Converting to a roller cam

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DartVadar

DartVadar

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I am looking at cams to put in my 360. I phoned comp and lunati and have some cam recommendations as well, so I am deciding between those two cams.

But what about the lifters? Only reason that I am leaning towards the comp cam is because I can easily buy comp stuff locally, I would have to order everything in if it wasn't comp. Are the comp retrofit roller lifters good? The Mrl lifters were also recommended.

If I buy the comp cam, does it matter what lifters I buy (ie comp cam with another brand lifter)?
 
You also need to confirm what material of distributor drive the came will use. Someone correct me if I wrong but a billet steel cam require a bronze gear. There are alternatives like a pressed on cast iron gear. I too am looking at going hydro roller when I revamp my 340.
 
I have a hardened gear for my HV oil pump, but I am not sure that is the same thing. And also do I need a cam button? I have heard talk about those with roller cams.
 
Running a Comp roller with bronze gear and MRL roller lifters. So far so good.
 
Not all roller cams are billet steel. If it is a cast cam, you do not need/want that $200 oil pump gear. Ask the cam company what the cam is made from. Most are cast iron just like all other cams.

You know you need special short push rods. And most heads will need the pushrod holes elongated and/or enlarged.

Mopar small blocks don't need a thrust button. You have that plate on the front that holds the cam in place.
 
69_340_GTS said:
Not all roller cams are billet steel. If it is a cast cam, you do not need/want that $200 oil pump gear. Ask the cam company what the cam is made from. Most are cast iron just like all other cams.

You know you need special short push rods. And most heads will need the pushrod holes elongated and/or enlarged.

Mopar small blocks don't need a thrust button. You have that plate on the front that holds the cam in place.
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I will see what the cam is made of so I hopefully don't have to buy the oil pump gear.

And yea I knew about the special pushrods already. But I thought that you could keep the pushrod holes the same unless you went with a different ratio of rocker arms.

Thats good to know, I wasn't sure.
 
gear on intermediate shaft must be compatible with the gear on the roller cam...

a lot of billet cam need bronze gear......ask the manufacturer of the roller cam what gear you need....use the wrong gear and you will be disassembly the engine again
 
I will verify the cam so I know if I need a bronze gear.

But back to my main question, any real issues with the comp or lunati cams? And even comps or lunatis retrofit lifters? I'm considering the MRL lifters as I have heard good things about them.
 
If I was upgrading I would talk and buy my parts from MRL. Mike is a CC and Lunati dealer and would recommend a killer cam grind. I also believe he found enough issues with off the shelf roller lifters, that he spent the time and money to build the drop in lifters he sells.
 
Don't waste your money and time again , get the MRI lifters , money well spent .
 
I will call tomorrow and see what he says, the MRL lifters seem to be pretty highly recommended, why are they so good?
 
DartVadar said:
...And yea I knew about the special pushrods already. But I thought that you could keep the pushrod holes the same unless you went with a different ratio of rocker arms.

Thats good to know, I wasn't sure.
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No, usually the pushrods end up rubbing on the holes in the heads, because they are on a more severe angle, because of their short length. There is really no way to know if they are going to rub until you mock up the whole assembly. The rocker arm ratio has nothing to do with it.
 
as far as i know MRL only sells solid roller lifters.
I have been looking at the Hughes engine hydraulic roller lifters, which have a lower oil band for high lift cams.

Everywhere i have read praises the Lunati cam grinds. I have also called Lunati and Comp for my own engine build and the guy from Lunati impressed me, when he spent the time to figure out my needs and what would work. Comp basically shrugged me off.
 
69_340_GTS said:
No, usually the pushrods end up rubbing on the holes in the heads, because they are on a more severe angle, because of their short length. There is really no way to know if they are going to rub until you mock up the whole assembly. The rocker arm ratio has nothing to do with it.
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That makes sense, when I get my heads back I will mock everything up to see if I do or dont. Is it very hard to clearance the holes?

dodgedifferent2 said:
as far as i know MRL only sells solid roller lifters.
I have been looking at the Hughes engine hydraulic roller lifters, which have a lower oil band for high lift cams.

Everywhere i have read praises the Lunati cam grinds. I have also called Lunati and Comp for my own engine build and the guy from Lunati impressed me, when he spent the time to figure out my needs and what would work. Comp basically shrugged me off.
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Damn, I would really prefer to have a hydraulic roller, I will call to see if they have them though, because I am wanting to buy a set of the MRL lifters, seem good.

Yea my engine shop even recommended lunati cams, they have had really good luck with them. I have a cam that lunati recommended to me as well, but cant get that stuff locally.
 
Billet roller cam = bronze gear. Non billet roller cam = steel gear. MOST hydraulic rollers are non billet and require a steel gear. As said, ask the manufacturer of the cam to be sure.
 
DartVadar said:
That makes sense, when I get my heads back I will mock everything up to see if I do or dont. Is it very hard to clearance the holes?



Damn, I would really prefer to have a hydraulic roller, I will call to see if they have them though, because I am wanting to buy a set of the MRL lifters, seem good.

Yea my engine shop even recommended lunati cams, they have had really good luck with them. I have a cam that lunati recommended to me as well, but cant get that stuff locally.
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if they have hydraulic rollers post it up here because i am also curious.
 
Just askin, but what if MRL doesn't have hyd roller lifters? What are yall scared of with solid rollers? Valve adjustment maybe every TWO years? Are you serious?
 
I wouldn't mind having to adjust the valves, only thing is after a quick look at comps website, the solid rollers are a lot more radical it seems, and it says that the block required machining...what's that all about? I thought the lifters just dropped in.
 
DartVadar said:
I wouldn't mind having to adjust the valves, only thing is after a quick look at comps website, the solid rollers are a lot more radical it seems, and it says that the block required machining...what's that all about? I thought the lifters just dropped in.
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I don't know what that's all about. Those must be for the non-offset link bars. Comp does make offset link bars in one of their lines for SBM. Also make sure you are getting pressure fed rollers with whatever you choose. We got a set from comp that would require machining of the block and were not pressure fed. MRL's lifters are pressure fed and dropped in with no issue. I have .645 lift and they had tons more lift to go before the oil band came out of the bore. The heads (W2) had to be clearanced for the push rods but that was an issue even with the smaller. 555 solid cam it had before. The pushrods were rubbing on the heads. So there was no difference there with the roller cam swap. Got custom length pushrods and all was well.
 
MRL lifters DO drop in. PERIOD. They are also pressure fed as mentioned. Forgive my ignorance and smartassness, but last I checked, Comp Cams ain't the only cam store on the block.

Not only that, but there are many companies that will grind you something very reasonably. Oregon Cam comes to mind. They will grind whatever you want out of their grind list on a small block roller core for 125 bucks.

They have a lot of nice grinds too, PLUS, you can pick and choose ANY intake and exhaust lobe from ANY grind and mix and match it AND they will grind to your lobe center spec all for no additional charge.

They can grind a stock hydraulic roller into a solid too. All yall have to do is READ THIS FORUM. All of this info is already here. Search button, search button, search button. DAMMIT ALL. lol

The way I see it is, if someone is going to run everything it takes to run a roller cam.....quality roller rockers, good pushrods and the like, why the HELL would you want to go hydraulic when you will always, always, always make more power with a solid, all things equal. Just makes no sense to me.
 
Maybe I will just go with a solid roller then, and the MRL lifters as well, why do you want them to be pressure fed? just keeps everything oiled? And what are the advantages of getting a custom ground cam? I would assume more customization for exactly what you want.

But nevermind lol I have the flat tappet version of that already and it actually was pretty mild. I was just looking at the @50 specs and they seemed alot higher. I had this hydraulic roller recommended for me.
http://www.compcams.com/Company/CC/cam-specs/Details.aspx?csid=647&sb=2
 
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