solid or roller cam ????
well there are hydraulic roller and solid roller cams. a hydraulic roller is what comes stock in a lt1 and could reuse the stock lifters. a solid roller would require the purchase of new solid roller lifters. hope this helps.
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From: Satellite Beach, FL
Kind of a Friday Saturday cruiser! I hot rod it around showing off it's beauty but looking for that bad a$$ race car sound and make people think, damn don't **ck with that car, lol
Adequate heads, intake, quality valvetrain components and a stout bottom end would be necessary to take advantage of a solid roller. If you are only wanting to spin an engine to 6500rpm then a hydraulic cam would be best. I run a mild SR in my stroker yet my shift points are 7200rpm.
Maintenance on a solid roller application would be checking lash as well as testing your spring pressures. The frequency would depend on how much you drive. I too only run the car on the weekends. The engine has been running for over a year so I feel it's about due for a spring pressure test. You can buy a spring pressure checker from Summit. I check valves ever two or so thousand miles and have found the lash to be a bit more than I like so I run through them. Once this is done a few times it takes no time to adjust valves and I don't feel it's a hindrance.
Basically if you are going to run a solid roller it's going to cost you a bit more than a hyd. roller if you are wanting to do it right. For example, if you have a street application then you want a quality lifter. Either Comp or Isky sell "street" lifters which have extra oiling ports to keep the cam lobes lubricated during low engine speeds. Very important on a SR application. These lifters can cost at least $500.
The advantage? More torque at lower rpm (at least with my setup), even with the somewhat aggressive lobes I'm running it still sounds like a LT4 hotcam and of course the non-stop power all the way up the shift points.
Maintenance on a solid roller application would be checking lash as well as testing your spring pressures. The frequency would depend on how much you drive. I too only run the car on the weekends. The engine has been running for over a year so I feel it's about due for a spring pressure test. You can buy a spring pressure checker from Summit. I check valves ever two or so thousand miles and have found the lash to be a bit more than I like so I run through them. Once this is done a few times it takes no time to adjust valves and I don't feel it's a hindrance.
Basically if you are going to run a solid roller it's going to cost you a bit more than a hyd. roller if you are wanting to do it right. For example, if you have a street application then you want a quality lifter. Either Comp or Isky sell "street" lifters which have extra oiling ports to keep the cam lobes lubricated during low engine speeds. Very important on a SR application. These lifters can cost at least $500.
The advantage? More torque at lower rpm (at least with my setup), even with the somewhat aggressive lobes I'm running it still sounds like a LT4 hotcam and of course the non-stop power all the way up the shift points.
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From what you describe what you're looking for, a SR might not be worth the investment, especially if you're just wanting to build a cruiser. It's remarkable the performance you can get out of a HR without the maintenance hassle of a SR.
yeah dont worry with solid lifters. hydraulics are so much easier. and if you get ls7 lifters they (or so i heard) rebound faster and get rid of floating lifters. upgraded springs are a much for any kind of seriour cam. but its recommended for mild cams aswell.
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Joined: Dec 2008
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From: Little Rock, AR
An HR can is capable of making all the rump, rump you will ever need to impress people. As already said, there are plenty of options. A HOT cam might be considered close to the "stock" spectrum in that realm.
X2, look at the recent AI/LE stuff.
But I would love a SR setup in my car, just cant deal with the upkeep.
HR's can make awesome power, no reason imo to go SR because you think your fairly basic h/c setup is a max effort HR build. local buddy of mine put down over 440~rwhp on a HR setup with a off the shelf cam nitrous setup. granted this was with AFR heads and a single plane but this was also through a TH400/9".
don't get me wrong SR stuff is bad *** but it's "little qualms" will weigh differently on different people, some people have zero problems with the upkeep required and others want a car they only have to pop the hood to change the oil, what category you fit in or are closer to is all up to you.
remember your h/c setup was spec'd for a stock bore/compression/rotating assembly, using stock casting heads. no reason a hr setup with a cam more complimenting to your current setup, let alone better casting head (ported of course) with a complimenting cam, can't create even more power
don't get me wrong SR stuff is bad *** but it's "little qualms" will weigh differently on different people, some people have zero problems with the upkeep required and others want a car they only have to pop the hood to change the oil, what category you fit in or are closer to is all up to you.
remember your h/c setup was spec'd for a stock bore/compression/rotating assembly, using stock casting heads. no reason a hr setup with a cam more complimenting to your current setup, let alone better casting head (ported of course) with a complimenting cam, can't create even more power
