STANGeatinZ

i've heard that solid roller is where the power is.
Derrick

Brett H. - 89GTA

I've heard how you lock down the poly locks makes a difference. If you set the nut where you want it and then just screw down the set screw, the adjustment won't always hold. The best way to do it is to slightly back off the nut from where you want it, run down the set screw until it contacts the stud, and then tighten the nut and set screw together that last bit.

I've got a solid roller for my '79 T/A, but it's not in yet...

Don't expect the solid roller lifter to last 100,000 miles. Comp Cams offers a rebuild service; expect to need them rebuilt every 20,000 miles or so.

aklim

Me too but other than consistency, I am not sure where that power supposedly comes from.

camaro75racer

Mine takes so much maintenance mainly cause its a 308/298 .744/.758 cam. Hey if your gonna go solid roller might as well go all out. This car is driven 40-50 miles a day at the LEAST. Ive tried the solid and hydraulic setups and there is a big diffrence in how quickly they react to the throttle. Like i said before though good valve springs and checking valve clearance are a must. Those solid rollers are rough on springs and will drive a valve through a piston if there's not enough room there.

aklim

I can't imagine why it would be better because once the lifter is pumped up it cannot compress the oil very much, if any. Of course, vairances occure and that may account for the power difference but if you had a good set of hydraulics and had them set when pumped up, would it make any difference between them and the solids?

greezemonkey

Lemme explain it to ya aklim "once it`s pumped up" you said, That means oil in the lifter," lots of it "compared to a solid. Wieght is the major issue. One filled hyd roller lifter probably wieghs as much as 4 solid rollers. Yes there are differences(in the cam profile) even after they are pumped up.....Take both your hands in front of your face and make a triangle betwween them....that is the profile of a flat tappet cam.....a hyd roller profile would look more like a narrower triangle, but with a arch on the top, so the lifter for the hyd roller accelerates fairly fast but has to slow down near peak lift so it doesn`t get launched off the nose of the cam (because of it`s wieght) Now think of a rectangle standing on it`s short side...that`s the profile of a solid and the lifter need not slow down before peak (because lighter things accelerate faster and stop faster) Once the lifter gets on top it can stay at full lift longer because it got there faster and the same on the down side. See the longer the valve stays open...the more air/fuel that is pulled in. Get it?

Dirt Reynolds

Maybe a clarification here is in order. 75camaro obviously is running a race roller setup. Typically those guys are over 600 lbs over the nose spring pressures and are not recommended for the street. Lobe sep angles usually fall around 106 or so. Definitely not street friendly.

Street roller springs have about 400# over the nose and also have wider lobe sep angle, usually around 112 degrees. Much better manners and will last a long time on the street.

Someone mentioned Endure-X rollers from Comp. Word has it on other tech forums those things fall apart on the street. The best rollers for street use and the track seem to be the Crower heavy duty rollers with the HIPPO option. Not cheap but better than having a roller lifter come apart while on a road trip in the middle of nowhere.

The best route for the zero maintenance crowd is the good ole hydraulic roller. If you dont plan to pound the engine much over 6000 RPM they work great and make terrific power. Joe Sherman won the Engine Master's Challenge last year using a hydraulic roller in a 360 cube small block Chevy- the engine made over 600HP and had the best average trq and HP of all the other engines. This means it was a very street tractable engine. So I would not discount the power a hyd. roller setup can deliver.

The best thing is to decide how the engine is to be realistically used, and cam it accordingly.

STANGeatinZ

aight now i'm more confused, there's just so much info. If a solid roller needs a rebuild every 20,000 miles than i guess that's def out.
thanks,
Derrick

aklim

I don't think so depending on the way it was built. If you build it as an all out race motor, you might have to rebuild it ever 10 miles like the NHRA dragsters but if you build it streetable, you may have to adjust the lifters every 20K but that is that. If you don't want to adjust it, stick with hydraulic roller lifters. If you don't mind, go with solids.

STANGeatinZ

well i'm not building a NHRA car, and i don't mind adjusting valves every 20k miles so i guess solid roller is in.
Derrick

greezemonkey

Right On