020 range.

FWIW they are both roller profiles they do a lot of the same things the same way.

Bret

Ya but wont the advertised lift used change from company to company as much as it does type? I thought thats why the standardized .050 was created.

Either way, I was just trying to over simplify things. Sometimes I suppose, that in the end, that makes things worse.

Happy Holidays!

Yeah the advertised can move around a lot. If you plot a SR lobe vs. a Hyd Roller lobe in a chart from a Cam Dr file you can see a lot of similarities if the lobes are the same .050 duration. Problem is the lash makes the Hyd run like a smaller cam due to that lash. That's why the winners of this years Engine Masters put more lash into their setup before their final pulls.

Bret

Confused now....

Put more lash into it? Wouldnt that lessen the cam?

Yep that's exactly why they do it. It also bumps the DCR a good amount.

The 509's were running 260 deg cams at .050 with over .700" lift and upwards of .800"

Thats a TON of cam for a 2500-6500rpm range with the right sized heads.

When you add lash you pull up the TQ curve almost everywhere below HP peak. A 1-2 ft lbs gain everywhere is worth it when you are really close to the next guy in total score in that competition. It's just not going to live very long but 3 dyno pulls isin't too much.

FWIW Lennart Bergquist who won this year is no dummy. His shop car is a 357cube Comp Elm that's over 1000hp NA. At least it takes that much power to move a 2300lbs car 182mph in the 1/4.

Bret