Killed another cam, need to go roller, need recommendations

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Lxiflyby

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Killed another flat tappet cam in the w2 stroker so now it’s coming out of the car. I’m sick of this **** so now im looking to go solid roller and I need something pretty nasty… 600+ lift and 250-260* duration at .050” lift… street race/race on pump gas- here’s the setup-ported closed chamber w2 race heads, 3.79” stroker crank 360 (387”) victor w2 intake, 1.6 ratio rockers, it’s got a 3800 stall converter in it right now, but some of this may change depending on how crazy I get with it… my question is who’s roller lifters and cams can you recommend at this point? Do I absolutely need to bush the lifter bores?
 
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BAM lifters are great, Bullet grinds a good cam, but you will get lots of suggestions for grinders, there are quite a few good options out there.
 
I guess my main concern is roller lifters that will fit without a ton of mods and machine work and hold up to a decent cam without coming apart…
 
BAM lifters would work great then. Drop in and run.
 
Lxiflyby said:
Killed another flat tappet cam in the w2 stroker so now it’s coming out of the car. I’m sick of this **** so now im looking to go solid roller and I need something pretty nasty… 600+ lift and 250-260* duration at .050” lift… street race/race on pump gas- here’s the setup-ported closed chamber w2 race heads, 3.79” stroker crank 360 (387”) victor w2 intake, 1.6 ratio rockers, it’s got a 3800 stall converter in it right now, but some of this may change depending on how crazy I get with it… my question is who’s roller lifters and cams can you recommend at this point? Do I absolutely need to bush the lifter bores?
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@Oldmanmopar will be a good one to advise about the lifter bores. I highly recommend Oregon Cam Grinders.
 
2 different engines; the last setup was caught in the beginnings of a couple lifters starting to gall up, so the pan was cleaned out and a couple of bearings were checked and it looked okay. Replaced the parts and made another go on the outer valve springs only with driven break in oil, plus the engine started almost immediately. I ran 20w50 valvoline VR1 after break in. I don’t think I have more than 100 miles on it… I wasn’t planning on tubing the block
 
I will never run a solid lifter cam or solid roller cam without tubing the block. Bushing is out of my budget but a nicer way to go about it. Bamm roller lifters and a racer brown .660 roller cam. 6.0’s in the 1/8 and 9.30’s in the 1/4.
 
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I run a lot of Clay Smith Camshafts and lifters (Buena Park CA.)
Their products are not E bay type cheap but neither is losing
an engine.

They race NHRA National Race winning stuff from
Stock Eliminator to Top Fuel (Langdon family are the owners).
I have never had one of their cams go flat or have any lifter
issue in over 60 years. However, I do know something about
what I am doing with this stuff after 70 years at the track.

I have to bush the lifter bores in the Stock/SS racing we do.
If for no other reason than the geometry angle on Mopar blocks
varies all over the place. At a 500HP level I believe imprecise Camshaft
operation can cost you 10 to 20 HP on some blocks with significant variance.
By the time you spend the effort to set up and check the block = You may as well
correct and bush the darn thing.

Just my .02 Worth = For Free.
 
GTX JOHN said:
I run a lot of Clay Smith Camshafts and lifters (Buena Park CA.)
Their products are not E bay type cheap but neither is losing
an engine.

They race NHRA National Race winning stuff from
Stock Eliminator to Top Fuel (Langdon family are the owners).
I have never had one of their cams go flat or have any lifter
issue in over 50 years. However, I do know something about
what I am doing with this stuff after 70 years at the track.

I have to bush the lifter bores in the Stock/SS racing we do.
If for no other reason than the geometry angle on Mopar blocks
varies all over the place. At a 500HP level I believe imprecise Camshaft
operation can cost you 10 to 20 HP on some blocks with significant variance.
Click to expand...
Attention to detail is why you've been so successful. That's what it takes.
 
Lxiflyby said:
2 different engines; the last setup was caught in the beginnings of a couple lifters starting to gall up, so the pan was cleaned out and a couple of bearings were checked and it looked okay. Replaced the parts and made another go on the outer valve springs only with driven break in oil, plus the engine started almost immediately. I ran 20w50 valvoline VR1 after break in. I don’t think I have more than 100 miles on it… I wasn’t planning on tubing the block
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Who's cams are failing?
 
Could you possibly have a geometry problem thats putting extra stress on the cam and lifters ?
 
There is a lot more advantage to bushing the lifter bores other than not uncovering the oil band. Most of these blocks are 50+ years old, and literally nobody ever measures the actual bore diameter, not to mention lifter body diameter variations among brands. And the lifter bores are the BIGGEST oil leak in the oil system
 
Lxiflyby said:
2 different engines; the last setup was caught in the beginnings of a couple lifters starting to gall up, so the pan was cleaned out and a couple of bearings were checked and it looked okay. Replaced the parts and made another go on the outer valve springs only with driven break in oil, plus the engine started almost immediately. I ran 20w50 valvoline VR1 after break in. I don’t think I have more than 100 miles on it… I wasn’t planning on tubing the block
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If it’s getting solid lifters I always suggest at least tubing the block.

You don’t have to do it but like PBR said the leaks at the lifters are horrible.

Also, 350 open isn’t that high. That shouldn’t kill a lobe.

To that end you need to accurately measure the lifter bored for size and geometry.

If either is off it needs to get bushed.

There is a company that sells a do it at home kit for bushing the bores. Understand that that system does NOT correct lifter bank angles. It just gets the bores back to size and geometry.

It lines up on the existing bore. If you have a couple of lifter bores that are wonky you’ll want to correct that even with solid roller lifters.
 
Newbomb Turk said:
If it’s getting solid lifters I always suggest at least tubing the block.

You don’t have to do it but like PBR said the leaks at the lifters are horrible.

Also, 350 open isn’t that high. That shouldn’t kill a lobe.

To that end you need to accurately measure the lifter bored for size and geometry.

If either is off it needs to get bushed.

There is a company that sells a do it at home kit for bushing the bores. Understand that that system does NOT correct lifter bank angles. It just gets the bores back to size and geometry.

It lines up on the existing bore. If you have a couple of lifter bores that are wonky you’ll want to correct that even with solid roller lifters.
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I considered buying that tool
Years ago but how many block do I actually use. My last block lasted 3 rebuilds so it’s another tool that would sit 98.5% of the time. And then it only bushes the lifter bores and doesn’t correct the lifter bores. There’s a post in the racing section of Moparts going on now about this subject.
 
I've tried 2 lunati solid flat tappet in the past. Both didn't last very long. I mainly use mopar performance cams when they used to be available, but since they aren't I've gotten a Comp and a Racer Brown cam and so far they have been fine.
 
pittsburghracer said:
Question on bushing the lifter bores
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Did I read this wrong or not understand it correctly? The one guy said he used a Chevy lifter in the bore by using a smaller bushing? Does that mean he didn’t bore out the lifter bore and just pressed in the 9.04 ish sized bushing to use the .842 ish sized lifter? Just trying to learn. Thanks. Kim
 
oldkimmer said:
Did I read this wrong or not understand it correctly? The one guy said he used a Chevy lifter in the bore by using a smaller bushing? Does that mean he didn’t bore out the lifter bore and just pressed in the 9.04 ish sized bushing to use the .842 ish sized lifter? Just trying to learn. Thanks. Kim
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Honestly I didn’t follow that post. Not sure what he’s talking about. I’ll have to read it later.
 
oldkimmer said:
Did I read this wrong or not understand it correctly? The one guy said he used a Chevy lifter in the bore by using a smaller bushing? Does that mean he didn’t bore out the lifter bore and just pressed in the 9.04 ish sized bushing to use the .842 ish sized lifter? Just trying to learn. Thanks. Kim
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I think he’s saying he used a mopar sized lifter with a Chevrolet oil band height on it.

So it’s still a .904 lifter, it’s just machined like a Chevy lifter.
 
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