Hello Guys, I am just curious to know if any of you even run hydraulic camshafts. I was thinking of using a comp hydraulic cam , but it seems as if you do not run a roller cam you are abnormal. I do ask a lot of questions, and I put everything in my head that I read, it is funny because all I have ever had were Chevrolet's, they were both Nova's. Everone either used hydraulic or Mechanical cams w/ these chevrolets, and when I got this Maverick and started to look into performance for it all I hear is ROLLER-ROLLER-ROLLER. I am sorry guys but are these roller cams Magic? Dont get mad either, roller cam users. It is just as if you do not have a roller motor use your older 302 as a boat anchor. When I see a rpm cam and rpm heads make 367 hp, with conservative compression, I doubt if a hydraulic roller cam would make more than 10 or so more hp.With the same numbers. And if it does , please help me to see it. I understand the ramp are faster, but I would like to see a horsepower comparison between the two cams on a dyno,also between a hyd. roller cam vs a mechanical tappet cam. I am sure a solid roller cam will be the strongest, but I would still love to see some numbers. Sorry for taking so long, and for sounding like an A$$. Thanks Steve.
Actually, the opening ramps on a flat-tappet cam are more agressive below about .200 lift than a roller! But after that, the rollers really shine. Reason most folks use hydraulic rollers is because of the theory that they'll make more power than a standard flat-tappet hydraulic. They will, but require a lot of attention to valve spring choices, etc as the rollers are heavier and require a stiffer spring, to an extent. They do, however, provide less friction and a freeer revving engine, plus they dont require much if any break in. Solid rollers are a whole other ballgame. They're built for race engines for the most part which allow you to spin some serious RPM. For the average builder, a standard hydraulic cam is just fine, for a little more performance, the mechanical flat-tappet is a bit better. Good luck
Cams If you have a newer roller block and dont want to turn it over 6000 i would run a hydraulic roller, It will make way more power than the rpm cam, This is a dyno test from comp cams first cam is hydraulic 2nd cam is hydraulic roller, both cams are 224/230 @ 50. The exact same engine was used for both cams. 1st xe268 342HP @ 5000 torque 413 2nd HR274 373HP @ 5200 torque 427 If it was me and i had an older block i would run a mechanical flat tappet. The roller conversion is not worth the money to me, I dont like hydraulic cams because i cant stand the idea of not being able to set it exactly, The solid i can set the lash right where i want it, and the plunger in the lifter is not moving all over.
I run an Extreme Energy 256 and it's a nice cam for a daily driver. I get the occasional valve clatter even though I have adjusted them three times, which is frustrating. I hate that noise. Solids sound cool, clattering hydraulics do not! Rollers are nice because you can get the flow without the crappy idle. I decided not to convert on the 302 becasue of the distributer gear thing and the conversion package is too expensive for the gains, especially when running through manifolds, IMO. When I do the 392 stroker in my Mustang, I will go roller.
