Hyd roller vs flat tappet Pontiac

[79GP6.6L]

... again, I know SBC is not compairable to Pontiac, but I'll add my $0.02

... and a question from me is: how often do solid roller cams need to be lashed? I would imagine not as often as solid flat cams?

Comp says to check it every other oil change.

Decent read on the subject here:
http://www.highperformancepontiac.com/tech/hppp_0811_pontiac_lifter_guide/index.html

 

[khan0165]

thank you!

I try to check my flat solids every couple months. Also right before & after a day at the track. Good thing is... I've developed a sense, I can tell when it's starting to get a little loose.

 

[79GP6.6L]

thank you!

I try to check my flat solids every couple months. Also right before & after a day at the track. Good thing is... I've developed a sense, I can tell when it's starting to get a little loose.

Part of me thinks the constant removal of the valve covers and adjustments would be a pain. But there is also part of me that knows that things go quickly when you are in the habit of doing them reguarly. So maybe it wouldn't be as bad as I think.

 

[khan0165]

well, when I first started lashing them, I was told to go 10 thou under Hot lash for Aluminum heads when lashing cold. So at 0.022 Hot, I started cold lashing from 0.012, and it would come up too tight!
It took me a week worth of lashing/tuning/testing to work down to 0.018 Cold lash to make it land at 0.022 Hot
... I just don't trust myself doing a Hot lash as the engine is running

those first few times were a b*tch, ... I've got it down to 1/2 hour now. The only pain is hand cranking the engine.
... people tell me to use a bump starter, but I don't wanna put strain on my starter motor and flywheel.

... And things go alot quicker if you follow timing order and only crank the engine once or twice.

 

[tc1959]

well, when I first started lashing them, I was told to go 10 thou under Hot lash for Aluminum heads when lashing cold. So at 0.022 Hot, I started cold lashing from 0.012, and it would come up too tight!
It took me a week worth of lashing/tuning/testing to work down to 0.018 Cold lash to make it land at 0.022 Hot
... I just don't trust myself doing a Hot lash as the engine is running

those first few times were a b*tch, ... I've got it down to 1/2 hour now. The only pain is hand cranking the engine.
... people tell me to use a bump starter, but I don't wanna put strain on my starter motor and flywheel.

... And things go alot quicker if you follow timing order and only crank the engine once or twice.

:| Go racing ,go solid . Street rod go hydraulic , set it and enjoy it.
Drive it and soak up the complements of a very cool ,drivable street car. You Can drive the sh*t out of it with no regrets. Or you can look forward to setting the lash every time you want to just jump in and go to a cruse in , or a car show.. :?:
My Camino will burn the back tire's off until they explode. But you still can jump in and drive it across the country.
It has AC that works , Cruse control , Overdrive . ECT. and you don't have to go out and set the lash when you want to go for a drive.

 

[G-Body_Vet]

:| Go racing ,go solid . street rod go hydraulic ,set and ,enjoy it ,drive it and soak up the complements of a very cool ,drivable street car. You Can drive the sh*t out of it with no regrets. enjoy. OR you can look forward to setting the lash every time you want to just jump in and go to a cruse in , or a car show.. :?:

That's pretty much my take on it. I just want a nice cruiser with some muscle. I'll figure it out one of these days I suppose.

 

[tc1959]

:| Go racing ,go solid . street rod go hydraulic ,set and ,enjoy it ,drive it and soak up the complements of a very cool ,drivable street car. You Can drive the sh*t out of it with no regrets. enjoy. OR you can look forward to setting the lash every time you want to just jump in and go to a cruse in , or a car show.. :?:

That's pretty much my take on it. I just want a nice cruiser with some muscle. I'll figure it out one of these days I suppose.

What ever you decide to do , Having a Pontiac with that motor will be very cool. 8)

 

[67rstbkt]

Yeah.....Kinda hard to avoid the costs huh? I guess you gotta pay to play though! 8)

I read about the lifter valley ordeal before too. The guy that rebuilt & ported my heads was trying to talk me into going to a solid cam as well.

The more I think about this, the more I want to get away from old tech and go with a modern valve train. It should make for a nice engine with a balanced & lightened rotating assembly. The idea of being obligated to buy additives or special oil for a FT cam doesn't sit well with me either. It's more expensive, then there's shipping costs if no local places have it.....and who knows when the gov't will come up with more senseless regulations?

Definately hard to avoid adding costs, lol. Personally, I was leaning towards a hydraulic myself to avoid the seemingly constant lashing, but I find it hard to believe that setting lash has to be done every time you drive the car like some are saying. For the number of miles I'll be putting on my car, I can deal with the higher cost oil and adjustments. It just depends on the purpose, I guess. I would say that if you plan to dive this car a lot (more than 7-8,000 miles a year), go with a hydraulic. Roller is a nice way to go, (and I would have liked to go that route, but I had to call the budget somewhere) but just remember that the block was never designed with a roller cam as an option. You'll have extra mass from the roller lifters and the different ramp profile. Even if you are going mild, it's worth at least researching the lifter bore brace. It would suck if one of those bores let go and shot a lifter through the motor.

 

[G-Body_Vet]

Definately hard to avoid adding costs, lol. Personally, I was leaning towards a hydraulic myself to avoid the seemingly constant lashing, but I find it hard to believe that setting lash has to be done every time you drive the car like some are saying. For the number of miles I'll be putting on my car, I can deal with the higher cost oil and adjustments. It just depends on the purpose, I guess. I would say that if you plan to dive this car a lot (more than 7-8,000 miles a year), go with a hydraulic. Roller is a nice way to go, (and I would have liked to go that route, but I had to call the budget somewhere) but just remember that the block was never designed with a roller cam as an option. You'll have extra mass from the roller lifters and the different ramp profile. Even if you are going mild, it's worth at least researching the lifter bore brace. It would suck if one of those bores let go and shot a lifter through the motor.

With modern cams, I think the constant adjustment is along the same lines of people saying Q-jets are junk.....wive's tales from the 60's that never went away. You're right, I might have to re-think if it's worth spending for something that isn't constantly driven.

 

[67rstbkt]

With modern cams, I think the constant adjustment is along the same lines of people saying Q-jets are junk.....wive's tales from the 60's that never went away. You're right, I might have to re-think if it's worth spending for something that isn't constantly driven.

Don't get me wrong, I think roller cams are a great option. It's just that when I priced out what I wanted in a roller setup it added well over another grand to my build. I had to draw the line somewhere and that was the line for me; plus the machine shop owner and his son both pushed me in the solid cam direction.....so that's what I ended up buying. Hopefully it all works out like I want, I guess we'll see.