I went to the junkyard today and got a new 351w block from 1990. Does anyone know if this used a roller cam or a hydraulic cam?

 

If the block has threaded 1/4" (or metric equivalent) holes in the valley directly above the #2 and #4 cam bearing it is a roller block,,,, if not it is a non roller.

 

And for clarification roller blocks use Hydraulic Roller lifters instead of Hydraulic Flat Tappet

 

I didn't catch that...

 

I am going with a eagle 408 stroker kit with 9.5 compressionand see you have a stroker also. I am thinking of putting the edelbrock power package. DO you know if everything will fit with no problems or will the pistons have to be notched.

 

Sorry I do not know. I have a Cleveland Stroker[:-]

But if you know the heads and the valves you are running and the cam, the kit manufacture can tell if they have enough clearance.

 

well I have the lifters, how can you tell if they are roller or flat tappet?

 

nm, i just saw some pics of both of them, can you do a conversion to a roller cam if its flat tappet?

 

Edelbrock has some new heads out, the Pro Port CNC, the 190cc heads would work on that 408 and make good power everywhere. If you go with a larger cam and turn some RPM then it would benefit from a larger head, like an AFR 205 etc. If you do the Edelbrock setup, call them direct and get the 351W setup with a roller cam(if the block supports roller cams) and the new Pro Port CNC heads(51309). At 9.5:1 compression you won't be running a large cam though, so their Pro Port 190s would work well, and make some pretty wicked power out to around 6,000rpm on a 408. My guess is it should easily make 500+hp with those heads + RPM Air Gap + good roller cam, on pump fuel.

 

Everything will fit with no clearanceing at all if you go with H-Beam rods, If you use I beam rods you will need to clearance the block, primarily at the bottom of the cylinders. This is easy work and only take about an hour with a die grinder. The supplier of the stroker kit may supply you with a tool that will allow you to mark the block for clearancing...

I have one that I will let you have if you need it, and I can find it!

We are using 60cc Edelbrock Victor Jr heads anddished pistons (-12cc I think,, maybe -15cc)for our 11 to 1 CR no clearance issues whatsoever.I did "clay" the valve/piston clearancebefore going together though)

<<Yes, you can run rollers in a non-roller block but you will need linked lifters or a "retrofit kit", that "converts" the block to the OEM style "spider and dog bones" setup. This requires you to very carefully drill and tap two holes in the valley of the engine above the #2 and #4 cam bearings. My 1970 block was about1/3 of an inch thick here,and I drilled 1/4" deep and tapped the threads with a bottoming tap.

When I ordered the Comp Cams "Retro Fit Kit" it was pictured with link lifters, what I got was a spider and bones setup, should have sent it back but I didn't... (The item description did not say linked lifters, but it did not say "spider and bones" either, I was kind of disappointed with comp cams on this one!)

Anyway so far so good, but when I do this again I will make sure I get linked lifters....and advise others to spend the extra money and do the same.