I am building a 347 that will have a pretty big shot on it, my question is with the heads I'll be running (Absolute Speed Stg. 2.5) will I really be able to benifit from running a solid roller? If I'm not gonna see significant gains then I'll just spend the money elsewhere. Thanks for any info.

 

For a street application, I think it would be overkill, and torture on your valvesprings. For an all race setup with regular maintenance, go for it.

 

That depends. There will be more valvetrain noise. You MIGHT have to get aftermarket valve covers and you will have to invest in adjustable (not shaft) rockers, but if you have the extra cash then shafts would be a good choice.

My current build is a solid roller build btw, and it is a street car. It all comes down to what lobes are on the cam. Im stuck betwene using theHigh energy street roller or Xtreme energy street roller lobes from comp.

 

Mine isn't really a street car, so what kind of gains are you expecting with the solid roller over a Hyd. roller?

 

To be honest im not sure. And im positive the first cam that goes in prolly wont be the last. Im hoping for 525 on the dyno, but thats just a dyno number. Im more into road racing and looking to get a certain lap time. Plus im just looking for something thats different than all the other setups out there.

 

Is your a 346?

 

Yes, it is.

I would be doing this now if I had the money. I just can't afford everything at once. I'll convert over when I change the heads later on.

 

What kinda intake are you gonna run? The FAST needs alot of modding to run the kinda RPM you need to run to take advantage of a solid roller. Running a solid roller and only spinnin 7 grand is kinda pointless. You can do that with a hydraulic roller.
If you're gonna run a sheet metal intake, then by all means run a solid roller.
Personally my theory is build a bigger motor that makes as much if not more power at a lower RPM. Hurts parts less.

 

Not really, another advantage of a solid roller setup is that you can run more duration at lower lifts, so if you have heads that have killer mid lift numbers you can better take advantage of them.

 

Solid rollers are an advantage all the way through the RPM range. They just have the stigma of being peaky as they are usually run with large cams.

 

The advantages from solid to hydraulic in the lower lift regions are minimal at best. You can run more aggressive ramps, but again the differences are minimal. Trust me, I've done hyd to solid roller swaps in different motors, especially BBCs. You can achieve virtually the same HP per RPM up to a certain point. Usually up to a point where your heads really start to shine.
Any of you guys have any experience swapping solids for hyd. in existing motors?
I can post dyno graphs.
PS. I'm not talking about stigma, I'm talking from first hand exp. I happen to like solid rollers, but for most applications, esp LSx motors that dont see the north side of 7000, you can make just about the same HP with a HYD as you can with a SOLID. Up to a definate point where the solid roller will start to make a significantly more amount of HP.

 

This winter im considering going to solid roller and a much larger cam depending on how much i end up driving my car when its done. How long can you expect valve springs to live on some of these huge cams spinning upwards of 8k ?

 

Depends on the lobe you go with.

 

No matter what lobe you get I cant see it lasting too long spinning to 8k.

 

I have a LS2 in a Nova that shifts at 8100 and runs 7800 on the big end. I put Comp 947 triples on it with ti valves and spring oilers. It has run two Power tours and Drag week with the same set of springs. It has run 3 different cams and two sets of lifters, but the springs keep checking good.


Kurt

 

What heads were you running (I cant see the stock spring seats being machined out to handle a tripple spring) and what was the installed heigth. Also what lobes were you using?

 

So is there such thing then as a solid roller valve train that could live under a lot of miles ? I have always drove my car to the track and have never been afraid to jump in it and take it a couple hundred miles if i felt like it. The reason i never considered solid roller was because i just didn' think it would last very long.

My new cam is (roughly) 236/248 .615/.615 with a vic jr and 5.3 heads on a 418ci motor. What could be picked up with a solid roller setup (new heads and intake too).

 

These heads are All Pro cathedral ports, but we have put triples on stock heads back when it was all you could get. Installed is 2.000-2.010 on all springs.
I ran 3 cams, but the two that made the most power are as follows.
Cam 1 intake duration @.050 261 ex 268, lift intake .672 ex .663
Cam 2 intake duration @.050 258 ex 264, lift intake .702 ex .702


Kurt

 

I would say no to the solid for daily driving because of lifter life. If you can make the power you need with hyd lifters, your maintenance and life will be better. We did it to test some different lifters to see if they would live on the street, and so far none have gone long distance.


Kurt

 

Which ones lasted the longest then? I'm looking at more of a weekend warrior.