Gun Jam

maybe switching this system to a roller cam is biting off too much at once. Would I be better off just doing heads and maybe a normal hydraulic lifter cam and then run this engine until its dead and then for the new engine start with a roller motor from something like the Lincoln (I think it was) whats a typical roller conversion cost?

Thanks

-Gun

Starfury

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/EDL-60329/

Just an example. If you do some digging, you may be able to find some cheaper from a performance shop, or used on b/s/t forums.

Starfury

If this is not the engine you want long term, skip the roller conversion and heads. Fix your heads and deal with what you have. In the meantime, build up the roller block to be what you want it to be

Gun Jam

well it would be a long term motor if I did the roller setup BUT! ive already got 70k miles on this motor. Isnt that getting close to end of service life for something like this? I do the heads and roller setup just to have it spin a bearing or lose compression in a cylinder 15k miles from now....or do you think with new top end it would run another 60k?

Thank you for the link to the al heads...at least I have a baseline now.

If I went with those heads and a cam any ideas what I would see performance gain wise and fuel economy wise vs what ive got now?

Starfury

75k isn't much, if you're taking care of the motor. Treated well, I wouldn't be surprised to see 150-200k.

If you've got money to burn, you could always upgrade the valvetrain and heads, then switch them over later when the engine really is burned out. Roller cam valvetrains are hardened steel and last much longer than a flat-tappet setup would.

I'd guess at maybe 50hp tops out of heads and a roller cam upgrade. More area under the torque curve is more what I'd expect to see. As far as fuel economy...probably no better than you're doing now. EFI might help, but that's a whole different bag of worms.

Gun Jam

improving fuel economy isnt really my goal I just dont want it to go down a bunch.

im surprised that the al heads alone wont get me 50hp I figured with the modern design practices and tools like cnc that they could make a significant difference. If I went with just al heads like shown in the link...it probably wouldnt make a noticeable difference??

a 50hp gain with heads and roller setup would be great but what would I expect to pay for converting to a roller cam? I have taken care of the engine I change the oil I keep it well maintained I try to not let problems sit around and dont rev the **** out of it. I hardly push it past 4300 and it rarely sees 5000 (still runs great at 5k tho)

you've been quite helpful as usual thanks again!

-Gun

Starfury

The aluminum heads will help at higher rpm's, where you really need that flow. When I changed to aluminum heads, I noticed a significant power increase above 5k rpm. The ports do tend to be a little more efficient, but at the end of the day you're still stuck with an inline valve configuration. And considering that efficiency is what you're shooting for, you're never going to spin the motor fast enough to need all that extra flow you'd get from the higher flowing heads out there.

I'm not sure exactly how much a roller conversion will cost, but I think I figured out while planning my stroker build (years ago) that it would've cost me an extra $500-800, depending on components. There are a couple options for lifters that will vary the price greatly.

Gun Jam

500 to 800 maybe acceptable.

Let me ask this what about having work done to the stock heads like exhaust port clean up and some addition port work and going roller cam? After paying for any real headwork it would have been more cost effective to go with new heads correct?

I run gear driven timing now would that still work with the roller setup?

Thanks

-Gun

Iskwezm

yes..

Gun Jam

thanks!