Roller cam worth the money?

[mike]

I'm in the process of redoing my motor from scratch and need to figure out what cam to get. I've talked to a few people that suggest a roller cam. They say it has less wear. Are they just that much better?

 

[TRENT THOMPSON]

many people suggest upgrade too roller too elliviate the cam wipe issues

 

[NoNos38]

This is like asking if a Precision intercooler is better than a CAS, Or if a stock location will take you into the 10's.. IMO, the roller's are a big waste of money in a motor that never goes over 6,000RPM
Matt

 

[matt87]

thats kinda a funny remark considering you can get a roller in 206. i think if you have the money its a great investment. roller will make more hp than flat tappet and is a lot stronger and wont go flat. the people who dont like them are usualy the people that couldnt afford to put one in when they rebuilt.

 

[Buick Mark]

I have the PTE 210 billet roller in mine after wiping a 206 flat tappet and a "budget " roller. The one advantage that I can see is the durabilty issue. Is there any performance advantage? Hmmmmmm, maybe so, but it really is hard to tell as far as the butt dyno goes. Mark

 

[86brick]

If you got the money the roller cam is the best IMO. I know a guy that has a 210/210 PTE billet roller and before that he had a 218/218 flat tappet and he says the 210 roller cam is much better in terms of performance and durability wise he doesn't have to worry about wiping the cam out.

 

[b231v6]

Agree with the points on the roller cam. If you can afford it-- do it. I'm not an engine builder but I think durability ,less friction are why most of all new G M engines come with roller valve trains.

 

[Joe 1320]

Besides less friction and more durability, rollers allow much more agressive cam profiles and still retain good drivability. Rollers allow much faster ramp speeds for the same given duration with less noise or bouncing a valve on it's seat. Basically the same advertised duration flat tappet cam that has a lope to it, would be smoother with a roller.

 

[mike]

Thanks a lot guys. With hearing this and talking to Jack Cotton, I'm gonna go with the roller. I have until next year so $$ isn't really an issue. I really appreciate this guys.

 

[Intercooler]

There was testing done long ago and revealed about 10 HP increase over a flat tappet cam. Other than hopes of being problem free I wouldn't expect a seat of the pants out of it and there has been a bunch of threads with roller cam problems also (one I remember was the Woodruff key). In a low RPM motor like ours I think it is a luxury item. I have the money to put one in my motors but never saw the need. The difference in price would buy you a hell of a turbo, convertor, injectors and even ported iron heads which will blow 10 HP totally out of the water! JMO

 

[86brick]

Well from what I've been told a LOT of the problems guys have with the flat tappet cams are because they are not installed properly or they are not broken in correctly, so I guess if you have a mechanic that can do both the right way or you know how to do it yourself you should be fine. I wonder how a flat tappet cam needs to be broken in? I think you are supposed to keep the motor revving at a certain rpm for a certain amount of time to break it in correctly, but I'm not sure Anybody who's installed flat tappet cams I would really appreciate it if you'd explain this to me

 

[Intercooler]

Well the way I do mine is almost by default I fire it up and adjust the RPM's to 2000-2500 and hold it for about 10 min. (ok, between 5-10 min. in real terms) then I back it down to an idle and operate the throttle by hand giving it blips up to 3000 RPM's or so (also seeing what the throttle response is) for about the same period of time again. Then I let it idle, back out of the garage and flog the piss out of it.

 

[86brick]

Thanks for the info Intercooler!

That's about the same as what I was told. I know Alex (aka blackshoebox on this forum) has an ATR 313B (208/201 duration) flat tappet cam that has close to 30k daily driven miles so far with no problems so I think if you install and break the cam in properly like how Intercooler explained you should be fine

 

[GNICETRY]

I would recommend give Dave Weber a call and order his kit. Everyone sells his kit anyway. 206/206

 

[S2V6RACER]

Originally posted by 86brick
Well from what I've been told a LOT of the problems guys have with the flat tappet cams are because they are not installed properly or they are not broken in correctly, so I guess if you have a mechanic that can do both the right way or you know how to do it yourself you should be fine. I wonder how a flat tappet cam needs to be broken in? I think you are supposed to keep the motor revving at a certain rpm for a certain amount of time to break it in correctly, but I'm not sure Anybody who's installed flat tappet cams I would really appreciate it if you'd explain this to me

Let's see, improper cam break in, improper cam break in lube, misaligned lifter bores, too heavy of valve spring, just to name a few of the "causes" I have heard from vendors. Nothing ever conclusive, just guesses.

Never heard "the cam is just a POS", or "there is terrible quality control" or "Maybe the cam isn't hardened correctley". Never the cam itself, no.

Then the Budget Cam fiasco.. Don't need to get into that.

I agree with Jesse. Break in with known good procedures from people who know Buicks.

And with the roller issue, I factor in the "what if" cost if a flat tappet goes flat. Consider the cost of a rebuild, turbo failure ect. If a roller has a better chance(it does), it's a good choice.

I have a 218/212 Hydrolic roller in the race motor. It idles like a stocker and has great street manners. If you are going all out race motor, the 10HP is 10HP so you decide.

 

[86brick]

Ted, I personally don't mind spending an extra 5-$600 for a billet roller cam cause for my rebuild I've been thinking about the PTE 210 billet roller or the Weber 206/206 billet roller cam. I've heard that with the roller cams you can't have a knock sensor or that if you have a roller cam with roller rockers that you will get false knock. Is their any truth to this or is it just BS??? TIA

 

[matt87]

i have 0 false knock with t&d's and a billet roller. i think its just a misconception.

 

[S2V6RACER]

Originally posted by 86brick
Ted, I personally don't mind spending an extra 5-$600 for a billet roller cam cause for my rebuild I've been thinking about the PTE 210 billet roller or the Weber 206/206 billet roller cam. I've heard that with the roller cams you can't have a knock sensor or that if you have a roller cam with roller rockers that you will get false knock. Is their any truth to this or is it just BS??? TIA

I wouldn't say it's B.S. because if they have knock and are running good gas then it would be true. Whether it's the actual cam that is responsible would have to be proved. There are a lot of other variables that could be the problem, so to just blame a cam for the problem may be premature.

I run a SEFI FAST, so the knock sensor is just extra weight for me.

 

[tazgn]

I have ATR's billet roller and T&D roller rockers. The false knock thing is B.S. from the valve train. I have no false knock and haven't for the 2 years I've had this setup. And I can say that the idle of the roller cam is just like stock as well. I can't really say there was a definite horsepower increase as I installed it with other upgrades at the same time. I would say that if you have the extra money, it's worth every cent.

Derrick

 

[86brick]

Thanks for the info Ted....

It sounds like the cam could be the cause of some false knock, but this must be proved by checking for other possible causes before blaming the cam.