roller cam beneficial to Nailhead?

I see roller cams are now available for Nailheads. It would seem they might help the pathetic flowing ports move more air.

 

I’d like to try it. I have to do my 350 first since I’ve had those parts for a while now!
My dad put a roller cam into his Cadillac V-16 ... that engine is a flathead 135* v. just trying to get more area under the curve.

 

Dear Bob, Ted, and fans of mid-60s Buick V-8 engines,

Honestly, I don't think it would make much of difference for the air flow. The valves are really the critical limitation. However, roller cams reduce friction which increases power and reduces noise. So long as you drive your nailhead at relatively low RPMs which is what they were designed for. The roller cam would make the engine a bit more nimble. You need to decide how much new technology you want to wed to an old engine design. At some level you have to accept that if you are using a nailhead, it is because you have a special love for that engine.

Cheers, Edouard

 

there is really no hp gain in friction. now you have a heavy lifter needing more spring pressure. plus you never going to wind a nailhead much over 5700 rpms anyways. a roller cam has a slower starting ramp speed. and if going with hyd roller you will still have the same lifter bleed down as a non roller fast ramp cam. the advantage of a roller would be not wiping out a lobe as easy on break in especially.

 

The true advantage to a roller cam is the faster ramp to get the valve to max lift faster and keep it there. Most roller cams have a huge max lift and a short duration which is not possible with a standard flat tappet cam. It would be beneficial to any engine, especially one with crappy ports.

 

It was my understanding that the valve opens faster and stays open longer within a given duration which means more airflow without compromising drivability. Is that not the case?

 

yes your right but not at the lower lift, the non roller is faster.

 

some hyd cams have very fast ramps and more so a solid lifter flat tappet then some rollers.. again back to the small lobes of the nailhead camshaft will make a fast ramp hyd roller or non roller very noisy and bleed down. i would rather take the extra cost of a roller and put the money into head work.

 

Larry cant read the dyno sheets on the first link

 

"photobucket" is a phour letter wurd.

 

am seeing 20 hp at 5500

 

Dear V-8 Buick engine experts,

Thanks for your interesting commentary. One other point that I forgot to mention with respect to the engine in my trusty wagon is that reduction of friction means additional power. With a roller camshaft and roller rockers, less power is used rotating the engine and that power is freed up to move your car. I don't know if there is any way to assess which factors contributed the overall power gain. However, if you look the built thread for the first incarnation of Biquette's engine Jim Weise only expected the engine to produce 400 to 425 horsepower - instead it produced over 500. Here is the link to that thread once more:

http://v8buick.com/index.php?threads/new-buildup-448ci-stg-2-se-hyd-roller-an-mpg-motor.252771/

How much of that was improved breathing because of the roller camshaft and how much was due to reduced internal friction is the question for the nailhead. Given the valve size limitation, the benefits of improved air flow will be limited in a nailhead. However, the benefits of reduced friction should be comparable for the nailhead and the Buick big-block.

Cheers, Edouard

 

never will get a nailhead to make peak hp 6200 rpms. peak will come in at 4800 with lots of head work. shift point is best under 5500 rpms. we dont need high rpms cams past 5500

 

was close to getting a roller but never did. went with a solid lifter fast ramp cam and made a big improvement. on a normal engine like yours all bets are off and a roller would be better like you said about hp and not wiping out a cam lobe.

 

I got this from one of the websites discussing flat tappet vs. Roller.