[billdini]

Well some of you may be aware I lost my flat tappet at startup so I will be going with a roller. I am planning keep the duration around 220 with a lift around .500 for street ability. I have always been a flat tappet guy with one exception my L82 Z28. So here is my dilemma I have factory AC and the brackets lay right on top of the valve covers. I remember Z and I had to run taller valve covers to gain clearance. My roller rockers were Pro Magnum full rollers. Can I stay with my regular Elgin rockers to eliminate the height issue at the cost of some HP. At what lift do I need elongated rocker slots? Are there any quality roller rockers that will fit under a stock valve cover. Thanks

 

[1971-Chevelle]

You might just give Chris Straub or Mark Jones a call and see what they say about it.

 

[Aml383]

Larry at Howard's/ competition products can set you up .
Good knowledge guy who knew harold from ultradyne . Easy guy to deal with too who caters to your need/want versus force feeding. Matter of fact they sell a "harold brookshire line " of cam lobes .
I just bought one in a solid roller from them .
Then mike lewis set me up with lifters and rockers etc.
Hey sometimes the not so good stuff happens for a better reason.
Good luck with it.
Larry
8002330199
Ext 455

 

[billdini]

Larry at Howard's/ competition products can set you up .
Good knowledge guy who knew harold from ultradyne . Easy guy to deal with too who caters to your need/want versus force feeding. Matter of fact they sell a "harold brookshire line " of cam lobes .
I just bought one in a solid roller from them .
Then mike lewis set me up with lifters and rockers etc.
Hey sometimes the not so good stuff happens for a better reason.
Good luck with it.
Larry
8002330199
Ext 455

I guess he and Eric are the most knowledgeable guys there. I have been working with Eric. First I have to deal with warranty and see if they will apply it to a roller setup. Many vendors will not. They have my pics and I should know something by Monday. Summit has a decent setup with lifters for $653 that has the specs I am looking for and in stock. Thanks

 

[shovelrick]

I'm not sure about SBC's but BBC's have a bit of an issue with noisey roller lifters from Morel which make a lot of other name brand roller lifters, I went with Howards Max Effort made by Gatorman and No odd noise, Johnson is also a well known good roller lifter, again I'm not sure if it's an issue with SBC's, I almost went with a Howards Big Daddy roller cam but thought it might be too much cam to run a/c

 

[Malibu ss 64]

Well some of you may be aware I lost my flat tappet at startup so I will be going with a roller. I am planning keep the duration around 220 with a lift around .500 for street ability. I have always been a flat tappet guy with one exception my L82 Z28. So here is my dilemma I have factory AC and the brackets lay right on top of the valve covers. I remember Z and I had to run taller valve covers to gain clearance. My roller rockers were Pro Magnum full rollers. Can I stay with my regular Elgin rockers to eliminate the height issue at the cost of some HP. At what lift do I need elongated rocker slots? Are there any quality roller rockers that will fit under a stock valve cover. Thanks

Spring pressure and lift are what decides if stamped rockers work or not. .500” lift and 150/300 is Max pressure I would run if not some nitrited or other special rocker arm. With some of the best maybe 320-350 open will work. Maybe your comp rockers work with shorter polylocks?
Maybe these crowers will work?
What cam and springs are you thinking about?

 

[shovelrick]

Bill I'd also ask Summit or Dart if a split duration cam is needed for your new heads, if so how much split? The 226 @ .050 cam I had in my 454 was a nice street cam, had some thump but not too much where it sounded like a race car, just a small performance cam, it had .533 lift 108 lsa but I'm sure you can get it with less lift, it was a Summit/Crane HFT Energizer 282 HO8, Take a look on page 90 of Cranes master catalogue PDF they show roller cams for 350's mild DD's to bracket racers Edit Not steering you towards Crane just Cams in general

 

[77 cruiser]

I'm not sure about SBC's but BBC's have a bit of an issue with noisey roller lifters from Morel which make a lot of other name brand roller lifters, I went with Howards Max Effort made by Gatorman and No odd noise, Johnson is also a well known good roller lifter, again I'm not sure if it's an issue with SBC's, I almost went with a Howards Big Daddy roller cam but thought it might be too much cam to run a/c

SB's do too.

 

[billdini]

Spring pressure and lift are what decides if stamped rockers work or not. .500” lift and 150/300 is Max pressure I would run if not some nitrited or other special rocker arm. With some of the best maybe 320-350 open will work. Maybe your comp rockers work with shorter polylocks?
Maybe these crowers will work?
What cam and springs are you thinking about?

Hi, I am thinking for the wife’s 71 350 that will have 9.5 compression this may be a good street cam and provide a kick over the lame stock cam. See link

Howards Cams CL113215-10 Howards Cams Retro-Fit Hydraulic Roller Camshaft and Lifter Kits | Summit Racing

Free Shipping - Howards Cams Retro-Fit Hydraulic Roller Camshaft and Lifter Kits with qualifying orders of $99. Shop Camshaft Kits at Summit Racing.

www.summitracing.com

 

[billdini]

Or possibly this grind. Thoughts?

Howards Cams CL110245-10 Howards Cams Retro-Fit Hydraulic Roller Camshaft and Lifter Kits | Summit Racing

Free Shipping - Howards Cams Retro-Fit Hydraulic Roller Camshaft and Lifter Kits with qualifying orders of $99. Shop Camshaft Kits at Summit Racing.

www.summitracing.com

 

[jeff swisher]

I wanted a long lived Roller cam that was easy on valvetrain.
I have choice of many grinds to get and wanted power and some decent mpg so a big one was out .

I thought hard about it and had a cam grinder build me one similar to the LT4 Hot hydraulic roller.

Small Block Hydraulic Roller LT4 Hot Cam

Check out the deal on Small Block Hydraulic Roller LT4 Hot Cam at GM Performance Motor

www.gmperformancemotor.com

I had the grind made using the exhaust lobe only so a single pattern [email protected] .050 .492" lift with 1.5 rockers.
I had it ground on a 110 LSA.

Not much spring pressure on it and it would rev to 7200 without issue.
PAC beehive 130 seat pressure 313 rate.
For an open pressure of 284 PSI I figured it would live a long happy life like that.

That first cam looks really close to the Hot cam.
Close does not mean the ramps will have the same closing or opening rates.
I picked the GM grind because I thought GM probably built it with a non aggressive lobe that would work with low spring pressures.
Guy that ground it stuck one in his 350 that was stock GM specs and it ran to 6500 lickity split.
I feel it is an excellent choice for a sporty daily driver.

So are 100 other roller cams out there.

 

[shovelrick]

Of the 2 Howards cams I like the 2nd, while driving my 09 Ram with a 6 banger I noticed it doesn't start really pulling till 2,400-2,500 rpm and higher Edit Jeff knows what he's talking about

 

[pbcbob]

Scorpion has a line of rockers that provide extra valve cover clearance, you could get one and test it, seems foolish to use ball rockers in your situation-you want to minimize possible issues

 

[billdini]

Scorpion has a line of rockers that provide extra valve cover clearance, you could get one and test it, seems foolish to use ball rockers in your situation-you want to minimize possible issues

I agree I do want to run full roller but after just spending an unexpected $600 on the AC and another grand on my 68 Chevelle that lost a head I need to try and keep costs down. I have found out since I have retired money does not grow on trees. I am hoping Howard works with me towards a roller from my flat but who knows what they will do. $500 for a cam plus another $500 for lifters plus pushrods and new springs plus all the machine work that I am now looking at is just out of the question. I appreciate your post but I have to get the best bang for the buck. This Camaro is completely new from the block up and I hate to just throw everything away but I will. I am not one to do things twice and this cam should not have quit on me in from the start. I went with Howard to avoid this in the first place.

 

[71350SS]

Just want to say that unless you want a full roller valvetrain, that you can use stamped long slot rockers on an SBC with a roller cam.Having the one doesn't mean you need the other and vice versa too.As long as the lift isn't too high and the pushrods are the right length it shouldn't cause any problems being a stamped rocker.
Also from everything I have read there is no HP gain with a roller rocker but to be honest when I built my 406 I really wanted rollers.I had to settle for long slots because of price/funds at the time but won't make that mistake twice.

 

[shovelrick]

I've read from one of the cam/engine builders here that less friction equals more power, full roller rockers are less friction than stamped steel that slides against its counter part, I wouldn't buy cheap priced roller rockers though or it could be a big mess all over again

 

[Aml383]

I guess he and Eric are the most knowledgeable guys there. I have been working with Eric. First I have to deal with warranty and see if they will apply it to a roller setup. Many vendors will not. They have my pics and I should know something by Monday. Summit has a decent setup with lifters for $653 that has the specs I am looking for and in stock. Thanks

Yes I should have clarified. Larry works for competition products . If you order a custom grind from Howard's it get cut at or through competition products.

 

[billdini]

Scorpion has a line of rockers that provide extra valve cover clearance, you could get one and test it, seems foolish to use ball rockers in your situation-you want to minimize possible issues

I am very seriously considering those and probably will pull the trigger. I have run Comp Cam Pro Magnums on a few cars and have had great luck with them but they have changed their design and have no idea on fit. With my Z28 I was able to keep and use my factory cast aluminum valve covers. I think, maybe the current heads that are on the Camaro (Summit ie low cost Darts) have a machined surface and may be higher then stock. I literally have about 1/16 of an inch from the AC bracket that I really do not want to modify if possible. Its a heavy duty 3 inch wide bracket and would not just be an easy grind and use. It would require custom fabrication so I would like to avoid cutting it up. I have no love for the orange valve covers on the car now and down the road I have hopes to install the vette/z28 covers

 

[billdini]

Scorpion has a line of rockers that provide extra valve cover clearance, you could get one and test it, seems foolish to use ball rockers in your situation-you want to minimize possible issues

I pulled the trigger on the Scorpion 1000. I will make it work one way or the other.