My Father's Oldsmobile

[Northernregal]

It's a Travato custom grind- puny by the numbers .491/510 236/242 on a 110., hydraulic roller.. Apparently, its a launcher because the noses of the lobes show little wear. I like it,but might need a stiffer spring.

Ya, That isn't crazy at all. Must be an older lobe design, I would imagine you had decent springs in it already.

 

[fleming442]

Nope, they're box stock, 1st gen Eddy's. Dad bought them in '02. I think some "good " valves and springs are in order if'n I wanna bounce it off the limiter. It's a bad b*tch on the skreet!

 

[Texas82GP]

So this was all caused by a valve just structurally failing or was the valve not closed and came into contact with the piston?

 

[olds307 and 403]

I wonder why Bill stayed so conservative on lift numbers? Those are almost flat tappet numbers and you had better flowing Edelbrock heads. I may end up with a similar cam since I have 1.72 ratio rocker arms and a lot of the regular hydraulic roller cam grinds will push beyond the safe lift for iron heads, which is .560" lift, I believe. I believe Olds Edelbrock heads are safe for .575" lift out of box.

 

[olds307 and 403]

So this was all caused by a valve just structurally failing or was the valve not closed and came into contact with the piston?

A very good question. He has very conservative lift numbers. Olds V8's with their flat valve angle need a lot of lift and very high compression to even need valve reliefs, so that is out. Edelbrock valves are known to be good quality but who knows. With the damage done there may never be an answer. Procomp heads with high end valves, stiff springs and a good port job will come out cheaper than box stock Edelbrock heads. The choice is Flemming's, it is his money, his build in the end and what he is comfortable with.

 

[fleming442]

The heads have about 20k miles over 18ish years, I suppose. My buddy suggested that I call or email Edelbrock, and shake the tree; see what happens. Hell, it's worth a shot.

I gave Bill all the specs, and he said "I got a grind with wicked throttle respahnse". (He's in Rochester, NY) That's what he sent me. We never even discussed the numbers, because I can't argue one way or the other. He was definitely right, though.

But, I'd say the valve failed. All the springs, locks, and keepers are intact, and the rods didn't stretch. It was 10.56:1 compression, which I doubt would cause interference issues- .005 out of the hole with .060 Cometics.

Usually, blow ups are time for upgrades, but I don't know what else to do. It ran good, and don't really want to mess with it.

 

[fleming442]

The current running total is:
.040 over F block $300
Machine work $500
Bearings $100
Turn crank $200
Pistons $650
Heads....$??????

 

[500/600]

The duration and LSA on your roller is almost identical to mine. Mine does have 0.608” lift both sides. Great throttle response would be a good description for mine also.

 

[84dragcutlass]

Just caught up on this, thats no good at all, just throwing my 2 cents in i wonder with the stock valve springs if there wasnt some instability in the valve train causing the valves to close hard and eventually caused the valve failure. It makes sense in my mind why the head of the valve itself would fail, repeated hard closures and not the stem itself from hitting another object. The ramp rates on roller cams are more aggressive by design. Just curious

 

[olds307 and 403]

Yeah, with your specs and everything intact, it had to be the valve that failed, 100%. I am in no way insulting Bill's choice for a cam. I am curious how this roller lifter lobe would look compared to an aggressive flat tappet lobe. Your running total isn't so bad dollars wise, the heads are going to be the big cost.