http://www.taperformance.com/proddetail.asp?prod=TA_ROL-215 I looked into making a roller cam but unfortunately there isn't much savings into making it myself, it might even cost more? Getting the blank machined would be a piece of cake but you end up with round lobes off of the lathe that need to be roughed in then the whole thing needs to be heat treated then finish ground. The finish grinding would include the journals as well as the lobes. Now if in I had a slant bed CNC lathe I could rough it in ready for heat treat, this would save a lot of $$ except for the fact that a used CNC slant bed lathe I would guess would set me back maybe $20,000 to $40,000 for a decent one capable of machining something as long as a camshaft! I wonder if pre-hard tool steel would be hard enough to be a roller cam? Does anyone know the Rockwell hardness of a roller cam? Another long drawn out process to rough in the lobes would be to use a degree wheel on the end of the cam and machine the flats on the lobes using a mill setup with V-blocks, could also rough in the base circle rotating the cam in the V-blocks by hand with the set screws still holding the cam down but loose enough to spin to machine down the base circle.(I may even try this one day, time permitting if the stars align just right?) The nose of the lobe can be blended in with a file, would be good enough to rough it in.
Slow and steady on my engine build. Had to send the crank back because the journals were not machined correctly and we were not going to make the 1.5 thousand tolerance target. So that's slowed things down a bit. On the plus side, the cam bearings and camshaft are installed; initial decking has been done and bore honing is complete. So it's coming along ...
Today I stopped by the machine shop and picked up my latest engine. 12:1 Buick 350. Going to test the alum heads on it.
Hey Sean, you're gonna need more cars for all those engines you're having built! Here's a good one for your big turbo engine, certified to 8.50; http://www.v8buick.com/index.php?threads/1970-buick-gs-race-car.351936/ Looks like a great bargain too, he says 100K invested, with engine and trans its on sale for 70% discount! You can't build one for that. The ad says $30,000 complete, $25,000 without engine and $23,000 without engine and trans. Ad says "8.50 cert now, easy to convert to 7.50." That thing is just screaming to have a twin or single huge turbo sbb 350 in there!
Scotty Brown has his hands on the TA alum heads and he is working on a CNC porting program. People will be able to order the heads from him fully ported and race ready.
No I haven’t sent a set to him yet however he is currently doing his own set and then developing the CNC program.
Hello, I took 6 blocks sonic tested them all and picked the best block. 30 thou overbore, ARP studs throughout, decks were made square and 60 thou removed to put the Diamond custom pistons 10 thou in the hole. 20 thou head gaskets for a 30 thou quench. Internal balanced with SFI flexplate and balancer. Hershe forged $1200 con rods. Valve reliefs in the pistons. The heads were converted from open chamber to closed, welding and mods with extensive flow testing work. Giant roller cam. 13.6:1 static compression. single plane intake, custom 850 CFM Holley double pumper, on E-85. no girdle on this one, my other 2 are girdled.
I think that's around when I got mine - Same setup. They ran very good. That's all I knew. Wish I still had that car/engine.
I haven’t done anything lately been busy with other projects. There is a fellow that’s supposed to dyno test his engine this week.
I’m just waiting for my machinist/ builder to get well again. The engine is assembled, just needs break-in and dyno pulls.
I've been thinking that too, but then I think with all this crap going on in society, people are getting distracted, which is understandable, IT SUCKS, BUT...………..