I wouldn't bother with a solid lifter cam. I put one in a '66 289 I had once back in the 70's - they make a lot of noise, do require frequent adjustment and by and large you can get the same benefits with a modern performance hydraulic lifter aftermarket cam. And no, you don't need a Hipo balancer.

Gary

 

I won the balancer, but this introduced yet another question. I read at the HiPo site, that the HiPo engines had a thinner crank gear for the timing set and also used a "bob weight"? I read that the bob weight isn't mandatory, but not sure if I'm going to have to order the thinner timing set. I'm NOT going to install the bob weight, so I'm hoping I don't need the thinner gears, but if the thinner gears are needed because of the wider balancer on the HiPo engine, then I guess I'll need those too.

As for adjusting the solid lifters, I don't mind doing it at all. Working on the cars is a big part of my life.

Tom

 

On thing I found with adjusting solid lifters, is to try to find an old set of valve covers and cut the top out of them. That way you can adjust the lifters with the engine running and not get oil all over the engine. Yeah, I know there is a way to adjust them with the engine off, but a good ear is better for tuning IMO.

 

Thanks for the tip!

Tom

 

The 271hp hipo cam is a great camshaft but it likes steep gears and a standard transmission. I put one in a 69 302 back in the mid seventies with a top loader and 4.62 gears. It ran and sounded great. With a good set of poly-locks, valve adjustments will probably be required about every 5000-7000 miles. IMHO, nothing beats the sound of a lumpy solid lifter camshaft.

 

or you just can get a high duration hydrulic cam right?????????????????

 

It's all inside and nobody can see it right? Why not go with a modern roller cam and lifters. You can get any grind you want and don't have to worry about adjusting them all of the time. The Hypo balancer/thinner crank gear is and interesting question. If it had a thinner timing gear to clear the balancer then the timing cover must have been thinner too. If that is the case the balancer won't work with your timing cover. I don't think that any of that is true. I think you can use the balancer with no problem.