Camshaft discussion

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crazy4offroad

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If I could have afforded it I would have went roller with my cam choice, but flat tappet cams are just plain cheaper. But if they were so great modern engines would be running them but they're all roller.
 

shiftpro

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I feel that we will just have to disagree about this subject, lol. Personally, I don't see myself ever installing another flat tappet cam again.
Ok, how many miles do you have on a retro roller engine? Do you have or know of any converted engines with say 150,000 miles on them and still running strong?
Let keep things in perspective please, remember I'm talking about a daily driver that we want to run hard and steady for years. You know, like these engines were designed to do from the factory.
 

shiftpro

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If I could have afforded it I would have went roller with my cam choice, but flat tappet cams are just plain cheaper. But if they were so great modern engines would be running them but they're all roller.

You comment is appreciated but not relevant. I am light years away from saying flat tappets are "so great".
I'm saying the old blocks were never designed for roller lifters.

The people who want to argue with my point still have not addressed what I've said regarding long term use.
 

crazy4offroad

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I get you, but at the same time if I had the cash I would have much rather had a roller cam. Any way you can reduce friction increases power. Given the choice I'd rather pull the intake to change lifters than pull the front of the engine, intake, radiator to do a cam swap.
 

shiftpro

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Dude, you need to seriously give it up, and stop passing out bad information. ****, you don't even build your own engines, so STOP talking about **** that you have no clue about!

For people that are considering running a roller cam on the street, please see this post.....



If anyone doubts the possibility of running one on the street, then ask @Honky Kong jr . He is doing that right now with a BBC......

"Small gain in performance" @shiftpro . REALLY??? JESUS. You don't have a clue about rollers. Go find yourself a new engine builder, or learn how to do it yourself....

You take everything I say out of context.
I've never said anything about a roller on the street...
I said DAILY DRIVER ... a few times now but somehow you seem to miss that point. And that doesn't exactly mean a factory bone stock mill either. It's easy to build a strong running reliable daily driver and run it for years and well over 100,000 or 200,000 miles for that matter.
Not everyone wants to pull their DD engine apart every 1000 miles just for ***** a giggles.

And a friendly reminder, you actually don't know me or anything about my history, so please try not to judge me so hard just because you don't like my opinions.
 

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Need to change thread title to camshaft discussion. I started reading this thread because it was titled cam installation. Thinking it was about how you install a cam with some tips or tricks members have learned doing it. I'm not saying I don't like the thread or that someone needs to start a thread about how you installed your cam. It's just a misleading thread title. Imo. Because now it's about **** tards and unitards. Lol (which is funny) just saying.
Good suggestion. Change made :)
 

shiftpro

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I get you, but at the same time if I had the cash I would have much rather had a roller cam. Any way you can reduce friction increases power. Given the choice I'd rather pull the intake to change lifters than pull the front of the engine, intake, radiator to do a cam swap.
Thanks Curt. And there are ways to substantially mitigate the shortcomings, referring to the lifter bore not being true to crankshaft AND the depth less than a block designed for the tall roller lifters. Unfortunately in Western Canada there are few machine shops geared up to bore and sleeve lifter bores... and those who do charge a lot.
 
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hirschdalechevy

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Wow this thread is starting to sound like the varsity cheerleading team locker room , ( everyone's ****** is starting to hurt).

The real deal is flat tappet cams are a great way to go on a budget and last many miles with the right break in and oil , (as we all know). If your flat tappet cam is providing the most of your engine's potential , (cylinder pressure , crappy head flow , etc.) the power gain will be not much by going to a roller , (little bit). Now on the other side of the fence, my girls truck that we built has 10 to 1 comp. ported 202 heads , decked .040 quench , harland sharp roller rockers , crane springs , locks and retainer's ,(last longer in sprint car's) hardened seats , comp 270 roller cam , all bolt on's , etc..... and it get's it on like a scalded dog , 4.11 gear's , 35's.

That being said the extra money and time was major , roller cams have faster ramp rate's and higher lift's , (more area under the curve) , which means a power increase , but there is a lot more to it than just the cam, (which the cheerleading team forgot to mention).If you want to keep a mechanical fuel pump you will need a an aftermarket pump push rod to prevent wear on a steel cam , shorter push rods , better valve springs , distributor gear,(if your cam does not have a soft iron gear on it) , cam button , stock timing chain cover no good because of flex , new timing chain cover , (I ran a cloyes cover with button built in) , (I also ran a cloyes timing chain with a torrington bearing in it) , all because you have to set the cams endplay and that all costs money and work.

Shift pro , that engine has 36,000 miles on now and it is a daily driver and it has been perfect so far so I dont know the longevity of this engine , we will see, ( we dont baby it either).

So I think on a basically stock engine, (with the wish of a 150 hp. miracle cam) with stock heads you are better off to run a flat tappet cam, (save money ,roller not worth it) If you are building a bad ass motor to tear some **** up , I think I would go with a roller cam, (just me).

Here is a pic of her bad ass roller motor truck to cheer you guy's up.

It will bake 35's as long as you want to!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You must be registered for see images attach
 

hirschdalechevy

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Sorry old 77 , I was typing , LOL
 

Rusty Nail

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Who cares?

Wtf difference does it make?


Oh yeah, none.

As you can see OP, camshaft discussion IN ANY FORM is a veritable
abortion waiting to happen. What type, which one, blah blah ******* blah.
It's a big job that can be done with a handful of common tools and a harmonic damper puller thingy.
ALSO! -and this is kind of important...camshaft changing ALSO provides a great opportunity to change out a WHOLE MESS OF OTHER PARTS!

One can level their **** up hella on the D.I.Y. tip!

xc_hide_links_from_guests_guests_error_hide_media

You'll have the perfect chance to install a cool damper, a timing chain, a chain cover, an intake manifold, a new water pump....maybe squirt a little paint and ****?

Hell yea. Since it's NOT your daily? Lol bro your cost just like, tripled and ****..

You know what i'm sayin?
 

Frankenchevy

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I’m all about tripling costs...n’sheit
 

Rusty Nail

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Haha! Welcome!
Have a seat.

And ****.

I've been feenin for some ZINC.
It would be tough to choose between a ZINC or ALUMINUM timing chain cover. OBVIOUSLY gotta run a Rattler...a TRUE double roller chain OR quiet gears...annnnd have you seen the "twisted snout" water pumps? I'll prolly have to "try" one of those just to do it one day.
First chance I get, ima run some "quiet" timing gears because I want to.

Mmmmmmmmm!
 
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shiftpro

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shiftpro

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Haha! Welcome!
Have a seat.

And ****.

I've been feenin for some ZINC.
It would be tough to choose between a ZINC or ALUMINUM timing chain cover. OBVIOUSLY gotta run a Rattler...a TRUE double roller chain OR quiet gears...annnnd have you seen the "twisted snout" water pumps? I'll prolly have to "try" one of those just to do it one day.
First chance I get, ima run some "quiet" timing gears because I want to.

Mmmmmmmmm!
Don't forget the magnets on the fuel line.
 

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