I pulled the heads off of my engine the other day to do valve jobs. When I pulled them I pulled one of the lifters. To my suprise the lifters were not rollers. The engine is supposed to be from an 87.

Does anyone know if 87 engines were rollers?

I am thinking the engine may be the stock 85 but did they have tpi in 85?

Also what would be a good flat tappet cam to use with the stock computer?

Any help would be great.

 

87-up is supposed to be the roller cam motors. I've found exceptions to this rule but never on a TPI engine. Is the block designed for roller lifters?

How to tell..... flat tappet lifters will sit sunk down in their bores about 1/4" in the valve-closed position if it's a roller cam block (earlier flat tappet blocks they sit flush with the top of the lifter bore). Also, there will be 3 bosses down the spine of the lifter valley- they will be drilled and tapped to take a bolt. These bosses are normally used to hold down the lifter "spider" which retains factory-style roller lifters.

If you have a roller block but a flat tappet cam and lifters in it, it's possible somebody swapped the cam out for a flat tappet or..... it's a replacement engine from who knows where. If it's not a roller cam block you definitely don't have an original 1987 engine.

 

First year for TPI is 85'

 

I never thought to look for the lifter hold down holes, I will check for that as soon as possible. I still have one head on so I will check and see if they sit level. So basicly if 8 of the lifters are sunken in 1/4 inch the block is a roller?

 

My '86 TPI isnt roller I was looking at the Summit TPI cam for mine since its for pretty much stock 305 TPI. Its a nice upgrade but nothing radical.