I know if you change lifters on an already broken in cam, it will do damage to the cam. But since roller lifters theoretically dont need to be broken in, would it be possibly to just swap them in place of non-rollers and not cause damage?

 

Unfortunately, you can't use roller lifters on a non-roller cam.

 

thats right....the lobes are different arent they, the non roller would get caught up

 

Who told you that you cant put new lifters on an old cam? At least thats how I am reading your post... No problem with putting brand spankin new lifters on a used cam.

 

Yeah its the other way around. The lifters usually wear to match the camshaft, so you can't change the camshaft and use the existing lifters. You can change the lifters though and use the existing camshaft.

 

On a roller, you can change the cam, and reuse the lifters. Roller lifters can always be reused. Nothing from roller is interchangable to flat tappet/solid though.

 

You CAN, however, reuse your old lifters with the same cam in another engine. You just have to be careful to keep the lifters and lobes marked for each other when you reassemble it. They must match each other or all is lost