RB hydraulic roller cam

I am thinking about putting a hydraulic roller cam in my 500" Indy headed -1 motor. It currently about 11:1 compression with a solid roller cam around .630 lift. Who has the best cam and lifters since this will be my first hyd roller motor?

What RPM capability do you require? And what is your reasoning for switching from a solid roller to a hydraulic?

I haven't assembled it yet, but Dwayne Porter (fast68plymouth) spec'd a hydraulic roller for my dad's 540" hemi project and we went w/ a set of Scorpion hydraulic roller lifters.
I've been VERY pleased w/ every other cam/head/valvetrain combo Dwayne has helped me with...no reason to think this won't work great.

I have had great luck whit Morel roller lifter on 2 500 cube street engine but as stated before it hangs alot on how mutch you need to rev the engine!

It will be 100% street driven. It getting Holley Sniper 4500 EFI and AC.

Talk to Dwayne at Porter Racing Heads or give Brian at IMM a call. Both guys have experience with BB Mopar hyd roller setups.

I've run a few hyd roller cams in BB Mopar engines and it can be frustrating to get the cam lobe, lifter, rocker arm and valve spring all happy together. If you get it wrong the lifters will stop working early and the power goes away.

You shouldn't have much trouble finding a nice hyd roller cam but the lifters can be an issue. I run Comp lifters in my street car and they work just fine but there are guys who say they don't work. Morel has lifters, but I think that IMM uses Gaterman for their hyd roller lifters.

I went with the Morel High rpm versions, $940.00 from Hughes, they work good so far, car ran 11.33 @ 121, 4100 lb Charger, no tuning yet, they are a little noisy when cold, you can adjust them .020 from bottoming out of the plunger, & they also recommend no heavier than 5-40 oil, I am running 10-40 Lucas racing oil with no problems. pulls great over 6200.
my car is a street car.

If it were me doing that i would go whit street lifter then and stay whitin there spring/rev limit for long life ! I have .600 on roller rockers 1,6 whit Morel street lifters and that engine is nice

If it was me building your motor I would select a tight lash solid roller cam with a really good set of bushed solid roller lifter and matching valve springs, pushrods and so on.
Set them once when cold and again after running the motor long enough to get the oil and coolant temps. up to or above 160 F and reset the lash once more and enjoy the higher RPM of the solid roller cam and lifters with those good heads
I'm not a big fan of hydraulic roller lifters, yet, for either Mopar BB or 426 Hemi motors yet due to past bad experiences with hydraulic roller lifters in them

This right here!!!!👆👆

do you think the lifter is operating like a hydraulic, or a solid?

We use Gaterman and Topline and have been very pleased with their performance.
Brian

more like a solid,but with dampening for the roller, no lash, so hopefully they will last longer on the street than all the horror stories of solids failing from street use, I said you can adjust them .020 from the bottom, mine are not done that way, mine are 1/2 turn from zero.

I run Howards.

4700 miles so far and lots of strip abuse. Only rated to 6500 rpm. I have the limiter at 6400.

Gaterman supplies Howards with their link bar lifters for most applications.

Good advice given my experience with hydraulic rollers. Initially, my valve springs were not set-up properly and likely weakened quicker than normal too though. The valve train harmonics really beat up my rockers as a result of it. Even with all that going on the motor spun out 684 hp at around 5400 rpm before the springs lost control of the valvetrain.

Cab, thanks for the tip on checking the lash again with the motor warmed up. I haven't done that yet on my new solid roller valvetrain, but I will.

Dwayne Porter sure nailed the latest combo in my case too. My motor is running stronger than ever even with 2 full points less compression and burning California pump swill. I haven't dynoed it yet, but it sure runs a lot smoother now with the solid roller valvetrain.

The more you rev the more you stress component and valve springs will set the bar for witch lifter you need to use !

If you build a street engine use street lifter for long life.

I would like to keep the RPMs in the 3-6k range since that is a 100% street can that will never see the track again. I have other race cars when I have the urge. I will put between 10-12k miles per year on this car and drive it to work most days when the weather permits. I am looking for the reliability and about 600-650HP

I have a problem with understanding why someone needs a 650 hp motor that is only going to be street driven and never raced and wants to be reliable???? That is a lot of strain on parts to make that much power to be pounded on at low speeds for bragging rights. lie!!! and leave it stock. That's my .02. Don't get me wrong I like a lot of hp but i use it for what intended.

Lol. Well I didn’t say I wouldn’t drive hard! The reason I have is I have 3 other race cars and miss a little street action. I already had it built with a world block, decent parts and -1 heads and drive it maybe 500 miles per year. So instead of building a new motor I should use the parts I have. I would think it should be possible to make 600hp out of a 500” motor and be very reliable.

For 10-12k a year, it would get something pretty tame...... And the power would just be whatever it is.

IMO, the overall combo would be better off with std port heads.

Been there done that with big valve ported 906 heads on many stock stroke 440
My pump gas Duster motor last configuration was a 400 block with a 4.300 stroke crank and 4.375 bore with 10.7 to 1 compression, Indy M.W. port SR heads, 400-3 intake with a Holley #9375 non HP 1050 CFM dominator,Custm ground Comp Cams solid roller cam, it made 727 HP the last time it was on a engine dyno on pump gas
I did swap the heads on it from the iron heads to a set of CNC ported Eddy RPM and then to set to CNC ported 440-1, the motor made 775 HP with them and the last set was the SR that made 727 HP
Every time I fed that motor more air and fuel it went faster and made more power on the engine dyno and chassis dyno
I drove it on the street some, 3000+ miles in 7 years, I raced it more than driving it on the street though, it was not my daily driver
On your deal I'm sure you will make more than 650 HP with no sweat
My Duster weighed 3450 Lb. with me in it, it was a hoot to drive on the street

Don't try to understand it! People do it everyday. It's called Hot Rodding.

You will really like mine then. 588" 960 horsepower 100% Streetcar. Has nothing to do with bragging rights. It has to do with the right to do what you want to do with your car.......

So, what cam are you using?

Looking at the cam you have I would keep that maybe put bushed roller lifters in.

A solid roller. .800" 290@.050. I also use the isky bushed roller lifters. I have found needle bearing roller lifters do not last on the street......

I currently run the Comp cams 892 lifters. What are your experiences with these??? I cringe every time I drive the car 30-50 miles. I bet it has less than 3500 miles and feel in my gut that one is going to let go. Maybe I should just buy bushed roller lifters and a mellow Solid roller cam.

Come on now, when people or some government agency try to tell me I don't need more than 650 or 700 hp in my car. I won't hang out with them anymore. Who needs that kind of negativity in their lives.

Modern aluminum heads, quality stroker bottom ends and good valve train choices make 650-700 hp seem pretty mild compared to what race engines put out at similar displacements.

Computer engine management, injection and turbo/blowers make 900+ hp reliable and reasonably tame when not building boost.

Look at Hellcats, Demons and the new Corvettes. Heck, I'm helping a buddy put together a 940 hp blown LSX in a 67 Chevelle with a 6 speed and a full Art Morrison Chassis. That should just be about right power to weight ratio for the street.

You truly didn't understand my point. I build a lot of high horsepower street motors for my customers so I am not against or trying to take away some ones right for building a high horse power motor. But when the op wanted reliable 10-12000 mile daily driver I don't think 650 hp was in his best interest. as far as using a hyd roller cam I have build several max wedge motors using scotty brown cams and durell lifters with great result making 600+ hp.. Only thing I have found with hyd roller cams is that it seams I cant get them run as high rpm as flat tappet hyd cam can.

I used to run the comp 829s. All of my street cars had at least a 700" solid roller cam in them. The needle bearings in the lifters failed in them in short time.

I think it's all that idleing and low speed driving that does them in. They seem to last in drag Motors because there is a ton of oil being slung around in there.that doesn't happen when they're idling on the street. I switched to isky EZ roll Max bushed lifters a few years ago. I have had no problems ever since. I wish they could do something similar to needle bearing rocker arms. With my spring pressures and being street cars those take a beating as well.....

I apologize for using your post as a springboard to rant, Jake68. No disrespect intended.

When you're talking roller cams and street cars...... Depending on what the particular requirements are, will determine what the priority list looks like.

When the requirement is reliability suitable for 10-12k miles a year...... That gets moved right to the top of the list........ And as such, will dictate what most of the rest of the components will end up being.

For me, that would mean smooth lobe profiles with modest lift that will operate happily with moderate spring loads...... Along with top of the line lifters and premium endurance springs.

I'm watching this thread since I also need to buy hdy. lifters but I want to rev the engine past 6,200

You make stuff so complicated.

Would you consider using something like a PAC 1232X beehive w/ a light retained on a street roller profile like the extreme energy? Say up to 6500 rpm.

Please keep in mind this is a motor that I’ve been using in a car for a few year. I’m not looking to get a new motor but use most the parts I already have. Maybe I should have posted “What cam would people switch to so I can comfortable drive this car 10-12k miles per year?” I’m not really concerned about the HP#. Im really looking for low end torque to have some street fun when driving to and from work!

Keep the cam small for a daily driver. Chevy uses a hyd roller cam in the 502 crate engine that is only 211/230 at 0.050. That is a baby cam but it works for a daily driver. The 502 HO makes a lot of torque with that small cam and those engines work great in a lot of cars. So think hard before you put a big cam in there.

My 255,258 .610,.613 hydro roller works great in my 512, can cruise @ 1800 rpm,AC on with converter locked up & is smooth as glass. I have the comp beehive 155 seat

On a BBM with -1 heads that use heavy .800 offset intake rockers?

I don't know if those springs would provide enough spring load to get that package to 6500 without any signs of unhappiness.
Without testing that exact combo on the dyno...... No, I wouldn't use those springs.

Something like an Isky 9915 with tool steel retainers is more my preference.

Though it would be interesting to try some even slower/smoother lobe profiles and some of the new conical springs.

I'll add that if "it were up to me"....... It would get a solid flat tappet cam that didn't have real aggressive lobes along with EDM lifters.

I see way more horror stories around on various forums, for all kinds of different engine makes, discussing some sort of incurable hyd roller lifter problem than I see about solid flat tappet cams going bad(provided proper break in procedures were followed).