Can i put solids on a hyd cam??

[christineman]

Can anyone tell me if i can put solids on a hyd cam?? Both new.

 

[747mopar]

Just went threw this, according to Comp yes but they don't suggest it. There is a difference in the grind between the two. Maybe somebody that knows more about it will chime in.

 

[Kern Dog]

I've been told that the taper is different. A buddy I know has a 340/416 that he bought UNassembled. He put it together and ran it several thousand miles. He ended up wiping a cam lobe and after a complete teardown, he took everything to tha machine shop. The man told him that the cam was a flat tappet SOLID. He had no clue! He had been using hydraulic lifters because he thought it was a juice cam.

 

[bigmanjbmopar]

I have solid rollers on my hydraulic roller cam, all comp cam stuff, it's an old racers trick to get more top end out of low end monster, I guess don't race it so can't say for sure but have made 6k street runs with no issues.

You tell me what it sounds like, and yes I am pimping my start up vid lmao.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHPqxbw-cMg

 

[Meep-Meep]

If you are talking flat tappet then you don't want to do this. A solid cam has a clearance ramp ground in to soften the blow as the lash is taken up, so technically without this feature the valve train will be much noisier and probably won't last as long. Not sure about rollers, but it might stand to reason they follow the same plan. This was all old info and I'm sticking with it as I see no need to deviate from it.

 

[bigmanjbmopar]

Some noise yes, as far as lasting? lol drive mine almost daily for 2 years now and nothing has let loose yet even at 6000 rpm. Some times it easier to just feel old and sit in your rocker than to try new things :headbang:

 

[IQ52]

It IS BEST to use the cam the way it was designed to be used. If you want a solid cam, by a solid cam.

However.

I have run the solid lifters on a hydraulic flat tappet without trouble. If you set the valve lash to .004"-.006" the solid lifter will approach hydraulic lifter ramp at an angle that will let the cam and lifters live. Some problems begin to arise when using an aluminum head when doing this. The aluminum head will expand and increase the lash some .006" and you will end up with .012" lash and you start to skip the hydraulic lifter ramp ground into the camshaft. So with the aluminum head you start the lash just about .000" and sometimes you have valves that may hang open some until the engine warms up.

I think you're really safe if you are using iron heads and you are adept at setting the valve lash. IF NOT, just stick with the hydraulic on hydraulic set up.

 

[Meep-Meep]

It IS BEST to use the cam the way it was designed to be used. If you want a solid cam, by a solid cam.

However.

I have run the solid lifters on a hydraulic flat tappet without trouble. If you set the valve lash to .004"-.006" the solid lifter will approach hydraulic lifter ramp at an angle that will let the cam and lifters live. Some problems begin to arise when using an aluminum head when doing this. The aluminum head will expand and increase the lash some .006" and you will end up with .012" lash and you start to skip the hydraulic lifter ramp ground into the camshaft. So with the aluminum head you start the lash just about .000" and sometimes you have valves that may hang open some until the engine warms up.

I think you're really safe if you are using iron heads and you are adept at setting the valve lash. IF NOT, just stick with the hydraulic on hydraulic set up.

Your post made me think of guys running all aluminum engines and the trouble they must have with lash. And if someone is running such an engine they are probably not running a hydraulic cam. I even wonder if a hydraulic lifter has enough travel to deal with this. The Krauts solved this problem on type I, II, III VW engines using aluminum push rods, and Porsche used dilivar studs, a material designed to closely match the CTE of aluminum, when the engines were built using aluminum cylinders. 17-4 PH stainless is supposed to be the new head stud of choice to replace the old dilivar design.

 

[Garys1969RR]

I read about an engine build where the hydraulic cam had problems at higher RPMs, and power fell off. I think it was due to the lifter plunger sinking into the body at high speeds. They put solid lifters on it, and a tight valve lash as has been suggested. This solved the high RPM problem, and the motor picked up quite a bit of peak horse power. Seems like it was on the order of 40 or more H P.

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Be careful when doing this, Too tight can leave a valve hanging open and burn a valve. Too loose can cause the cam lobe to go away in a hurry.

 

[christineman]

.003-.005 on both int and ext????

 

[Meep-Meep]

Playing with valve lash on a solid cam will also affect the overlap. Making the lash tighter will increase the overlap. Back when I had to smog my car I did the opposite. I loosened the lash on my .528 solid cam and it passed with flying colors (killed some overlap for a better idle and lower emissions).

 

[Sweet5ltr]

I read about an engine build where the hydraulic cam had problems at higher RPMs, and power fell off. I think it was due to the lifter plunger sinking into the body at high speeds. They put solid lifters on it, and a tight valve lash as has been suggested. This solved the high RPM problem, and the motor picked up quite a bit of peak horse power. Seems like it was on the order of 40 or more H P.

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Be careful when doing this, Too tight can leave a valve hanging open and burn a valve. Too loose can cause the cam lobe to go away in a hurry.

A good article, may be the one you were referring to, when Mopar Muscle tested a solid vs. hydraulic camshaft in a 440 mule:
http://www.moparmusclemagazine.com/..._0312_solid_vs_hydraulic_lifters/viewall.html

 

[Budnicks]

It IS BEST to use the cam the way it was designed to be used. If you want a solid cam, by a solid cam.

However.

I have run the solid lifters on a hydraulic flat tappet without trouble. If you set the valve lash to .004"-.006" the solid lifter will approach hydraulic lifter ramp at an angle that will let the cam and lifters live. Some problems begin to arise when using an aluminum head when doing this. The aluminum head will expand and increase the lash some .006" and you will end up with .012" lash and you start to skip the hydraulic lifter ramp ground into the camshaft. So with the aluminum head you start the lash just about .000" and sometimes you have valves that may hang open some until the engine warms up.

I think you're really safe if you are using iron heads and you are adept at setting the valve lash. IF NOT, just stick with the hydraulic on hydraulic set up.

Interesting, I've always used the proper cam & lifters & never even tried that... Thanks IQ52 great informative post...

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Sweet5ltr
That was a great/interesting read, I seem to remember reading it a long time ago, when I actually got mags, thanks for sharing...

A good article, may be the one you were referring to, when Mopar Muscle tested a solid vs. hydraulic camshaft in a 440 mule:
http://www.moparmusclemagazine.com/..._0312_solid_vs_hydraulic_lifters/viewall.html

..

 

[383man]

Meep Meep is right as the solid flat tappet cams have more ramp in them and they say you should not use solids on a Hydraulic cam. They say you can get away with Hydraulics on a solid cam but why woud anyone want to do that ? Ron