nova75mike
06-30-2008, 05:14:00 PM
I was having a chat with my engine builder about the 383 I just had dyno'd for the wife's 81 Camaro. This engine put out 517 HP on the dyno. This is going to be a street driven car (about 6,000 miles per year) plus some trips down the local 1/8 mile dragstrip. The engine has a Lunati solid roller with 243 degrees @ .050 and .585 lift. I currently have a set of Crower solid roller lifters (NOT Hippo's) that came out of my 406 powered Nova dragcar. These lifters have 30 1/8 mile passes on them and looked great so I saw no problem with re-using them for this 383. My engine builder told me to get those lifters out of there because they dont have any oiling provisions for the roller wheels that are needed for street use. I'm running 200 lbs seat and 500 lbs. open pressure, and the motor will twist easily to 6500 rpm. Should I change these lifters out right away, or am I safe running them for a year while I save up for some Hippo's or the Red Zone's???? Any advice from the guys (and gals) running a solid roller on the street??
K5JMP
06-30-2008, 05:28:27 PM
Prolly be safer with "oiled" rollers... but keep in mind a lot of us have been running ole skool rollers on the street for many years before the new-fangled dudes came out.
You should be safe for a year.. lol Just be very attentive to maintenance.:)
mrdragster1970
07-01-2008, 02:16:50 AM
.
Not a fan of solid rollers on a street car, but as said^^, that's the only kind they had for years.
Engines didn't just blow up for no reason, well some did, but you know what I mean.
.
Damon
07-01-2008, 08:03:02 AM
A ways back I had a conversation with a guy who runs solid rollers a lot on the street. The older style with no oiling provisions for the rollers. He said that he found limiting oil to the lifters (like is often done in racing applications)significantly shortened their life in a street application. He left the oiling system to the lifters wide open (stock) and found it nearly dubled the life of the lifters on the street. Still, don't expect them to last forever.
Street applications are actually tougher to keep lifters and distributor gears oiled well becuase you spend so much more time at low RPMs when the crank isn't slinging a lot of oil up onto them.
67lemanster
07-01-2008, 10:54:37 AM
Street applications are actually tougher to keep lifters and distributor gears oiled well becuase you spend so much more time at low RPMs when the crank isn't slinging a lot of oil up onto them.
that is exactly what i heard when i bought my solid rollers. oil starvation is a low rpm problem....stop lights and cruising(where the problem needed to be addressed)
nova75mike
07-01-2008, 11:04:06 AM
This 383 doesnt have any oil restrictors like the race 406 did, so I should be ok with oiling. I'm also running one of the Melling Select oil pumps that gives 10% more volume, that will help too. I wont be putting many miles on the motor this year due to ongoing upgrades to the car (rear suspension, front suspension, etc, etc), so I'll be saving some extra cash for some good lifters that give the extra oiling. From the way it sounds, alot of guys on here are running the Isky Red Zone lifters, that is probably what I'll go after.