Ive been running a hughes solid flat tappet for 8 years now, using their cool face light weight lifters, ive gone 9.79 at 139 with it shifting at 7000 crossing about 7300 in a small block, it has lived so far,use the right oil and you shouldn't have a problem, I change springs once a year just for peace of mind, ive considered going roller but I don't want to have to grind my rocker arms for the bigger springs, plus the bigger springs take horse power to compress,

I went from a .650 lift flat tappet to a more aggressive roller but also went from 12.5 to 14:1 compression at the same time. Went from low 9.80's to low 9.60's.

I also use the EDM lifters on mine. And I had no problems breaking in the cam as we left the inner springs off to break in the cam. I used Valvoline VR1 racing oil and a bottle of the Comp Zink additive. I also used the cam break-in lube on all my lobes. No problems at all and its been in the car since 2011. Dwayne Porter speced me a custom grind cam and it was no more then an off the shelf cam was. He has good prices and does awesome work. I wanted a custom grind since I run 92 pump and I wanted some power but had to keep the cyl pressure below 190. And it has never pinged with 37 total timing. Ron

i have been running a predator solid cam. been in the mix for 17 years. different blocks same everything else. moved the cam from 104 in steps to 110. took it from 10.70s to best of 9.89@134mphit was 262 265 with about 620 lift at 1.6 and it lasted a good many seasons. it just got freshened up due to me taking it to him and pitting on the lobes. but i now have a new modern fast ramp lobe cam to put in. with a little less duration at 258 but i am told it will act like a bigger cam. so we shall see. i did not want the cost of roller either and i am at the limits of the rules on time and my chassis.

Wait. What are you saying here? Are you talking about the cam ICL?

An "extra" $1400 to run a roller cam??

I guess I don't see how the math works out there.

Solid flat tappet cam, nitriding, edm lifters = about $525

Mild roller cam, mid-level lifters, price of bronze gear over iron gear = about $1200

Looks like about $650-700 difference to me.

If you were okay with more entry level lifters(which are fine for many mild roller race applications), then the cam and lifters are under $750.


Comp Cams 23-758-9 cam = $337
Howard's 91727 roller lifters = $380

Mid-level upgrade lifters:
Crane 66542-16 Ultra-pro = $788
Comp Sportsman 96829-16 = $689

We should call this section "practical hotrodding" lol

Thanks for the perspective Dwayne.

Dwayne, I already have ductile rockers that would work for a solid flat tappet and correct length pushrods.
Therefore I added the cost of roller rockers and pushrods on top of everything you accounted. If it were a fresh build and I already needed rockers and pushrods, your thinking is correct. The difference is much less in that case.
Thank you for your input.

In 2 cases I pulled a Comp Cams solid roller cam from customers engine and installed a Racer Brown STX-22 SFT cam. 1 was a small block 408 and the other was a big block 512. Both were low 10 second cars and ran some high 9s with the flat tappet. One has since switched back to roller and runs exactly the same, no gain over the SFT. My Demon also has a STX-22 and has gone in the 9.60s. Stroker small block with production iron heads. 2150+ passes with only 2 spring changes, 995-16 comp. $100 a set. Also my lebaron has the same STX-22 cam in a 512 BBM with Indy SR heads. 1300 passes with 1 spring change 928-16 comp. $150 a set. Been 5.40s 1/8th mile and 8.50s 1/4 mile.

just curious to what the lobe sep is on the stx-22 BB cam and where you installed it? thanks

I don't remember exactly. But most BB STX-22 are 106/108 and intake C/L 103/104, but I usually set them at 101/102. IIRC the Lebaron cam is 107 LS.

Thanks

"Equivalent grinds" between FT and RT, as in, the same valve curtain area at all points of lift, is physically impossible unless both are so mild you would never use them. Even similar average areas will not have the same vacuum, inertia load, and reversion characteristics.
The maximum acceleration and velocity are different, and especially different between roller at low lifts (which has the dangerous side thrust vector) and higher lifts (where the FT is limited by its contact length).