mechanical Cam
TECH Fanatic
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 1,979
Likes: 3
From: Upstate NY
Good question, and far from a stupid one.
As R and C said, it's old school and OEM talk for the type of lifters used. "Mechanical" means the same as "solid" or "flat tappet" (which really isn't flat!). Of course "tappet" is really old school for "lifter". Ever wonder why the name "tappet" was chosen? You might query Click and Clack the Tappet Brothers. I bet they know.
I suspect "mechanical lifter camshaft" got shortened to "mechanical cam" before it was further shortened to "solid cam". Now I use SR and HR writing and "solid" or "hydraulic" when talking about modern roller lifter camshafts.
Evidently there are some old school guys at Comp or they sell to us OFs who called them "mechanical".
http://www.compcams.com/technical/Ca...106-07/239.pdf
Crane called their solid roller llifters "mechanical roller" also.
http://store.summitracing.com/egnsea...5&autoview=sku
Jon
As R and C said, it's old school and OEM talk for the type of lifters used. "Mechanical" means the same as "solid" or "flat tappet" (which really isn't flat!). Of course "tappet" is really old school for "lifter". Ever wonder why the name "tappet" was chosen? You might query Click and Clack the Tappet Brothers. I bet they know.
I suspect "mechanical lifter camshaft" got shortened to "mechanical cam" before it was further shortened to "solid cam". Now I use SR and HR writing and "solid" or "hydraulic" when talking about modern roller lifter camshafts.
Evidently there are some old school guys at Comp or they sell to us OFs who called them "mechanical".
http://www.compcams.com/technical/Ca...106-07/239.pdf
Crane called their solid roller llifters "mechanical roller" also.
http://store.summitracing.com/egnsea...5&autoview=sku
Jon
TECH Fanatic
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 1,979
Likes: 3
From: Upstate NY
Are blondes better than redheads?
Back in the day hydraulic lifters limited what you could do with valve action, and "solids" were the only way to go for high rpm and aggressive valve motion. That is still true today, but you can get some excellent performance from today's hydraulic roller (HR) valvetrains if the correct lobes and valvetrain parts are used. 8000 rpm is not out of sight for a well prepped HR LS engine.
Solid roller (SR) ("mechanical roller") is still the way to go for absolute max engines. One exception is Sprint Cup (NASCAR) engines which must by rule, use mechanical flat tappet lifters. They twist those engnes above 9500 rpm all day.
One well-known engine builder (who doesn't post here) has a favorite saying: "Hydraulic rollers are for girls!" Of course he won the first Engine Masters Challenge with an HR engine.
Back in the day hydraulic lifters limited what you could do with valve action, and "solids" were the only way to go for high rpm and aggressive valve motion. That is still true today, but you can get some excellent performance from today's hydraulic roller (HR) valvetrains if the correct lobes and valvetrain parts are used. 8000 rpm is not out of sight for a well prepped HR LS engine.
Solid roller (SR) ("mechanical roller") is still the way to go for absolute max engines. One exception is Sprint Cup (NASCAR) engines which must by rule, use mechanical flat tappet lifters. They twist those engnes above 9500 rpm all day.
One well-known engine builder (who doesn't post here) has a favorite saying: "Hydraulic rollers are for girls!" Of course he won the first Engine Masters Challenge with an HR engine.
