Alright well big disappointment I jsut found out that I have hydraulic roller lifters, pissed me off cause all the kits out there are at least 260$. I was needing to know if I coudl just buy the cam buy it self and put it in there with the stock roller lifters that I have? If not, does anyone know where to get teh cheapest kit? MAybe anyone selling one? I would like a comp cam, theirs is liek 270$ though, more than my cat-back will cost.

 

Inspect closely. You can get replacement single lifters from any autoparts store.

 

Right, You can buy a cam only, and if your stock ones are in good shape (usually they are, or at least most of them) you can re-use them on a new cam. Roller cams are considerably more expensive, but IMHO worth it. They allow the valves to be opened and closed much faster (the factory hasn't figured that out yet) which allows for much greater performance potential without as limting a compromise with driveability and emissions as what ends up happening with flat tappets.

 

You can get hyd. roller lifters, holdowns, pushrods, etc. out of any Chevy 305, 350, or 4.3l V-6 after 1987. Just inspect them good at the junkyard. Watch for excessive side wear, rollers that pitted or don't turn good, or missing retainer rings on the top side.

Nothing wrong with using the factory stuff. When you get a performance cam MAKE SURE YOU UPGRADE YOUR SPRINGS!!! Also make sure you have enough retainer to guide/seal clearance.

Check out www.goautocenter.com for cheap roller cams. They have several grinds for $80 each. The ZZ3 or Hot cam are very good grinds - I plan on buying one myself.

Great way to upgrade to a hyd. roller cammed 350" is to get a Caprice or truck motor. The caprice had a roller already and the truck used a flat tappet cam in the same block.

Scott

 

GSX man hit it on the head, you MUST swap out the springs to some heavy units. the aftermarket roller cams use very agressive ramps and will destroy stock spings and valvetrain parts in a second.

 

Pretty sure the factory spring pressure for SBs has always been about 90-100lbs seat.

I know the specs between the factory flat tappet cams and roller versions of the same cams were unchanged between 85 and 87.

The factory springs should at least have 110 lbs of seat pressure. The extra weight of the roller on the bottom of the lifter will reduce peak rpm by almost 500 if extra spring is not used. But, to my knowledge, nothing will be damaged.


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Even after market hydroller grinds can use stock sized (1.25inch) springs. But I would advise against it. Many people on the LT1 board still used 1.25inch springs but they replace them frequently. A 1.44 spring will live much longer.