[John429cj]

I'm a novice, but hydraulic roller cams seem to offer the best of both a flat tappet hydraulic and a solid roller. They don't seem to be talked about much other then there pricy and that many don't like the angle of the shorter pushrod need to run one with the Crane lifter, not sure if Comps new hydr roller require a custom length pushrod.

I'm thinking about putting one in my 429. It had a flat tappet solid when I got it, I hated the tapping, and could never get it adjusted correctly, I never knew the specs but it ran like crap, I swapped out to a hydraulic Comp 280H and the car ran so much better.

What do you guys think, appriceate some opinions. Recommendations on a grind. I'd be putting on ported A429 heads and a Stealth intake as well.
This is not a rebuilt, just bolt on mods.

Thanks
John

 

[nickbay]

I wouldn't go to the expense of a hydraulic roller cam unless I was going to run a larger cam than the comp 280 which is 230 dur @ .050. You can spend your money better elsewhere.

 

[rmcomprandy]

NOT a good choice...

Personally, I don't agree with using a hydraulic roller cam in a 385 series engine. The pushrod angles become more severe which usually requires clearancing the pushrod holes in the head, the guide plate slots are no longer in the right place for correct rocker arm location over the valve tips and with the spring pressures you need to run to get any RPM, you may as well use a good solid flat tappet.
Others will disagree...I'm sure...

 

[DiscountPowerParts]

Good experiance with Crane Cams Hyd Roller

Well, Im gonna to have to go against the grain and say that with a hyd roller cam I won 2 championships truckpulling with my 466. And I did it with those "lousy" (as you guys have described in the past) crane cams lifters, and I never had a part failure.

I buzzed it to at least 6400 every time out...many, many times, and a few times near 7000 RPMs.... I had over 100 hooks on that cam/valvetrain when I retired it. I loved the power it offered over a standard hyd flat tappet cam. It was very, very, very low maintenance and made winning power.

I cant seem to agree with the other 2 replies, but maybe I had an unusually good experiance with my Crane Cams setup?

Maybe I was lucky, maybe my assembler (Bob Tudor of Titusville, PA) is just that damn good.....

 

[nickbay]

Crane cam specs

I'm curious which Crane hydraulic roller you used and if you used their recommended valve springs or had to go stiffer. Also what duration was the flat tapped cam that you had previously? I had good luck with hydraulilc rollers in 302's but have since read some articles that claim that the roller cam does not have an advantage until you get up in the duration. It sounds like your combination worked well so I assume you had one of the larger Crane rollers?