I'm shopping for a 350 and would really like to get a factory roller. I know the 87+ F-Bodies have them but what else did and what years? What compression were they?

How can I check if a hydraulic lifter is blown out?

Under what circumstances should I replace the lifters on the engine I buy?

 

any 87 and up sbc would be a roller cam engine. most likely you'll not have problem with a lifter being "blown out". usually there is wear befroe anything else.

 

are you sure all were roller? on the tech page it specifies that from 87 on only F Body SBCs were roller, not all SBCs, at least at first

 

My friend has an 87 Camaro Z28 4bbl and it is NOT a roller.

 

ALL '87 and later block were machined to accept the factory roller setup. Although not all came with the roller setup. I think anything '87 and later out of a CAR will be. I know the trucks are not all roller cam. Mine is not, but it does have all the provisions for the factory roller.

 

V8Astro is right the trucks V8s did not have rollers until 96

 

He's also right that those blocks have the provisions for the roller cam.

I'm building a 350 for my car now, and the block I have is a 638 casting # that came out of an '89 HD 3/4 ton. So it's also a 4 bolt main !!!

Now I have heard that not all the blocks have the holes drilled and/or tapped. Mine does, but I'm still being a cheap *** and not using a roller cam.

AJ

 

yep, the 87 truck block i am building now had the front drilled for the retainer plate, but I had to drill and tap for the hold down.
I bought a zz4 cam brand new for $50 so I decided to go roller

 

If you have a block but no roller lifters, don't bother with the factory's freshman engineering student project of a "system"... get the kind of lifters that all the rest of us have been using for all these decades before the factory "invented" roller cams. They use link bars to connect the lifters in a pair for each cylinder, to keep them from turning. It's a whole lot more reliable than the stupid sheet-metal thing GM used.

 

So does anyone know exactly which cars (and years) actually came with a roller, not just setup for it?

 

Sorry. Should have answered that for you the first time.

Any GM car that had a v-8 after 87 will have the roller engine. About the only thing that didn't get the roller cam was FULL SIZE trucks.

But that really narrows it down to just a few cars that even got a Gen I, V8.

Camaro 87-92
Firebird 87-92
Caprice 90-92 for sure. I don't think they got roller cams until a little later.
Corvette 87-91

I'm sure there are others, but I don't know which Cadillac, Olds, and Buick cars had a 90* V8 before the Gen II (aka LT1) was released.

AJ

 

Only fuel injected cars got the roller cams. If it has a carb it is not roller. I'm not sure when the Caprices got rollers. Your best bet is to find a TPI motor from from a Camaro/Firebird. You probably won't find too many Vettes in the junkyards.

Another option, if you can't find a used one, is too get a roller cam/lifters for the older style blocks. They make kits that install with no machine work to your block. They are pricey, though. You can spend alot of money on a roller setup with very minimal power gains. Go with a good hydraulic flet tappet with some roller rocker arms, for the most cost effective approach. That's just my $.02. Later.

 

In the tech info it says in '87 ALL V8s got rollers, not just FI, who's right here?

 

I've got a 87 Monte Carlo SS, 305HO, V8 with the stock CC Quadrajet, and it does not have a rollercam. It also does not have the block machined to except a roller. I've talked to other people about it. 88 Monte's did not. 88 Caprice did not. I don't know about non TPI Camaros/Firebirds. Anyone with a TBI V8 have a stock roller cam? What year did the 3rd gen's give up on carbs and go to TBI? I wish my Monte had a roller, but it doesn't, yet. Later this year I am replacing the carb'd 305 with a 350 TPI from a 92 Z28. Then the real fun begins!! Later.

Matt