hi to all.
please i need your expertise.
i have a 350 engine, 87, single piece oil seal and nothing roller, at all, but i received a set of roller cam & lifters, pushrods, a retainer plate, i know my block is a non roller one, but, do you guys know of something that could be done to prevent those roller lifters from rotating? is it possible?
thanks for your patience.
Fernando.

 

Are you sure it's not roller? Unless its a truck motor, it should be roller (truck motors didnt get roller until the vortec engines).

However, if its not roller, you can't use stock roller parts on it. You can however get an aftermarket roller lifter set, and an aftermarket roller cam and use. The stock roller engines use a big metal 'spider' which bolts into the lifter valley, and holds down 8 retainers, each of which holds 2 adjacent lifters from rotating. The roller blocks have the 2 bolt holes in the lifter valley for the spider, as well as taller lifter bores to accomodate the taller roller lifters. Also, on a roller block, the cam retaining plate is different than a non roller block, but I can't exactly remember whats different about it. Maybe someone else can shed more light on that

 

Even if its an 87 truck motor isnt it still drilled and tapped for the lifter cradle?

 

I know it would have the bosses, but I don't think they are drilled or tapped.

 

buy aftermarket parts and trash the oem stuff, it isn't near as good as aftermarket roller set up. funny gm went so far out of their way to reinvent the wheel when we'd been running roller cams in SBCs for 30 years before they decided to.

 

My 87 block has the bosses but, they were not drilled and tapped.
BTW, ede what is so bad about the OEM stuff that you rag on it all the time?

 

it's cheap, exactily what gm was after. it doesn't compare in quality, reliabiliy, or strength of aftermarket.

 

thanks guys, i've got my answers.
by the way, i think ede is right, sometimes the PHD's at GM, seemed to be smoking real cheap stuff..., one of the biggest mistakes for wich i'll always consider them not too good, is the lack of a good manual tranny for 350 engines, it had to be the aftermarket the leading force, and it took them soooo loooong to learn, shame on them.
anyway i still love my camaro, and i wont trade it for any **** crap on earth.
Fernando.

 

That is not true, I have seen many truck motors with roller cams in them pre 96...matter of fact we recently rebuilt a 91 with a roller cam.

Also all blocks from 88 and up have the bosses tapped, though 87 blocks all have the bosses, not all were tapped.

 

because, if it is only drilling and tapping, i could drill and tap myself, was there other tech difficulties, for the mod?
thanks again to all...:hail:
Fernando