Anyone run a s/r setup on stock heads?

I'm getting antsy to throw something together so I'm wanting to run a stock headed 355 with a solid roller setup. The heads have a little work done such as a vavle job and backcut valves but that is it. Later on in the summer I'm going to go with an A/I or LE ported heads and intake setup.

I feel that a solid roller setup will give me a lot more power than an off the shelf Hyd roller or custom hyd roller. So I'm just curious who's done it and what you guys think it could put down and would also like suggestions on parts..ie best lifters etc. Please post your setup and #'s if you don't mind

This will be in a stalled auto car.

BTW this is not a DD.... but I would like to be able to use the stock computer and keep the rpm's below 7k.

l8tr

 

If you're not going to rev past 7k I don't see the point of going solid roller.

 

Not always true, I have seen a car with a hydraulic roller pickup HP & ET quicker, just swapping from hydraulic roller lifters too soild roller lifters, on the same camshaft and under 7k rpms. If you go into valve float which is not hard to do @6000+rpms with a heavy hydraulic roller lifter you could be losing 100HP from 6400-6900rpms, and revkits are just bandaids, I have seen it first hand. So engines with solid rollers can produce more HP than hydraulic cams from 6,000-7,000+rpms, and if you shift@6800 the tach should fall down to 5,-5800 so you will be in peak HP longer with the solid therefore quicker ET's. JMO Later

 

I ran a small solid roller in a stock LT1 motor (stock shortblock and stock heads). It worked better than any other "cam only" setup I ran. Made 385rwhp on a mail order tune. I am sure that there was more to be had with a dyno tune. There have been some other guys in the past that have made over 400rw with a solid roller and stock heads on an LT1 motor. I would do it again.

 

Hey I stand corrected

 

I'm in the same boat. I'd like to throw a cam in my bolt-on motor but I see no reason to stay Hydro.
385hp sounds great, so that was a stock LT1 with a big solid roller? Do you remember the approximate specs on the cam you used.

 

It was a baby solid roller. The car ran just like it had a LT4 HOT cam in it (very tame), and still had stock 3.42 gears and I was getting ~24mpg on the highway. My grind was a Comp custom: 236/242 .564/.570 112

You are limited on the cam duration in a stock shortblock situation due to piston to valve clearance issues. Duration plays a larger role in P/V clearance than lift does. I would insist that anyone doing this would check their P/V.

 

Rev kit is MORE than a band aid....
Bend a pushrod or break a rocker and see if ya don't ruin a cam and lifter and possibably a block without a rev kit.
Another thing if your train is properly set up ya won't have valve float at any RPM ya want to go to. Proper valve springs have a lot to do with the right set up,even with a rev kit.

 

I guess this is were you and Bret tend to disagree ehh?

 

I guess.
Didn't know he didn't know 'bout a rev kit for mechanical rollers,or disagreed. Don't have much need for one on a hyd roller.
Bet if ya asked him he wouldn't disagree for a big mech set up with big angle valve seats.

 

Nice #'s Jason! What lifters and springs were you running?

 

1. Rev Kit's are Band Aids, on a solid or hyd roller.
2. Duration and LSA have everything to do with piston to valve clearance and lift has nothing to do with it, but the ramp profile does.

Bret

 

Explain how....
If ya want to control the lifter in case of a spring breaking or ya want to keep from beating the seats out of a 50+* valve seat and ya are using just enough spring to close the valve and prevent float at 9,500RPM's.
Don't see it as a Johnson & Johnson. Very usefull if ya have the occassion to use it and not depend on $1,000+ TIT springs that have to be changed every 10/12 passes.
.

Don't say it don't happen.

 

Well the smart guys in Pro Stock now can run a whole weekend on a set of springs doing 10,000rpm +, with over 1.000" of valvelift on 55° seats.

If you are breaking springs, you are using them too long, using them wrong or using the wrong spring. They would need to be upgraded to a better material and one that has a better harmonic frequency to suit the valvetrain.

I just was looking at a BBC that used the wrong combo of springs, pushrods, cam and rev kit last week. The right pushrod, a better quality spring and taking out the rev kit will make the motor work. Not to mention the rev kit was JUNK with the springs basically being worthless after a 1/2 year of racing. Yep, basically if something broke in the system the rev kit would have been the next thing to break and just add more trash to take out of the motor.

If you are beating out 50° seats you are doing something wrong with your valvetrain, plain and simple, and it's most likely to do with too much RPM and too little valvetrain control due to flexability in the system or the wrong lobes for the parts you are using.

Bret

 

How much do these weekend springs vs a rev kit cost?
I haven't beat any out as I use rev kits on the ones that need them.
and JUST the right spring on the valve.
NO people on this board need run rev kits as they think 6,500 is"twisting the snot out of one".
Use 50+* seats with TIT valves and springs that are over 1,000LBS@.900-1.200in lift and see how long they last. That's with NO float or bounce.
Bet they would do-do to see a home built BB(not PS) turn 8500 and do it for a season.