Hydraulic vs. Solid Rollers
Supreme Member
Joined: Sep 1999
Posts: 1,383
Likes: 0
From: Oakville, Ct
Car: 1991Firebird T/A
Engine: 350
Transmission: Modified Viper t-56
Axle/Gears: dana 44, 3.55
well, i would wager a safe bet something wouldnt be too healthy for too long. solid lifters only have one advantage in RACING. and that is that you can run valve lash. valve lash is the amount of space between rocker and the top of the valve when the cam is at its owest position. the advantage to this for racing apps (more circle track and road racing) is that you can chage very slightly the amount of lift. if you crank down and make the lash almost zero, then it opens more, and a tiny bit lnger. but with solid lifters, u need to use stronger push rods, depending on your lash. another advantage is that you can fine tune the cam as far as timing the exhaust valve opening compared to the intake valve. we played with this on the dyno for the race car and discovered a total of about 10hp in this. now this took 600 bucks for dyno time and alot of work and TIME. for the street solid lifters are unnecesary, noisy, and will probably not do any good for you. stick with the hydrolics... it takes me about 20 min to do a good vlave adjust on the hydrolic cams. on a solid lift cam where you are adjusting the lash, it takes about an hour... maybe 45 minutes if u hustle...
Steve
Steve
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 43,187
Likes: 43
From: Littleton, CO USA
Car: 82 Berlinetta/57 Bel Air
Engine: L92/LQ4 (both w/4" stroke)
Transmission: 4L80E/4L80E
Axle/Gears: 12B-3.73/9"-3.89
The lobe profile needs to be different on a solid cam to take up the lash before the valve starts opening. If you put solid lifters on a hydraulic cam, you wouldn't have that feature, and your valve train will take a beating.
The advantages of solid lifters are: 1) They're cheaper to make, and 2) valve float occurs at higher RPMs than hydraulics. Since volume takes care of #1, the only remaining issue is valve float. Today's hydraulics are good well over 6000 RPM, which is fine for a street/strip car, especially with TPI.
Stay with the hydraulics.
------------------
82 Berlinetta, orig V-6 car. Rescued w/86 LG4/TH700R with all harnesses, sensors, ECM, etc. 3.08 open, cat-back from '91 GTA, Accel HEI SuperCoil. AMSOIL syn lubes bumper-to-bumper. Daily driver, work-in-progress (LB9 w/ZZ3 cam, World 305 heads, exhaust, paint, etc.).
57 Bel Air, my 1st car. Currently 396 .030 over, Weiand Action+, Edelbrock 1901 Q-Jet, Jacobs Omnipack, 1-3/4" headers, TH400 w/TCI Sat Night Special conv & shift kit, 3.08 10-bolt, AMSOIL syn lubes bumper-to-bumper. Best 15.1 @ 5800' Bandimere. Daily driver while Camaro was being put together.
The advantages of solid lifters are: 1) They're cheaper to make, and 2) valve float occurs at higher RPMs than hydraulics. Since volume takes care of #1, the only remaining issue is valve float. Today's hydraulics are good well over 6000 RPM, which is fine for a street/strip car, especially with TPI.
Stay with the hydraulics.
------------------
82 Berlinetta, orig V-6 car. Rescued w/86 LG4/TH700R with all harnesses, sensors, ECM, etc. 3.08 open, cat-back from '91 GTA, Accel HEI SuperCoil. AMSOIL syn lubes bumper-to-bumper. Daily driver, work-in-progress (LB9 w/ZZ3 cam, World 305 heads, exhaust, paint, etc.).
57 Bel Air, my 1st car. Currently 396 .030 over, Weiand Action+, Edelbrock 1901 Q-Jet, Jacobs Omnipack, 1-3/4" headers, TH400 w/TCI Sat Night Special conv & shift kit, 3.08 10-bolt, AMSOIL syn lubes bumper-to-bumper. Best 15.1 @ 5800' Bandimere. Daily driver while Camaro was being put together.
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
KO1
Engine/Drivetrain/Suspension Parts for Sale
16
Oct 15, 2015 05:00 PM
