At What Point is a Solid Cam Better Than a Hydraulic Cam??

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Four things that a sol lifter cam CANNOT do:
- pump up the lifters at high rpm
- lifters bleed down from aerated oil
- lifters collapse from internal valve problem, stuck, debris
- lifters bleed down at lower rpms reducing lift & duration
 
66Valiant528 said:
Geez I haven't has a hydraulic cam since the late 90s and maintenance has never been an issue. Easy. Did that same cam swap on the kids Duster 268H to 262S the smallest solid Comp sells. Some Mancini rockers and Smith Brothers pushrods made some more mph and better ets in the same car.
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Do you have the part number for the 262S?
I can not find it on comps site.
 
66Valiant528 said:
Geez I haven't has a hydraulic cam since the late 90s and maintenance has never been an issue. Easy. Did that same cam swap on the kids Duster 268H to 262S the smallest solid Comp sells. Some Mancini rockers and Smith Brothers pushrods made some more mph and better ets in the same car.
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Smaller cam and more performance? I like it.
 
I gotta say I don't see the cam on there site either.let me look for a receipt. I'm pretty sure it was 262 duration and I questioned the comp guy that said it was comparable to a 268H. It may ha e been a MP cam....ok just checked i replaced a 268H with a 268S...
 
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Typically anytime the rpms are above 5500...and the ramps are/can be faster.

Imo They saved money on the 340 by going hydraulic lifter/stamped rocker...but if it were 2-3 years earlier... they may have gone solid...either way...the 340 is legendary.
 
The kids car was faster with the solid. Comp says when comparing solids to hydraulic a general rule is to look at hydraulic cams with 10 degrees more duration.
 
Nothing like a sound of a sewing machine. You know they are adjusted correctly. Just a little quieter with a solid roller once warm. Love it.
 
Quality adjusters and locks can help not so good rockers. But rockers aren't a place to cheap out. Avoid Chinese crap. I personally like the Mancini rockers supposedly made for them by Harland Sharp as a great priced product. Used them on 2 Street solids and have been rewarded with minimal adjustments .
 
Let's say all parts are quality and work according to plan. Everything I've seen pitting the two against each other each on the dyno equal cams taking into consideration lash. a top quality hydraulic camshaft has no lash and will perform equally to a solid by beginning to lift valves instantaneously the lower RPM range but after about 5500 RPMs a solid lift camshaft will really take over.
 
Yes! The spread on the dyno graph will show the power and it will be apparent.
 
bla bla bla, just be proud you have a mopar and drive the hell out of it, nice and quiet motor till you kick it, etc. it will last a lot longer with the hyd cam, in my opinion. just enjoy the drive. if you were racing and had money to throw away, then build the heck out of it. otherwise, enjoy the breeze and looks on a cruser.
 
I've been dancing around in my head about the type of cam to use for the 440 build going in my D200 pickup which will see moderate (5000-8000lbs) towing. I'm leaning away from HFT due to recent hydraulic lifter quality issues. Considered hyd roller but they're frickin expensive and I don't feel great about converting to something that was never offered from the factory, now I'm leaning toward a solid flat-tappet. Comp has the XS268S with an advertised power range of 1800-5500 RPM which sounds just about perfect or I could go with a custom grind. Price of SFT cam, high-quality EDM lifters and factory-style ductile iron adjustable rockers is still a few hundred less than a hyd roller cam and retrofit roller lifters.

And I've just always wanted to build an engine with a solid cam, dammit! Lol... Heard a rowdy SBF with a solid cam when I worked in a hot rod/race car shop and I was mesmerized, that sewing-machine sound is like music to my ears. I don't get many chances to build engines so there's no telling when I'll get another opportunity to put a solid cam in something. 360 in my Duster has a Racer Brown custom-grind hyd roller and it works fantastic but I used a junkyard 5.9L Magnum short block so I was able to reuse the factory roller lifters and 'spider' retainer, saved me like $600 in that case.
 
If you run a non race cam, there is not as much adjustment on the cam and lifters. I have 300,000 miles on a 67 273 cam and lifters. They still look good.
 
66fs said:
If you run a non race cam, there is not as much adjustment on the cam and lifters. I have 300,000 miles on a 67 273 cam and lifters. They still look good.
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That's what I've come to understand. A lot of modern OHC engines use solid tappets with the only adjustment being from replaceable lash caps and they only need to be changed during a rebuild, and at that usually only when changing to a bigger cam and/or installing new valvetrain parts. Buddy just went through it on a Ford 2.5L Duratec I-4 he swapped into his NC Mazda Miata, this is stuff made in the 2010s.
 
MopaR&D said:
That's what I've come to understand. A lot of modern OHC engines use solid tappets with the only adjustment being from replaceable lash caps and they only need to be changed during a rebuild, and at that usually only when changing to a bigger cam and/or installing new valvetrain parts. Buddy just went through it on a Ford 2.5L Duratec I-4 he swapped into his NC Mazda Miata, this is stuff made in the 2010s.
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We would adjust the the rockers around every 100,000 miles. No high pressure springs, no "fast" lobes, 30 wt oil with zinc.
 
harrisonm said:
I obviously know the difference between a solid and a hydraulic cam. I was just wondering at what point for a non-race car does it make sense to switch to a solid cam? Or does it for mostly the street and maybe a little strip? I am talking non-rollers here, and small block. I run a Comp XE268 with Comp hydraulic flat tappets, and I am very happy with it.
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You can alwaystell the racers and want to be racers , solid cam. But real world folks of daily drivers would say pick one and others would say hydraulic. Point is even with hydraulic you will get near same performance, seat of the pants little difference, equal sound equal exhaust. So you decide based on what you wish to have and enjoy it.
 
harrisonm said:
I obviously know the difference between a solid and a hydraulic cam. I was just wondering at what point for a non-race car does it make sense to switch to a solid cam? Or does it for mostly the street and maybe a little strip? I am talking non-rollers here, and small block. I run a Comp XE268 with Comp hydraulic flat tappets, and I am very happy with it.
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IMHO, that depends. For a flat tappet, how radical are you looking for. If the XE268H is working fine for you, stay with it. The other consideration is how often you are willing to lash the valves and how much difficulty to get the rocker covers off.
 
66Valiant528 said:
Quality adjusters and locks can help not so good rockers. But rockers aren't a place to cheap out. Avoid Chinese crap. I personally like the Mancini rockers supposedly made for them by Harland Sharp as a great priced product. Used them on 2 Street solids and have been rewarded with minimal adjustments .
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they aren't supposedly made for them by HS, they are made by HS, and have a lifetime warranty.
They can also be swapped out as a direct replacement for failed crane gold/ mopar performance rockers.
They are an outstanding value
 
Dale Davies said:
Hyd about 10° more to compensate for the bit of leakdown as the valve opens.
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I recently spoke with Howard's
About going from my hydraulic flat to a solid flat of the same size, they said go up approximately 10 degrees on the solid to account for lash..
 
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Comments.
In terms of wiping FT lifters/lobes, there is no benefit switching to a sol lifter. This assumes the same brand of lifter is used. The problems are in the metallurgy of the lifter &/or the machining/accuracy of the lifter base that contacts the lobe. It can be just as bad for each type.

Switching from a HFT to a SFT & how to approximate the duration change. It depends on the lash amount. For a tight lash cam, you add 8*. For a wide lash like some of the MP cams that had 028/032 lash, you add 15*.
 
My last 3 cams were Engle Racing Cams in Cali.
All 3 were custim.grinds. one hydrolic flat rapper. Next 2 were tight lash solid.
As variation of KV2 and KV3 together with a fast rate lift and tight last.
Ground to aspects for my 340 stoker
 
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