Hey guys.....

some people say a solid roller cam is not a good thing to drive in the streets, as the valve train wears quickly.....I had my eye on a .620 lift roller.........

True or false ? what do you say?
Dan

Like the White with poultry or seafood , it sounds like a nice choice.
Some guys will tell you " beer " , and they wouldn't be wrong.
Solid rollers require a little more scrutiny than a hydraulic flat tappet cam , but like everything else in life , you get what you pay for.
If you want a " put it away wet " street car , I wouldn't recommend going down this road.
If you don't mind running the valves a couple times a year and require enhanced performance , then it is a natural choice.
They will require more money up front and on the back side , as they will be harder on springs and the lifters will require more frequent rebuilding / replacement.
But I have had solid cams that liked frequent spring changes.
Complimentary parts help here.
I had a 429 S.C.J. with that heavy intake valve and nothing lightweight but the Harland Sharp's to open them...........springs every season , and they would let me know when they were on the way south by acting like a rev limiter when they got weak.
Lots of solid rollers on the streets these days.........but not many being run by the lazy or weak.

I get your point..........

I have a solid street roller in my challenger and I like it.
I am getting ready to put together a 408 small block for my 69 dart that I drive every day in the winter and I think I will put a solid roller in it just to see if those people who say it can not be done are right.
V-16 caddys had solid rollers and that was in the 30s.
My advice to running a solid roller on the street is buy GOOD rockerarms like T@D or jessel,good lifters and very good valve springs.

all of my cars are street cars. they all have solid rollers. it is true, they are hard on springs. you also need very good rocker arms. i have broke so many in the past i now use t&d,s and jesel,s. have not had anymore failures. i do still replace springs often thou...

What do you mean GOOD springs ? obviously the one that go with the cam, or is there something else ?

Dan

Springs for endurance racing? Here's a chance for me (and others) to learn.
How are they different?

Yes please, an example....

I am rebuilding my engine after loosing a roller at 2500 miles. I lost it because of errors on my part. Not stiff enough a pushrod for the lobe profile and not enough spring. My comp 943-16 springs lost between 20 and 25 lbs. pressure in 2500 miles. This time going back roller with a different lobe profile, (more street friendly) better pushrods and (like the guys said) Endurance springs. Getting good advice and doing my homework this time around. I know the material in the Isky springs I am running this time around is different but I am no expert. Hopefully the spring guys will chime in.

galen- going through the same thing you are. Scratches in cyl wall from cam/lifter trashed. I will be checking spring press, but more importantly, will restrain myself from being an rpm junkie(small block). Some cam profiles just don't lend well to over-revving.

I`ve been running an Isky solid roller for about 6 years and several thousand miles and changed springs once and just had the lifters rebuilt. Two were rough when rolled w/my fingers so that was a good call but, anything can and will fail and if you get quality lifters,springs and maintain lash adjustements w/non agressive lobes you should be fine.

I'll be running a solid roller in my 416 drag week car
which will race and drive... I'll have 240 seat pressure
and about 640 open... if I had a little higher pressure
at open I would run that but I have these spring(and
they're new)... check out PAC springs.... too light
of a spring and it'll cost you BIG TIME

To the OP, as you can see, its a balancing act. How much race time vs. How much street time? And how much maintenance do you want to be on the hook for? I think you can build a pretty bad-ass street/strip motor with a solid flat-tappet for a lot less, and have a lot less to worry about. Putting the $$ difference into port work on the heads, or a top-end converter might even yield similar gains (?).

That is my conclusion,...at least for my needs

Thanks to all

Dan

my new engine has a comp cams solid roller 582/588, I'm not too worried about it. I plan to drive the car to the track run and drive it home..about 42 miles round trip.

Saw this (or similar) on Speedtalk I think:

Life's too short NOT to run a solid roller on the street!

Seems like everyone is putting solid rollers in the same bucket. This is not the case...

There are roller profiles that fit a specific need. Some are very aggressive and require more valve spring load at a given lift. There are also lobe profiles that have nice opening and closing ramps that don't need the same spring. For example, I've been using Comp Cams extream street roller profiles with very good luck. They don't require a huge spring and I find that they rarely need ajusting.

Allan G.