Factory hydraulic roller set up on an older block?
- Thread starter Hysteric
- Start date
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mopowers
Well-Known Member
How would you retain the lifter dog bones? Older LA blocks don't have the bosses cast into the block in the valley for the lifter spider bolts. Plus, I believe the lifter bores are shorter and would uncover the oil grooves on the lifters.
Easy enough to drill and tap to mount the "Spider".
Nice big pushrod holes > on the you guessed it heads.
Factory Roller Cam Engines > already engineered.
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Can't you buy roller lifter retro fit kits made for earlier LA engines???
junkyardhero
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you can. it's a chunk of change, tho.
So for a 360 early 90s factory roller LA engine, the mods required to go solid roller are......?
Asking for a friend. His only experience with mopar is BB. Please excuse his ignorance.
Asking for a friend. His only experience with mopar is BB. Please excuse his ignorance.
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That's what I thought. I know they sell a kit for the fords to do exactly that.
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I figure it should be doable. Even a regrinding the factory cam to a smaller base circle.
360duster
Well-Known Member
The stock mopar hydraulic roller lifters are significantly taller, chrysler did not change the Block casting without a cause! I would not suggest using the stock HR Lifters in a LA Block designed for hydraulic flat tappet lifters. I´m curious if the recess in the lifter bore is there in the LA Block where the dogbones are located? pretty sure it´s not.
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1972 340 lifter valley.
1976 360 lifter valley.
1989 318 Roller lifter valley.
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1976 360 lifter valley.
1989 318 Roller lifter valley.
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1974 318 lifter valley.
Looks like they may have been thinking ahead, getting ready for the coming Roller Engines with the Spider mount extra beef in the lifter valley castings???
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Looks like they may have been thinking ahead, getting ready for the coming Roller Engines with the Spider mount extra beef in the lifter valley castings???
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gzig5
Well-Known Member
Your pic didn't show up for me, but I think that is a Ford block in the video and the spider is an aftermarket piece from Comp cams. Process should be pretty much the same for a older Mopar block using the later factory parts though. But I doubt it is a straight drop in. You would need to make sure there is clearance around the dogbones for them to function correctly, and I might consider brazing in mounting pads where the spider mounts into the block to make sure it is putting even pressure across the length. The valley isn't necessarily flat and even. Then there is the issue of lifter bore height and making sure that the band isn't uncovered. A solid roller of that type would negate that requirement but I've only heard of DIY solid versions converted from factory lifters by putting in a spacer to restrict compression of the piston. Since it doesn't seem so common, maybe it's more complicated than I'm thinking, or not worth the trouble considering conversion lifters can be had for a couple hundred bucks more than the OEM parts, which are lift height limited.
I'm going to look at this later this fall on a spare block I have but there's higher priorities in front of that project.
racerdan80
Well-Known Member
I did a mockup of this very thing for my 67 318. The oem roller lifters are too tall and the oil band cleared the top of the lifter bore with just the stock 318 cam. If you wanted to bush the lifter bores, i’m sure that would correct that problem. But after all that hassle, it would probably be cheaper to just buy the retro fit lifters and be done with it. I’m just going with Morel’s and probably solids to just be done with it
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