i have a 91 350 out of a blazer and i was wondering when gm started putting roller cams in their motors. i know that all i have to do is pull the intake and look down in there, but it's not as easy as that. thanks for the help guys

 

Not sure about for a Blazer, but 3rd Gens got them in '87.

 

In truck motors they started installing roller cams in 1996. B, F and Y bodies all had the roller 350's since 1987.

 

so mine is a flat tappet? Thank G0D! i don't have the money to put a roller cam in this beast, i want to put a higher lift cam in it but would much rather have the flat tappet price. thanks guys for the info....

 

Just a little FYI:
Just because there is a roller cam in the engine doesnt mean you have to put one back in there. People do that all the time. You'd just run the flat tappet cam, lifters, pushrods, and timing set.

 

really, didn't know that, well, i am doing a complete valvetrain upgrade including springs so i guess it won't matter then, eh?

 

And on another note, you can find ZZ4 cams all over the place from 50 to 100 dollars. They don't wear like flat tappet cams so they can be re-used and most are low mileage cause they came out of fresh ZZ4s that hot rodders imediately upgraded. The ZZ4 cam would probably be real good for a truck with its short duration and it does have a decent lift. The roller lifters can be found for under a 100 also. But then you would need the spider and right size pushrods also.

 

Not being an *** but are you sure? I thought the lifter bores were different in roller blocks? Flat tappet lifters have to spin to prevent premature wear on both the lifters and cam lobes. I though provisions had to be made to the roller block to allow for this because roller lifters do not spin? I had a friend who had this problem and was chewing up cams.

 

well, i am putting an edlebrock performer rpm cam in it with 234* 244* .488 .510 so i am not worried about which cam i am getting, just if i need a roller or hydrolic flat tappet.

 

Yeah, he's 100% correct. From 87-95, the trucks came with roller blocks and flat tappet cams. The lifter bores were 100% identical. The only differences in the blocks were the extra material in the lifter valley that the lifter-holders bolted to.