I new to the ls scene and have built lots of bbc's and sbc's.
When I wanted to twist up past 6000 rpm I used solid lifters, shaft rockers, ect...
Why do I read about 99% of the time people staying with hydraulic setups even with track setup cars?
Lot's of complaints about valve float, lifter noise and so on.
I used to change my springs each season and toss the old ones away and would never consider buying or selling used springs.
I know the metallurgy has changed alot over time but valve float was a killer to cam, lifter trunnions, pushrods and such and pretty sure it still is with an ls.
I'm all ears.

 

engineering has come a long way on the past 40 years. the ls7 spins to a factory 7k redline with hydraulic lifters.

modern ls engines with newer style roller lifters and cam lobes have no issues spinning to 6800 or even higher. people who have valve float have it because of an improper valvetrain setup. Period. that may include, worn or soft springs, bad install height, heavy valves, or too aggressive cam lobes for their springs. either way it can always be corrected with a proper valvetrain setup.

solid roller setups have not been done on an ls till Kip at cam motion recently has developed some testing versions. factory blocks werent designed for solid rollers and thus not many people run them. many people have taken ls motor with hydraulic rollers to 7500 rpm. the simple answer is not many run them because there is not really a need.

 

How do you figure this hasn't been done till recently.

I run Crower Hippo's in my ls.

 

Yeah I am pretty sure solid cams have been used on ls's since probably a year after they came out. regardless, I can spin my LS to 7000 with a hydraulic cam, and LS7 lifters.

 

Solid rollers haven't caught on with LS engines simply because of the costs involved. They have been done for many years by some LS drag racers. We are setting one up in my car currently.

 

There have been a bunch of solid roller stuff for LS. Jesel has been making stuff for well over a decade. A lot can be done with hydraulic roller but when you need serious power they move onto a solid roller.

 

My last 496bbc I setup with a hydraulic roller and it pulled to 6300 for a year or so. After that all I had was valvetrain problems even after a new set of springs.
I'll never build another bbc with hydraulics unless its a stocker.

 

You can get a bbc to go to 7k with really good parts. 8k in a small block. I prefer the assured control that the solid roller provides. Valvetrain needs to be setup properly regardless of hydraulic or solid. This is the most important.

 

I've had a solid roller setup since 2005... granted I never finished the motor. Its going to be going together here soon with that same old camshaft/valvetrain setup( well with new valve springs)

 

I shift mine at 7,700-7,800RPM all the time. Brian tooley platinum springs, stock rockers, comp hydraulic cam, Johnson link bar lifters. I seen no need to go solid roller. just the price of the Jessel shaft rocker set up kept me from looking into it any further lol.

 

I used to shift my iron 5.7 at 7200 with stock lifters and sometime saw 7500 in the burnout if I felt like enough people where watching. lol. Never an issue.

I have been shifting my solid roller set up around 7500 to 7700, but planning on moving it up to 8000 when I get the truck finished.

 

Old SBC/BBC engines had very heavy valvetrains. The small 8mm valves are a lot lighter than the 3/8" valves in a lot of the BBC engines and the LS rockers are much lighter as well. You don't need nearly as much spring pressure.

 

Tony mamo is putting together a solid roller package for me with his badass heads. Im hoping to make 600 rwhp through an auto on a mustang dyno. Him and my mechanic actually wanted to go that route. This will be interesting but tony is very backed up I wont have the package for acouple months. ls7 solid roller

 

Two years later... are those setups still working well for you?