I can get a solid lift cam and solid lifters for next to nothing brand new from a freind, and was wondering if they are good cams, Ive heard you have to adjust the rocker arms and everything alot with these types of cams, is that true? Are they worth it? or would a roller cam be a better choice? The engine wont be drivin daily, mostly on the weekends and at the strip, any help would be much appreciated! thanks

with a good set of polylocks, constant valve adjustemnt on solids is pretty much a thing of the past...I went from hydraulics to solids, and will never go back for performance. smile.gif

just because its a solid doesnt make it better it needs to match your combination to work well.as for me i only would run a solid came or solid roller,the rollers are alot more expensive to buy and get the parts to make them run.as was already stated the poly locks have eleminated the constant valve adjustments.for a daly driver i would use a hydralic cam but for more performance there is nothing like a solid

Just because it`s "free" doesn`t necessarily mean it`ll be worth it!

If the cam isn`t right for your setup then it`s worthless for all intents and purposes.

Nothing wrong with the right Hyd cam F/T or roller.

No the cam is perfect for my application, so with good polylocks I should be fine? Also, off the topic, how much Horsepower can stock connecting rods take? And how much can a cast crankshaft take?

Ryan, is your car a Big Block or Small Block? The primary factors for cast crank/stock rod durability are piston weight and rpm. They'll take alot of power (especially the BB) but not alot of rpm especially with heavy cast pistons. Stay around 5500-6000 and you'll be ok.

Its a small block 350 (well 355) and has forged pistons, just not forged rods... So you think Ill be fine, even if I run a 150 shot of Nitrous? Right now the engine desktop dynos at like 400horse power and 400 ft/lbs of torque.

All the small blocks have factory forged rods except the real late model stuff that uses powdered metal.
If it has forged pistons, it should be safe with that 150 shot. Just keep it under 6000.

Randy

make sure you use good after market bolts like arp or milidon and have the machine shop to resize after the bolts are instaled

I ran my 406 with stock rods and crank for years, I used 175hp jets for the nitrous, Car ran mid 10s and 130. As cheap as rods are now its hard to run stock ones though.

solids = FREE TORQUE. Initally you might be setting lash often, but once it "takes a set", lash adjsutments will be few and far between, I spin the motor to 7000 and lash stays the same. And even after a total of 30 hours of open road driving.

Wait a minute!!

What cam is it and what are it's spec's??

Then you will know for sure from the guy's here telling you if it is good for you or not!

I say this b/c there aren't that many good decent sized solid cams running around, but rather knarly ones, generally..

Sorry, but I'm from Missouri!!

pdq67

Yes, exaclty. Not many good SMALL solid grinds out there, and that's what you want. Better to lose 5% to "squishy" lifters than to put a mis-matched cam in, any day.

Thx Gene for the back up b/c that is my point Exactly!!

Good smaller every day street motor solid cams...

That's what is so great about the old-fashioned -097 Little Duntov, but I do have to admit that it is a schosh too little in anything bigger then a 327, imho...

pdq67

Sure seems like it wouldnt take alot of imagination to come up with a good mechanical lifter cam for a 6000 to 6500 RPM 350...with or without N2O.May have to order one rather than find the perfect cam on the shelf but that aint no problem.Lord knows I've done it... My last 3 solid cams were all small and under 220 deg @ .050.

PDQ,
Back around 1980 or there abouts friend of mine had a 67 Camaro with a 350 in it.He was running an 097...
in fact it was my old one ! He ran 12.90's with that damn thing !! Having 4.38 gears helped tho :D Ran hard for an under .400 lift cam.But for most 350's I agree the 097 is abit small....But in a lightweight 283/302/327 powered car with gears it is a great old piece !

Yes, Sir, but it LIKELY the grind he's getting for free isn't one of those sweet little grinds,

Cam specs please!

( oh, and Al, I can see why the fellas you knew who ran my cam liked it so much!)

Gene,

It's not hard at all to get an 097 equipped engine into the 13's.A 1957 283HP 283 with a 4 speed and 4.11 would run 14.20's way back then on tires around 4 inches wide.Getting into the 12's is much tougher.

But the real thing about that cam is that it really likes lighter weight cars.That 67 Camaro weighed only weighed around 2700 pounds.I'm sure if his car weighed a more typical 3400 pounds it would not have made it into the 12.90 range.... It also helped that he could shift his M21 about as good as Butch Leal or Ronnie Sox could.... He was an awsome driver.But still for such a little **** cam it just seemed to work real well.

Comp cams has a new line of solid cams..I have used the xs268-s10 and the xs282-s10. They have a XS256S-10, XS262S-10 also
Xtreme Energy™ Mechanical Flat Tappet Cams
This newest addition to the Xtreme Energy™ family of lobes delivers the responsiveness, torque, and reliability only available with Comp Cams™ Xtreme™ designs coupled with the high rpm power of modern solid lifter designs. A faster valve opening increases engine vacuum and enhances throttle response. Special closing ramps close the valve quicker providing more cylinder pressure and torque without resulting in excessive valve train noise. Faster ramps achive maximum velocity earlier, dramatically increasing the area under the lift curve and providing maximum horsepower.

See official press release for big block and small block Chevy applications:
http://www.compcams.com/information/WhatsNew/Press/XTREME.PDF

Reference:
12-674-4, 12-675-4, 12-676-4, 12-677-4, 12-678-4, 12-679-5, 11-674-4, 11-675-4, 11-676-4, 11-677-4, 11-678-5, 11-679-5
XS256S-10, XS262S-10, XS268S-10, XS274S-10, XS282S-10, XS290S-10
Free Adobe PDF Reader download here...

Gene,

I just wanted to clarify one thing.Of the several people that I knew back in the mid 70's to early 80's who used the 097 his was the only car that I can recall running in the 12's with that cam.Back in those days if you had a 12 second car you were FAST.
But aftermarket heads and fast actin cams simply were not availabe back in the mid 70's when I bought my 097.

I was luckly enough to co pilot in a stock 1963 Corvette 327/360 HP FI car for about 1/2 an hour.That darn thing was RESPONSIVE... That ride sold me on the 097 cam...I had to get one.... But that was along time ago.

That's what I am talking about when I mention the little-bitty old-fashioned -097 cam and it's performance!!

I bet CC's XS268-10 and XS274-10 grinds will flat cook for mild solid cams in SB 350 and smaller motors IF and I mean a big IF the valve action isn't too extreme such that it doesn't last a long time like the old -097 does..

I do personally know the -097 is a true daily driver cam and will last a VERY long time without any problems at all.....

pdq67

Using the term "reliability" with those XE grinds is stretching it a bit IMHO. Just IMHO.

Been following this thread with interest as I too am in need of a cam. I just looked at the XS274S-10 cam and used it in Mr. Kellys' calculator. With my setup it gives me 7.99 dcr, which is ok , right? but you are saying there could be a reliability issue here. Could you please explain this a bit to me and also how would vacuum for brakes be with this cam?

Thanks


Jerry

We just don't know and the reason I think about it is b/c when I settled on CC's 282S solid for my 496, I looked their cat's. cam lobe section over for you know, "the most cam for the duration to make the most power with" sorta thing and found out anything past the magnum grinds tend to be "race" grinds which imho means they tend to max. out valvetrain acceleration and lift to maximize area under the curve which all tends towards being hard on the valvetrain!!

I really don't think anybody daily drives our motors enough nowadays to be able to pick up on longevity problems b/c the suckers take so much fuel we can't afford to drive them like we could when ethyl was 30 cents a gallon like way back when!!

UDHarold has gone into his cam grinding theory a couple of times when he mentioned using max, accel. on the up sides of the lobes, but then used lower, more gentle deccel. on the downsides to help combat longevity problems as well as valvetrain noise issues... And I feel that he is a cam designer/grinder that does approach max. area under the curve to produce max. motor power for a given rpm and engine combination, and try's not sacrifice durability if he can -- imho..

PLease anybody else jump right on in.....

pdq67

pdq67,

I remember reading an article where a guy was interviewing Zora Arkus Duntov back in the early 60's.They said basically the same thing.The 097 had ( for it's day ) Hi positive accl and low negitive accl
a low lift and modest duration.Also one has to remember especially with respect to the 097 that it was designed when the " Power Pack " type small valve / small port heads was ALL that was available....Also back then .400 lift was considered to be a HIGH LIFT cam.I know this may not mean much but do you happen to remember what the 097 lobe shape looked like ? Big round nose that almost looked like a roller.I would be willing to bet that it's velocity never got to the 7.0 TPD range... But most likely had a peak in the 6.7 range....

I agree with you completely that the 097 was a very DRIVABLE cam.To me it was a much better " All Round " cam than the 30-30 Duntov that replaced it.
In my old 327 it would start to lose it's mild lope around 1400 RPM and was dead smooth after that...And from 2800 to 6500 it slammed you back in your seat and PULLED... The 30-30 never really smoothed out till 2500 or so and then from 4000 -7000 it grabbed RPM with a fury.....But was no where near as civilized and drivable as the 097.Seemed to me the only real place where the 30-30 was superior to the 097 was above 6000 RPM.

If the last ounce of power is what you need then it's there to be had with the " Race " or " Extreme " or fast acting cams....But it sure seems to me that every form of refuge has it's price.That 097 would last and last and not hurt any parts.The more agressive the profile may make the power but there sure seems a bit more likely to wound something also..... If you dont need the last ounce of power then there is definatly a place in this world for less aggressive / more reliable cams.Harold offers both modestly aggressive , Aggressive and Very Aggressive profiles.... Most other cam grinders offers mild to wild stuff also.... depending on what your needs are.... I myself who doesnt have a race car and no real need for the last once of power generally went for a more modest profile that was powerfull but not real aggressive.I'll trade some power for less problems especially if I dont really need the extra power.Being realistic with one's needs isnt a bad idea....But if you need extra power the aggressive cams are there to be ordered.

My thoughts exactly, 69LS1!!!

That's why I'm scared to death of a solid roller..

What and eat a lifter axle, then the motor!! No thanks..

pdq67

PS, remember the 360hp/327 and the 375hp/327 were almost exactly the same except for the bigger F.I.unit, heads, cam and exhaust manifolds so a balls out stuff gave them an extra 15hp, whoopti-dooo!!

Old -097 vs 30-30 and 1.94"/1.50" vs 2.02"/1.60" valve fuelie heads castings in both cases..