Roller Camshaft Questions!!!

[86 TR]

Got some questions about the roller cams out there. First off, what is the difference between austempered and the billet cams??? Besides the price. Second what camshaft would you go with?? I will be building another engine this winter and the parts I have selected so far are: steel crank, forged rods, RJC girdle, forged pistons, ported iron heads, ported intake, 70mm throttle body, upper plenum and the turbo choice and stall converter are still up in the air yet. I would like a cam that makes lots of power and is still somewhat streetable. My ultimate goal is to have a mid-10 second car.

Lastly, are these cam kits basically a drop in kit?? Any machine work required?? I understand you must change valve springs, pushrods, etc.

Thanks.

 

[Blazer406]

The austempered cams are a newer cheaper technology to make roller cam cores.... where billet started life as a large billet block of real steel and machined from there. Alot of people say you have to have a billet cam for the big grinds... because the higher spring pressures required for the large cams load the cam harder.. so the cam needs to be stronger.....

With that said...some people subscribe to the line of thinking that the cheaper cast austempered core roller cams are fine for mild cam profiles... because the springs required aren't near as stout as big roller profile grinds..... + the milder cams usually operate at considerably less RPM... also lessening the lobe strenght requirement. Also the austempered cams usually don't require a bronze distributor gear... like the billet ones do.... making them more of a "drop-in" cam.

Mike Licht at full throttle is selling some Comp non-billet hydraulic rollers..... and a pile of people here on the board are running them... and I haven't heard any negative on them so far....

As far as cam chioce..... it boils down to primary use..... then match the cam RPM range with appropriate head and intake work.... and then turbo and converter matching the hole thing.... I chose a 210/215 Comp HR from Mike. It should pull to 5500 RPM or so... have a almost stock idle.... There are cars running this grind going nines.... I'm shooting for 10.50's with a 45A turbo and some ported irons...mid 20's on the boost.... on pump gas and alky....

HTH

 

[turbobose13]

I Run The 210/215 austempered, and My Car Pull's Super Hard To 5800/6000 with no Problem's, at 35/40 MPH the tire's Break Loss But that is with Street Tire's. Good Luck. My Sig is down Below.

 

[Nick Micale]

.......... I would like a cam that makes lots of power and is still somewhat streetable. My ultimate goal is to have a mid-10 second car.

Lastly, are these cam kits basically a drop in kit?? Any machine work required?? ..........Thanks.

Either roller cam is streetable, as even the "big" cam for a Buick is mild as compared to other makes.

The hydraulic roller with either cam is good to the low 10's with the right combo, as we have done many of these builds.

The ductile cam installs like stock, the billet requires some machining either to it or the block, or specific parts to install it.

We use a method that requires the block to be drilled for 3 threaded holes like a stage block. The cam must be machined, or purchased, with the machine work done for this type installation.

Their are other methods to retain a billet cam, but over the years, we have found this to be the most trouble-free.

 

[86 TR]

I see the price difference between the ductile roller cam and the billet roller cam isn't that big. Should I just go with the billet roller over the ductile roller???

Thanks.

 

[BlackBandit]

I went ductile and I'm not worried about it. I believe it's the tech the OEM's use so it's pretty reliable. That said on my next engine if the price is close I'll spring for a billet piece. I figure it's a no brainer to go with the better piece if the price is the same.

 

[bison]

I see the price difference between the ductile roller cam and the billet roller cam isn't that big. Should I just go with the billet roller over the ductile roller???

Thanks.

Nope. Go for an austempered roller. Its plenty and a fairly easy install. Go for .010 inch endplay. Check out my sig for a relatively low boost (under 25 psi) application with iron heads that will run 10's all day long with light launches. On a 60 degree day and with a 1.50-1.53 60' it will run easy 10.50's @3600 lbs.