I'm not really planning on it, but I am curious. I have a Comp Cam and Hydraulic Retrofit Roller lifters. They were purchased as a set. Can I use Solid Roller lifters with the cam that I have now? And I realize that I would most likely have to use different length pushrods if this was possible.

 

yes you can just set the lash .005

 

cams are ground different

 

I agree but I think George is doing something like that. Running solids on a hydraulic cam.

 

there are no take up ramps on hyd roller cams BUT if you set the lash at .005 it will work

 

What about hydraulic lifters on a solid cam?

I have solid cam and lifters now, but I don't like to set the lash on a hot motor every 3 months

Can I just put hydraulic lifters and set the lash once...

 

never tried that. to keep from having to set the lash hot set the lash hot and then the next day check it cold then you will know what to set cold.

 

Setting the lash correctly and locking it down should be good for a very long time.

Using hydraulics on a solid cam can be done but it's not a good idea from a performance perspective. Solid cams have very slow lash ramps, which puts a hit on your over .050 duration.

 

You need to talk to the cam manufacturer. When you get into the extreeme ramp profiles like mine I was told to use @.010 and to not ever let it go over + or - .004.

It runs so nice an quiet compared to some of other solids with .018 or .022 lash.

 

i learned the hard way.. new lifters on an old cam is a recepie for a chewed lobe!

 

The cam has 430 miles on it... and I don't think that's true for rollers.

 

Well when I was building my engine everyone told me to go with hydraulic lifters... but now that I have... I finally hear about the high rpm disadvantages! Always seems to work out that way.

I was considering going with the solid lifters, a victor jr, and some 1.6 or 1.7 rockers to move the power band up and squeeze some more power out. 7,500 rpm would be oh so sweet.

 

7500 Rpm . Im happy at 6500 with my hydrualic rollers.

 

I have a like new (under 500 miles) set of solid roller lifters I would like to trade...they set off my knock sensor and I am running an '82 so not easy to work around. GM uses a knock sensor check circuit of sorts (ESC43B) test if I recall so you can't just hang the sensor outside the block or tune out. I will need retro .842 hdy. rollers.

Bill

 

I'm not looking to swap these out real soon. I was thinking after winter if that soon. I want to get my new carb and get the car on the dyno before I decide to make any big changes. So if you can wait, I'll keep you in mind.

 

man it sounds like trouble waitin' to happen

 

By saying that the cams are ground different do you mean that by using the 'wrong' lifters I could damage something?

How are they ground different?

 

I quess it is the pfofile they mean that is different - especially the initial part of the lift...

 

It seems you are reading only every third post.

What you can do with a roller cam:

- Run hydraulic roller lifters on a solid roller cam (this is where you loose .050 duration due to the solid cam's gentil opening ramp to gradually take up valvetrain lash)

- Run solid roller lifters on a hydraulic roller cam (this is where you run the tight lash to account for the more agressive hydraulic opening ramp and hopefully not beat your valvetrain to death)

You can do these same combinations on flat tappet cams and flat tappet lifters.

Whether either of these cross-application uses will work for you depends on how good of a wrench you are and if it addresses your issues.

And it's important that you use a valve spring that is compatable with the type of lifter you are using.

What you can't do with a cross-application valvetrain:

- You can not use roller lifters on a flat tappet cam. Flat tappet cams have a taper ground into the lobe that spins the lifter. Flat tappet(and mushroom) lifters are also convex to "ride" this taper. This taper is what keeps you from wiping a lobe or wallowing out a lifter. A roller cam does not spin and the roller will have unequal contact with the cam's lobe. You will either take out the cam or the lifter. Either way, it's an expensive lesson

- You can not use flat tappet lifters on a roller cam. Same engineering issue as above plus the base of the lifter is not broad enough to follow the cam and will immediately dig in

And to clear up some other "Internet truths"...

You can use new lifters on a used cam. If this were not the case, then everyone who needed to replace a lifter would also have to replace the cam. As long as the cam isn't faulty, this is how it's done. Make sense?

While I don't advise doing this, in the pre-Internet days before all truths were known by everyone and not everything was black and white, I did use old flat tappet lifters on new cams and never wiped a lobe. Of course, the lifters were smooth and convex, which was, back then, the only known criteria. I guess we just didn't know any better back then.

 

I'm with Gerry. I've never wiped out a cam lobe. I've stuck in a a new cam with my old crane H.I. lifters. I've pulled a motor apart and didn't mark the lifter numbers and just through them back in. I've run solid lifters on a H-flat cam. I'm running SR on a HR cam now.

The big thing is surgically clean every part when building a motor. Lube everything with assembly lube or white grease. Do the cam break in by the book. Dump the oil right after initial runs to get all the assembly lube out of the system and use good correct weight oil.