roller vs. hydrolic cam

[coach]

Hey guys,

My new engine is being thought out so I don't have to do it this fall. I am using 109, Champion ported intake and heads, Te45a turbo, RJC girdle, JE pistons, stroker crank, eagle rods. My question is what do I gain by spending $1000 on a roller set-up vs. a standard hydrolic cam?

Thanks
Coach

 

[TURBOELKY]

oh boy, you've done did it now coach!!
wait till you see the replies on this one! I too have visited this question, everybody's going to say go for a roller. I too am at this point now, have everything for my short block besides a cam set up. I would love to have a roller cam, but 1k is steep! lots of spring pressure pushing on cam bearings, and the rest of the valve train. I'm still considering going solid tappet, regardless of valve adjustments once in a while. Cant be any louder than a roller cam these days

or trying the "budget" roller set up. Many have been putting them together, but have yet to run the set ups yet? Plus, not sure if the "budget roller" cam set up will support the lift i'm looking for.

 

[TurboDave]

With everything you've got tied up in that motor, it's a no brainer. Roller.

 

[benoitthegr8]

Why did you?

Been there, went comp roller in the sig.....

 

[jasjamz]

Haven't you heard all the horror stories about wiped lobes on the flat tappets? It's better to use the roller to avoid the potential flat tappet curse. Unless you like pulling your motor to rebuild it ....repeatedly.

 

[Royal-T-Ltd]

Hey guys,

My new engine is being thought out so I don't have to do it this fall. I am using 109, Champion ported intake and heads, Te45a turbo, RJC girdle, JE pistons, stroker crank, eagle rods. My question is what do I gain by spending $1000 on a roller set-up vs. a standard hydrolic cam?

Thanks
Coach

....PEACE OF MIND

 

[GNBRETT]

Been there, went comp roller in the sig.....

Nice. Time to go fishing:biggrin:

 

[turbo nasty]

here a nightcrawler out of the can o worms....

Go roller or roll the dice and use zddpplus and take a chance. Zddpplus is needed in either application though.

Has your motor ever wiped a lobe on a FT cam?

 

[coach]

ah-oh, sorry fellas,

No, my turbo motor is unopened, so I have never whiped a lobe to my knowledge. It is low milage, that is the reason I am building one to beat on. I know all about the whiped lobes, but I have a 409 Chevy $12,000 dollar pile of junk in my garage from a busted link bar on a roller cam. EVER SEEN THAT??? Didn't want to open a can of worms, I know this has probably been asked a 1000 times, but I was not ready to read those threads at that time. My brain is not capable of holding that much info for that long,KABOOM!!! I will take all into consideration, but it will be up to Lee Thompson. He is building it. I am just trying to get a ball park budget in line for the project. I already have 5 hot rods so I know all about adding 50% to the 20% your going to go over by.

Thanks
Coach

 

[TURBOELKY]

i'm positive the time I whiped my cam, was because the valve spring's were not installed properly. I took the heads to a not so reputable machine shop for a quick "freshen", and installed the new cam with the heads. Not to mention the engine was probably trash to begin with! had like 5 psi oil pressure at idle hot I still drove it that way.

i'm positive there's more buick's out there with flat tappet cams than rollers. Proper installation and break in, should work fine. I'm going to get flamed for this

 

[DailyDrifter]

I went with a roller setup. From all the horror stories I've seen posted here i'm glad I did :biggrin:

 

[BlackBandit]

If you were to look here http://www.turbobuick.com/forums/search.php you'd find all the info/opinions you could handle. Since you asked though I'll give you my opinion. Go roller. The idea of "budget rollers" being junk is a little skewed. See, there were some "budget rollers" that were not hardened properly and screwed up allot of engines. (a long time ago) Those are gone now and what most consider a "budget roller" is the ductile roller. A ductile roller is most definitely not junk. In fact, the oems use ductile rollers so that should give you an idea of how reliable they are. You can do a used roller setup for about $500-$600 and less if you're patient. A new one will run you just under 1k. Is it worth the price? Well, consider the reliability issue. I know a broken link bar will wipe a cam and trash an engine. But I'll guaranty more flat tappet cams have wiped than rollers on properly assembled and broken in engines. When you look at the price tag on a properly built engine I'd say $500-$1000 is chump change for the reliability of an item that if it fails could cost you an entire build. HTH james

 

[TURBOELKY]

If you were to look here http://www.turbobuick.com/forums/search.php you'd find all the info/opinions you could handle. Since you asked though I'll give you my opinion. Go roller. The idea of "budget rollers" being junk is a little skewed. See, there were some "budget rollers" that were not hardened properly and screwed up allot of engines. (a long time ago) Those are gone now and what most consider a "budget roller" is the ductile roller. A ductile roller is most definitely not junk. In fact, the oems use ductile rollers so that should give you an idea of how reliable they are. You can do a use roller setup for about $500-$600 and less if you're patient. A new one will run you just under 1k. Is it worth the price? Well, consider the reliability issue. I know a broken link bar will wipe a cam and trash an engine. But I'll guaranty more flat tappet cams have wiped than rollers on properly assembled and broken in engines. When you look at the price tag on a properly built engine I'd say $500-$1000 is chump change for the reliability of an item that if it fails could cost you an entire build. HTH james

the "budget" roller set up, is the front wheel drive roller lifter set up, and the cam you mention above. Seems like its working out for a few, spending under $5-600 bucks.

 

[Clark6]

Paid $750 or $800 for mine cant remember, its a comp ductile though, it was a kit. springs lifters button retainers, still wasted money on the valve springs i used the ones that came on the heads, bought everything new. Got 10.7sec on second pass not even above 5300 rpms . between the cam, turbo, heads i picked up around 150-175hp from my old build:biggrin:

You may can buy the cam by itself and go from there take your time do it right. You'll be glad u did.

 

[BlackBandit]

the "budget" roller set up, is the front wheel drive roller lifter set up, and the cam you mention above. Seems like its working out for a few, spending under $5-600 bucks.

No, the budget roller setup I was referring to is exactly the one I described and the prices I referenced pertained to the current ductile setup. I never thought about refering to the FWD setup as a budget roller setup. In the future I'll seek clarification as to whether or not that's the setup being referred to.

Edit: FWIW I have under $500 into my comp roller setup.

 

[TURBOELKY]

No, the budget roller setup I was referring to is exactly the one I described and the prices I referenced pertained to the current ductile setup. I never thought about refering to the FWD setup as a budget roller setup. In the future I'll seek clarification as to whether or not that's the setup being referred to.

Edit: FWIW I have under $500 into my comp roller setup.

yeah, I should have mentioned that in the first place.

 

[twodafloor]

Full throttle has complete kit (roller cam) under $800-- such a deal

 

[TURBOELKY]

789.00 cam kit
119.00 rollmaster timing chain set
479.99 t&d roller rockers (usually required/suggested for roller cams)
100.00??? (used) valve covers to clear roller rockers.

all this is required to run a roller cam, that is why its out of some peoples budgets.

oh, plus shipping, plus tax if applicable. $1600.00 plus
if purchased new, except valve covers. ouch.

 

[BlackBandit]

That stuff would be great but in reality while the roller rockers would be nice they really aren't necessary (hd shafts should do) and you can get a good timing set for about $60 That puts cost for new stuff under $1000.

 

[TURBOELKY]

That stuff would be great but in reality while the roller rockers would be nice they really aren't necessary (hd shafts should do) and you can get a good timing set for about $60 That puts cost for new stuff under $1000.

the shafts are not the problem, its when the push rod wears through the stamped steel rocker arm. If you search on here, you'll find pics. I picked up T&D roller rockers for $250 shipped with 500 miles on them but those deals are far and few. As others attitudes are, he's already in the engine for a good amount of mula, why not go all out right? why skimp on a timing chain? the ideal of a roller motor, would also include roller rockers.

(debates are great)