Decided to go roller

[daves66valiant]

Called up Hughes Engines today and pulled the trigger to convert my motor to a roller. Here's the cam recommended to me for my needs. They are custom grinding their HER2228ALN cam for my carbed motor so the details changed a bit. Went with their retro fit roller lifter which means no work to be done to the heads :cheers: I'm hoping to have 400+ hp and a really fun motor. I'm excited although this puts me a small step back on my resto.






Camshaft Technical Details

Intake Valve Lift 1.6 .520"
Exhaust Valve Lift 1.6 .544"


Intake Duration at .050" 222°
Exhaust Duration at .050" 228°

Lobe Separation Angle 110

Intake Opening at .050"
Exhaust Opening at .050" 0° BTC
51° BBC

Intake Closing at .050"
Exhaust Closing at .050" 42° ABC
-3° ATC

Min. Suggested Cylinder PSI 175

Sweet Spot RPM 2000 - 6000

 

[pettybludart]

Way to go Dave,you won,t regret it!How is the 66 coming along?It,s been awhile since you posted progress.Happy Moparing!:-D

 

[daves66valiant]

No progress for about a month. I was on vacation in Europe for 2 weeks with the girlfriend and have been busy with house projects since I got back. Hope to get started back on the 66 next week. Just figured this was a good time to swap cams and everything.

I'm really curious how much horsepower I'll be getting outta this puppy.

 

[1wild&crazyguy]

about 10-20hp over a similar lift flat tappet cam.

so did you go solid or hyd?

 

[340sFastback]

Hydraulic rollers tend to be taller then flat tappet and that changes the push rod geometry requiring push rod holes in the head to be clearanced.

I would put the cam/lifters in the engine, run the oil pump with a drill, and rotate engine by hand to make sure lifter oil grooves are not exposed at max lift.

 

[lilcuda]

Hydraulic rollers tend to be taller then flat tappet and that changes the push rod geometry requiring push rod holes in the head to be clearanced.

I would put the cam/lifters in the engine, run the oil pump with a drill, and rotate engine by hand to make sure lifter oil grooves are not exposed at max lift.

The Hughes retro-fit hyd roller lifters are specifically designed to address the problem of the oil grooves being exposed at max lift. You can read about it here:

http://www.hughesengines.com/Index/products.php?partid=26114


Dave,

Congrats on making the leap to hyd roller! I want to do this eventually also, but have many other things that need doing on my car before I tear into the engine again.

 

[daves66valiant]

about 10-20hp over a similar lift flat tappet cam.

so did you go solid or hyd?

I went hydraulic.

Hydraulic rollers tend to be taller then flat tappet and that changes the push rod geometry requiring push rod holes in the head to be clearanced.

I would put the cam/lifters in the engine, run the oil pump with a drill, and rotate engine by hand to make sure lifter oil grooves are not exposed at max lift.

yeah....what lilcuda said.

I talked with Tim at Hughes and he said it was not necessary with their lifters since the oil groove is not exposed. I need to measure for push rods so they supply an adjustable lifter tool and pushrod for that.

The Hughes retro-fit hyd roller lifters are specifically designed to address the problem of the oil grooves being exposed at max lift. You can read about it here:

http://www.hughesengines.com/Index/products.php?partid=26114


Dave,

Congrats on making the leap to hyd roller! I want to do this eventually also, but have many other things that need doing on my car before I tear into the engine again.

Yeah I'm psyched about doing the swap. I'll be much happier (after the sticker shock resides) in the long term and I consider it well worth it when considering wiping out a flat tappet cam lobe. Not a big deal to prevent but much more vigilance needed with the flat tappets. I like plug-n-play :cheers:

 

[340sFastback]

Looks like a nice set up. Great thing about roller cams is no break in and no wiped lobes.

 

[lilcuda]

Dave,

What did they suggest for valve springs? What about valve to piston clearance & retainer to guide clearance?

 

[daves66valiant]

Dave,

What did they suggest for valve springs? What about valve to piston clearance & retainer to guide clearance?

For valve springs Tim said seat load ~120 lbs and open load ~300 lbs would be fine. A single coil with dampener was his suggestion for my cam specs. If I would have bumped up to one size bigger cam then a double coil or beehive. Since I'm not running over 6000 rpm he said not to worry about getting the beehives. I'm not sure what my installed height is but compcams springs are rated at ~115 which he said would be okay.

As far as the clearances we did not discuss that. Website says Minimum piston-to-valve clearance is 0.060" intake and 0.100" exhaust. If you had any questions about that I'm sure Tim would help you out.

 

[daves66valiant]

All the parts showed up this Friday. Everything looks good. Hope to tear into the motor next Wednesday. I'll update once everything is buttoned up with these new retro roller lifters.

 

[Gary Pavlovich]

Dave,

Let us know how your roller cam compares to your previous flat-tappet grind.

I am going roller myself but changed from Hyd. to Solid; can't use the trick Hughes lifters so I posted them in the classifieds here.

Are you using 1 5/8" headers with your package?

Gary

 

[Mad Dart]

Dave,

Let us know how your roller cam compares to your previous flat-tappet grind.

I am going roller myself but changed from Hyd. to Solid; can't use the trick Hughes lifters so I posted them in the classifieds here.

Are you using 1 5/8" headers with your package?

Gary

Brian at IMM ENGINES has some SOLID ROLLER LIFTERS that will drop in an LA Block!! Oil thru also to keep pressurized oil at the Ball & Cup which is a huge plus!

immengines.com

 

[fourspeed]

You'll love the roller cam. Those specs are not far off from mine. I have a custom ground hydraulic roller with .530 lift and 230 degrees at .050.

Surprisingly, it idles real nice and has good street driveablility. Only 5" of vacuum at idle though. Not a problem for me with the four speed and manual brakes...

In my combo, it made 458HP on pump gas, so it's enough cam for me.

 

[daves66valiant]

Dave,

Let us know how your roller cam compares to your previous flat-tappet grind.

I am going roller myself but changed from Hyd. to Solid; can't use the trick Hughes lifters so I posted them in the classifieds here.

Are you using 1 5/8" headers with your package?

Gary

Yeah I have the tti 1 5/8" early a-body headers. I noticed yours on sale soon after I bought mine. I'll give a comparison low down for sure.

Brian at IMM ENGINES has some SOLID ROLLER LIFTERS that will drop in an LA Block!! Oil thru also to keep pressurized oil at the Ball & Cup which is a huge plus!

immengines.com

I chatted with Brian and he gave me the same recommendation as Hughes as far as the cam choice for my setup. I would not hesitate to use Brian for any future builds or work to my heads. The Hughes lifters are the oil through type :-D

You'll love the roller cam. Those specs are not far off from mine. I have a custom ground hydraulic roller with .530 lift and 230 degrees at .050.

Surprisingly, it idles real nice and has good street driveablility. Only 5" of vacuum at idle though. Not a problem for me with the four speed and manual brakes...

In my combo, it made 458HP on pump gas, so it's enough cam for me.

Wow that's some serious HP. You running eddy heads? What's the rest of your combo.

 

[fourspeed]

Wow that's some serious HP. You running eddy heads? What's the rest of your combo.

340, stock crank. SRP pistons, 10.1:1 compression. Edelbrock RPM heads, ported. Performer RPM intake, Eagle H beam rods, Bullet cam, Comp hyd roller lifters, Comp rockers, Holley HP Street 750, TTI headers. Stock flywheel, Centerforce Dual-Friction clutch.

This is why I had an actual race engine builder do the work. I've built engines myself, but I would never have gotten those results.

 

[daves66valiant]

340, stock crank. SRP pistons, 10.1:1 compression. Edelbrock RPM heads, ported. Performer RPM intake, Eagle H beam rods, Bullet cam, Comp hyd roller lifters, Comp rockers, Holley HP Street 750, TTI headers. Stock flywheel, Centerforce Dual-Friction clutch.

This is why I had an actual race engine builder do the work. I've built engines myself, but I would never have gotten those results.

That's close to my setup except for the ported eddys and rods. Sweet. I'm stoked even more now. Getting to work on it tomorrow

 

[Gary Pavlovich]

Fourspeed & Dave,

Tremendous HP out of your 340 with the [email protected]" Bullet Roller Cam; they do take Cams seriously and have the knowledge to make them work as you have seen.

Dave will be thrilled with his roller motor as well!

I still have the new set of Hughes Hyd. Roller Lifters and may have to convert my 340 Dart from my tried & true 284/.484 hyd. flat tappet cam; it would be a huge step up to get that kind of power (458HP) with a professionally built motor!

Keep us informed Dave on your roller cam and how you like it.

Gary

 

[wigsplitter74]

I have considered this for next winter as I'm not done fiddling with my new motor and solid flat tappet yet, what's the total cost in a swap like this if you don't mind telling please.

 

[daves66valiant]

for me. All parts including gaskets pushrods etc $1400 roughly.

 

[daves66valiant]

Hydraulic rollers tend to be taller then flat tappet and that changes the push rod geometry requiring push rod holes in the head to be clearanced.

I would put the cam/lifters in the engine, run the oil pump with a drill, and rotate engine by hand to make sure lifter oil grooves are not exposed at max lift.

Yep you are correct about the heads needing some clearancing. I need to chamfer the push rod holes just a bit near the intake side. I did one hole yesterday while the heads were in just so I could measure for push rods and to check geometry. I had to shim the rocker shafts which I guess is common on LA iron heads. The geometry changes quite a bit with the 1.6 rockers and these roller lifters. Fun experience so far.

BTW. I made sure to cover everything up and use a vacuum to avoid metal shaving from getting into the engine. No work to be done on the block as advertised.