im gonna be rebuilding my 350, but have no idea if its a roller or non roller, how can i tell?
the previous owner swapped in the 350, but has no idea what it came out of, he did say that the cam and heads were reused from the 305.

 

Look at the tappets. If they have rollers on them, it's a roller. If they are flat, it's a flat.

What year is the engine? Is it a stocker?

 

If he reused the cam from a 91, then it's a roller.

 

thanks for the help,
what is a tappet by the way?

 

a lifter

 

i think tappet is a old school term-but as sonix said its a lifter connected to the rocker arm by a push rod...youll have to remove the intake to see if its roller or flat...btw when i built my current eng. i went with a nonroller and i still dont know what i was thinking...but it makes good power any way so dont sweat it too much unless your gonna race competitivly....tao

 

Don't have to remove intake, factory rollers require a much shorter pushrod (approx. 7.2 inches vs. 7.8 inches).

 

which is better to have, roller or non roller?

 

My vote is for roller. Less resistance, more horsepower. Downside: more expensive to retrofit a non-roller block.

 

Tappet isnt an old school term, its a technical term.

There is nothing wrong with a flat tappet setup, people have succesfully built massive amounts of HP around them for a long time.

 

I'm running a flat tappet myself, mainly due to the downside: it would cost me more to swap over. Although I've got a roller block, I'd still have to buy more expensive lifters, spider and dog bones to convert. Cams are a little more expensive too.

Nothing wrong with flat tappet. One day I will swap over though.

 

At least you can look for used stock parts instead of buying new, unlike a retro roller setup.

Also with a roller if you decide to change cams all you need is a new cam.

 

Remove one rocker cover, start the engine, and see if the push rods spin.

 

Yeah, I've already priced the TPI roller setup from the local cam/fb JY. It's on the list, but so many other things are too.

I'm also not so sure the benefit of a roller is all in reduced valve train friction. The increased ramp rates a roller allows require higher spring rates...

 

Is there a way to tell by looking ar the outside of the motor? Casting numbers or something? Like if I was walking through a junk yard, or at a swap meet or something. Something that doesnt require taking it apart? Thanks.

 

Casting numbers will tell you if it's a roller block, but not necessarily that it has a roller cam.

 

if i use roller rockers will i need to switch to taller valve covers?

 

Maybe... some need taller ones, some do not. Its kinda hot-or-miss with roller rockers.

 

ive got a set of edelbrock covers, and am planning on using summit 1.6 roller rockers, on stock heads.

anyone else using those covers with 1.6 roller rockers

 

Tall or std height? Aluminum or steel valve covers? What rockers?