That is agood point... if you can afford to spend a little extra on your engine, a roller is a good place to spend a little now to possibly save a lot later!

I remember one poster in particular who has had an issue with flat cam lobes on his rebuilt engine not once but twice!

Unfortunately, the most economical roller setup for your engine will still set you back $750, this is a kit that uses the "spider and dogbones" setup and not the better linked lifters... but it is the same setup we are using on the 408... no problems thus far!

But,,, lots and lots of people still run flat tappet cams without issue.....

http://store.summitracing.com/partde...p;autoview=sku

 

This is getting to be a real pain in the rear. First the forum is up then its down then its up again and each time posts are lost.

Anyway. I've been thinking about the whole roller cam issue and have done some research into what one of you suggested in retrofitting OEM roller components including the lifters, dogbones and spiders. I think it was tyler72, but not 100% sure. Since posts were lost, I lost the link to the outfit that you suggested for the small base circle cams. I think I will go this route as it doesn't look like it will be that much more money than the flat tappet cam. As far as roller cams go, what grind would you guys suggest for a Mustang with an FMX and stock converter? As a reminder I'll be running stock heads for now, and a Edelbrock 600 CFM carb. I'm not looking for anything wild. Basically want good off-idle and mid-range and of course I want it to sound good too.Remember I'll be limited to the valve lift that the stock heads can handle.

Thanks.

 

Yes it was me, it is Coasthigh.com. On the top left of the home page you will see a list of offered products. Click on "Cams/Lifters" and scroll down. you will see the Roller Retrofit cams; there are only 3 of them. I suggest getting the smallest one for your application. (It will still be veryhealthy) It should work with a stock converter no problem. I have the middle sized one in my 347, and it requires a 2800-3200 stall converter, so don't go any bigger than the smallest one. I think you will be very happy!

 

Check out the Crower cams for the 351w.Best sounding 351w street cam I have heard.

I wound up going with one, I don't have the specs right here in front of me, and it has a tasty idle, great power and is still very streetable.

When I get home tonight I'll post the specs.

 

Thanks Tyler72. Last question I have is whether my stock heads can handle the lift of that cam. For those who haven't seen the specs, they are:

Int Lift-.540, Exh Lift-.560, Intake Duration-272, Exh Duration-282, Intake duration @0.050-225, Exh Duration @0.050-232, Lobe center-112

 

you'll need stiffer springs, the top of the guides may need to be cut down, and your totally going above and beyond what your stock heads will support.

seems like a mis-matched combo to me, but what do i know? [&:]

 

Really, I think you should go this way. You may need to take your heads to a machine shop and give them the specs of the cam and ask them about your heads. Im not sure, but I think you might have to change the springs, but in all honesty, you should do that no matter what type of cam you go with. As the springs get older, they become weaker, so its a good idea to just replace them too. I thought that you were planning on replacing them from the get go. The thing is, that retro fit cam has specs as close (to the flat-tappets you listed) as you can get. You don't need really stiff springs. Get some Edelbrock sure seats. They are inexpensive and they will handle the lift just fine and will be ok for the roller. My Edelbrock heads have these springs and they are working fine for me.

 

OK. I was thinking that those specs seemed a little much for my stock heads. I've been doing a little looking around and it seems that all of the cam makers sell "retrofit" hydraulic roller cams. I'm loking now at the roller versions of the flat tappet cams I listed before. Can someone tell me if these are small base circle cams that you would use with the stock Ford roller lifters?? Here are the ones I'm looking at:

http://store.summitracing.com/partde...p;autoview=sku
or
http://store.summitracing.com/partde...p;autoview=sku
or
http://store.summitracing.com/partde...p;autoview=sku

The first one is the one I'm leaning toward. Remember, FMX, Stock converter, stock heads.

Sorry to be such a bother, but I'd rather not waste money getting something that isn't right for what I'm trying to do.

 

I beleive those are the small base circle cams, you can buy the spyder and dogbones for about 50 bucks and you can get ford racing hyd roller lifters for around 125.00, with any of those cams you will need to install screw in studs and guide plates in your heads, the matching valvesprings, custom length push rods and a decent set of rocker arms.......be prepared to spend 1000.00 + by the time you are done. 250.00 cam, 50.00 conversion kit, 125.00 lifters, 150.00 machine work, studs guideplates, 80.00 pushrods, 250.00 roller rockers, 80.00 springs oh yea timing chain 65.00, head and timing cover and misc gaskets 75.00 and then check your P/V clearance, possibly notch pistons.

If you are on a budget this is what I would do, have some valve pocket porting done on the int and ex bowls of your heads, have some porting done on the exhaust side (you can do this yourself) if budget allows install 194 160 valves, buy a comp cams high energy 268h cam, they can be found for 100.00, new quality lifters, lots and lots of cam lube and I believe there is oil with zinc you can buy under a private label.
1 5/8 headers, a wieand steath and road demon 625 carb.

You can do all that for about half the price of a roller cam conversion and I would bet the flat tappet with some better flowing heads will run faster than stock flowing heads with the smaller hyd roller.

I have ran many flat tappet cams as well as hyd rollers on 289-351w's with stock and modified heads, the comp HE 260 and 268 and the erson TQ-20 work really well with the stock valvetrain, the 268h is still one of my fav cams ever made, it is a single pattern but when combined with a bit of exhaust porting (even without) gives excellent power a slightly racy sound and great low end and mileage, even compared to cams similar in specs it runs better, it has 110 lca and is ground 4 or 5 degrees advanced.

The XE, Z, VOODOO cams all have accelerated ramps and will require matching springs to take full advantage of the cam.

The high energy cams do great with lower compression as well, you will not have any P/V clearance problems and they are very easy on the valvetrain, you could also run the 270 magnum cam but thats the biggest you would want to run in stock configuration, it will still work with stock heads and converter but be softer on the low end.

I ran a 351w, ported 69 castings (had studs,guideplates etc) 9.1 compression, edelbrock performer int, an analog holley projection TBI, 268h cam 1 5/8 headmans and a c-4 and 3.00 stock rear end, I consistantly ran low/mid 13,s and over 100 mph in the 1/4, pulled 19-21 mpg's hwy in my 67 vert, it would pull almost 80 mph in 1st gear.

my vert http://htwheelz.smugmug.com

Too bad as I sold my 11000 mile 351w less heads w/ hyd roller for 550.00

If you have the money, hyd roller is the best but you want good flowing properly setup heads as well to compliment the combo, I spent over 1000.00 just for a custom cam, lifters, springs and timing chain on my 408, almost half of what my shortblock assy cost.
On a budget you want to match your parts so they work together as cheap as possible.