just wondering.why are solid camshafts usually built on a tighter lobe seperation than a hydralic ? & has anyone taken a camshaft with specs like the ta290-08h & made it for use with solid lifters ? i figure if you have adjustable roller rockers,why use a hydralic cam. thanks in advance
This is not necessarily the case . I have a solid lifter cam on the shelf that was done on a 116 centerline. It was designed for the stock appearing classes, it has a duration of 244/249 at .050, but it idles almost dead smooth at 600 rpm. Most people like hydraulic cams due to not needing adjustment, ie, less maintenance. Most Buick guys don't want the noise of a solid in their Buicks. Jim Burek P.A.E ENTERPRISES
While we are on this subject... Will a solid cam of similar specs to a hydraulic make more power? Why is that? My understanding of it is this (please tell me where I'm wrong)- The ramp rates on the solids are extremely fast. This makes a lot more torque because the valves are opening so much quicker. So, given HP is a product of torque and RPM, you have more hp. Am I close? I've noticed the advertised specs on the solids are a lot lower, compared to a hydraulic with the same .050" duration. Does this mean that you can run more .050" duration with a solid cam and still make good torque with a certain static compression? Sorry... not trying to take over the thread or anything. I just have a lot of questions on cams (seems like it can be a very deep topic).
I believe the solid cam will always make more power, when comparing a hyd. and solid cam with the same specs!:TU: I think you answered your own question quite well!!:Brow: :grin:
Thanks! I'm pretty new to all of this. You get these ideas from reading a bunch of stuff, and you never know just who is telling you what is right. Never hurts to have it verified by some of the old Buick guys who have more experience than I have years on this earth :laugh: (seems to be a few of those around). Just how noisy are the solid cams? Is it minor, or am I going to be thinking my engine is about to grenade (I'm going to run a 210S in the car I'm building).
I am curious about the noise issue as well. I have "heard" form"they," which means I don't know who or when, that newer solid cams don't need to be adjusted that often. Can anyone shed some light on this? The TA210-S looks interesting, and you will be sure not to have any lifter pump up problems. Thanx.
JB touched on it earlier but I'll throw in my .02. Most people running solids do so to make max hp for racing and don't care about idle quality, vacuum, etc. So most are on tighter LSA's.
'Zactly. A solid profile doesn't have the mechanical limitations of the hydraulic lifter. So it's tappet velocities, accelerations, jerk, etc. can be higher. That means the valves are open longer or have "more area under the curve" (if you were to look at a profile of lift vs duration on paper). Since the profile is much more aggressive, seat-to-seat duration can be less for the same 0.050 duration. Or stated another way, for the same seat-to-seat duration, you can have more 0.050 duration, compared to a hyd.
Someone on here (can't remember who) said that they ran this cam, and that they adjusted the lash once at breakin, and once more after a few hundred miles or so, and that they didn't have to adjust it again for something like a year or more! I don't know why anyone running a hot street-strip combo would not go solid, if this is the case. I am going to have a cam custom ground to these specs- 112 lobe center, 108 intake centerline. 248, 258 duration @.050", 298, 302 advertised, .528 lift with 1.65 rockers. I wanted a little more duration on the exhaust side than what the 210S offered to compensate a little more for iron heads with full exhaust. The lobe center is adjusted from 110 to 112 to get a little more peak hp, and a wider power band. The lift is kept fairly low to be easier on the valve train.
