What would I need to do to put a roller cam in my 400sbc? And who makes a good cam,and lifters for it?What kind of power increase would i see compared to a reg cam with similar lift? Any help u guys can give me would be great.Current output in 460hp 520ft/lbs need more

-dart 2 heads(plan to fully port them)
-750 speed demon carb
-rpm intake
-heddman headers
-comp cam extreme energy #284(I think)lift is .507in .510ex
crane roller rockers

 

In my opinion, your looking at about 500 bucks over the cost of another flat tappet cam. This figures about 300bucks for roller lifters (comp retrofits) and about 225 for a cam. You will also need pushrods for roller lifters. Once you compare that to the cost of a standard hydraulic (about 160), you can pickup 40 hp if it is well matched to the heads.

if you got the gear for it, this will make good hp in a 400.

http://www.compcams.com/base/process...sp?Known=xr294

This is a little more resonable.

http://www.compcams.com/base/process...sp?Known=xr288

Look down about mid page here
http://www.airflowresearch.com/chevy_dyno.htm

 

All of the major cam mfrs. make "retrofit" roller cams, and have been doing so for a long time, going way before the factories finally caught on.

With a roller system it's possible to have far steeper ramps without the contact geometry problem that is inevtiable with flat tappet systems. So there's no absolute HP number that a roller can deliver. It's worth noting that the factory didn't wise up to that part of roller cam design superiority, they simply migrated their pitiful existing cam profiles over to the other system ("peanut" cams in 87-up TPI cars, for example). Steeper ramps can give much greater "area under the valve motion curve" without the penalties of greater effective duration, i.e. more power with the same gas mileage, driveability and emissions.

I have a Comp XR282HR in the 400 that I just pulled out of my 83 (I put the L69 back in to get it past the scrutiny of the smog ***** here in CA), it's been a great cam.

jcb's recommendations are good for a motor with as much heads as yours has. Be aware that any of these will require much bigger valve springs than what you have now. With the big inch motor, you should also be using 1.6 rockers to get as much lift as possible.

All you need is a roller cam, roller lifters, the correct pushrods (approx. .400" shorter than flat-tappet ones), a true roller timing set as opposed to a cheap "bushing roller" type, and a cam button.

------------------
"So many Mustangs, so little time..."
ICON Motorsports

 

Thanks for the info I think I will go with the 288 with 1.6 roller rockers.