FE solid roller?

[Dwight]

anyone running solid roller in their FE?

I will drive this motor a lot and don't want a lot of maintenance. I plan on doing the Hot Rod Power tour and London Cobra show. So I'll drive 3,000 miles in eight or nine days on the Hot Rod tour. A little over 1,000 on the LCS.

Not looking for hp just more durability and low maintenance.

Please chime in and let me know what you think

[hauss]

I would say you should be just fine however I like hydraulic roller lifters [low maintenance],but that's just me.

[1795]

I had a solid roller in my 428 CJ and was putting in approximately 4,000 miles per year. I would check the valve lash at the beginning of the season and it was fine through the end.

[blykins]

Good pressurized lifters from Morel, Crower, Isky, etc. would make it last a bit.

However, if you're not looking for max horsepower, a hydraulic roller in an FE will spin to 7500.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_JY47anClA

[55312]

I have a solid lifter roller cam and it's no trouble. Adjust the lash once a season and it's good to go. I usually put 3000 miles per summer on it. It's a center oiler so I can't put a hydraulic cam in it.

Tim

[eschaider]

Tim,

Depending on how frequently you maintain valve lash and how zippy your cam ramps are, solid rollers can have average to poor life cycles. Moderate cam opening ramps. good lash maintenance, and responsible engine operating practices should provide you with reasonably good lifter life.

All that said mechanical rollers are not as reliable as hydraulic rollers. If you are not using the mechanical roller to allow the use of fast opening ramp cams, it begs the question why are you using them at all, instead of their more reliable hydraulic cousins. The obvious answer might be your block does not provide oiling for hydraulics. If that is not the case you would be better off with hydraulic rollers.

Driving the car to promote mechanical roller life is fundamentally the same as the way you would drive the car with hydraulic rollers — so why are we making life more difficult that it already is by choosing the less reliable mechanical rollers instead of the more reliable hydraulic rollers?


Ed

[55312]

Look at the last sentence of my post.

[patrickt]

Dwight, a properly broken in solid flat tappet cam, not a roller, will still be buzzing right along long after you have passed from this earth and it will have provided you with years of fun before you do. The sound really can't be beat.

[Dwight]

I have a 427 center oiler block.

Today I have two choices.

First; run solid roller.

Second; let my buddy a machinist and engine builder modify the block to accept hyd rollers.
I'm not a 100% sold on the mods. I would like to see a picture of one that has been done. Sounds like a lot of plumbing under the intake.

Hyd rollers with the mods would cost more. But I'm willing to spend the money because this motor is going into my 66 Fairlane which I plan on keeping. When I can't drive then my oldest grandson will drive me.

That is why I'm asking about the solid roller and if I can drive 6,000 miles a year without replacing a lot of parts. And the valve train noise may be an issue.

So keep the suggest coming

[blykins]

I’d run a solid flat tappet.

You can also have the block drilled so that it would have the necessary oil galleries to run a hydraulic lifter. Pretty extensive work though.

[eschaider]

Originally Posted by 55312

Look at the last sentence of my post.

Some do have provisions for oil but at the same time some don't. While not a luck of the draw sort of event it is not too far removed.


Ed

[hauss]

Read the first responder.

[Jerry Clayton]

KISS solid flat tappets-------

[Jerry Clayton]

Some of you know my past history of top fuel dragster and funny cars-------early on some roller lifters came apart(late 60s, early 70s) and little pieces were all over the motor-went to solid flat tappet cams and never looked back ( until I was doing some ProStock/ and Indy car stuff) The new hyd rollers are super these days for street stuff! But nothing beats that .025-.027 gap sound on the Ford FE engines---------

[xb-60]

Originally Posted by Jerry Clayton

...went to solid flat tappet cams and never looked back...But nothing beats that .025-.027 gap sound on the Ford FE engines....

So that's Jerry, Brent, Gary, Patrick (and me). I've not seen that much support for solid flat tappet cams in one place fora lot of years.
edit: and Fred

Cheers!
Glen

[blykins]

Originally Posted by xb-60

So that's Jerry, Brent, Gary, Patrick (and me). I've not seen that much support for solid flat tappet cams in one place fora lot of years.
edit: and Fred

Cheers!
Glen

Well, I will say this....if it were a drilled block, I would be a little more favorable toward a solid roller with pressure fed lifters. Most Cobras don't see enough miles to wear a high dollar set of pressure fed lifters out.

However, if the block isn't drilled, there aren't too many choices and a solid flat tappet was made for that scenario.

I have my solid flats made a little differently than most guys though. They are nitrided, I use tool steel lifters, and I have them ground with extra lobe taper.

[8Ball]

Originally Posted by xb-60

So that's Jerry, Brent, Gary, Patrick (and me). I've not seen that much support for solid flat tappet cams in one place fora lot of years.
edit: and Fred

Cheers!
Glen

I've got a solid roller in my FE, my next cam will definitely be a flat tappet!!

[Jerry Clayton]

Lobe taper is a very important consideration---with rollers the cam lobes don't have any base angle to rotate the lifters and then of course without that taper the cam doesn't want to stay BACK in the cam tunnel ----It requires a thrust plate and oiling mods to lube the front gear/block area and without that the load from oil pump and distributor drive will cause the cam to move forward and backwards---this will also then wipe out the gears as the mesh angles don't remain correctly constant-----

I also once modded a Holman-Moody marine block with 16 -3 tubes to the lifter bosses so I could put a hydraulic lifter cam in it for my 1966 Comet GT390------but before I got it together they came out with the 428CJ and I was able to get one in a Torino------it ran so good that we then put the 427 ( now also with a 428 crank ) into John Keelings 1969 Ford F150 plus 3 dueces and CJ hood scoop for our dragster push truck---ran very nice and did it ever come on good when those 3 dueces opened on the fire up road-------

[concobra]

Hello Dwight.

Normally I just enjoy reading these threads and do not interject as there are many here that have far more knowledge than I but just for the sake of conversation here is my observations.

Allow me to lean on your points of importance such as low maintenance and the way you plan to operate the vehicle. Based on your description of events you plan to participate in. All that considered the question from my perspective is why? (Why) pertaining to the need to run a solid roller cam. What advantage does it serve verses it's limitations? Given the operation of your car running a large enough cam to really take advantage of the solid roller doesn't add up. I don't know what size of cam you want to use but given your driving description it should run duration @ .050 intake of 250-260 degrees. With a lift of .600. (That given the heads you are running will be able to take advantage of that size of cam. But that is not your question?) At this size of cam a solid flat tappet verses the power advantage of a solid roller is very slight. And the life cycle of a solid roller will be considerably less and require much more attention to avoid potential failure. Solid rollers with aggressive lobes (which is the only reason to run one) require much more durable ancillary parts that are expensive and will not live all that long. Heavy valve springs, much less valve seat life, rocker arm life, stress to the timing chain, and bronze distributor gear life all will play a factor in the life cycle of your engine and maintenance schedules. So if your motivation for a solid roller cam is extra power you will not have much of a benefit. Especially verses costs and maintenance.

Since your block is designed to run only solid lifters a discussion about hydraulic lifter is mute.

In summary, a solid flat tappet, properly broke in with proper oil type will give a great power, cost less than 1/2 the parts needed to run a solid roller and live longer. Plus maintenance is considerably less.

One more point so you don't think that I am bias to flat tappets. I like solid rollers and run one in my Cobra but I am willing to live with the results and my cam is huge. I just think, again given your operating environment a solid flat tappet is better.

Regards
Phil

[Mark O'Neal]

Solid flat tappet cams worked just fine for a hundred years or so.

But no they won't work?