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good cam?

2K views 6 replies 5 participants last post by  boatanchors 
#1 ·
i bought a 71 402 yesterday its 0.030 over so thats a 408. entire engine completely takin apart...what fun. anyway the cam (in original box) is a wolverine blue racer. heres the specs on the box -

cam lift - .320/.320
valve lift - .544/.544
adv. duration - 292/292
.050 duration - 230/230

it says lash hot int. exh. then HYD right there.


well its obviously a hydraulic cam then. my question is how do i know if its a roller cam? im not too big on the cam scene so if someone could tell me the visual differences in the cams i would appreciate it, if its possible. pictures would help.


o btw everything n the engine been cleaned and magged 402 2 bolt main 427 forged steel crank 427 rods (they are a little beefyer) and the original 396/402 rods. rockers hydraulic lifters valves the doubled up valve springs, closed chamber 101cc heads. milodon hamburger pan chrome, and this cam. the cam was put in a fresh built 396 and started up. the owner didnt like it and went with a 'cooler sounding' cam that thumped more after a week.

thanks
 
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#2 ·
Well if you could post a picture of your cam I could tell you if its a roller cam or flat tappet. There are two types of roller cams one is a Austempered and the other is a steel roller. A steel roller cam will have silver shiny lobes with a copper type color between the lobes and surrounding areas. An Austempered roller cam will look very much like a flat tappet cam but the lobes will be a silver color as to where a flat tappet cam will have more of a dull blackish gray color on the lobes. Hope that helps. I would suggest to this link http://www.chevyhiperformance.com/techarticles/148_0307_basic_camshaft_info/photo_02.html and it says the difference. The bottom cam is a flat tappet and the top one is a roller cam. It does not make a difference if its hydraullic or a solid. Hope that helps.
Eric
 
#3 · (Edited)
The cam's only useful purpose now is to use it as a doorstop. DO NOT use this cam in your motor. It has been run in a different motor with different machining on the lifter bores and there is every possibility that it will lay down on you. Put the lifters and cam up for sale if you have no ethics, but I personally would use the cam as a doorstop and the lifters as paperweights.

Determine what the operating characteristics of the motor will be and post them on this board so that members can help you with static compression ratio, pistons, squish and the proper cam that will do what you want it to do on pump gas or E85 or whatever your fuel will be.
 
#6 ·
Yep, what Cook said. Rollers can utilize a much more rapid rate of lifter rise than a flat tappet can, so the area on each side of the nose is much fuller on a roller. The tappet gets to max lift much quicker. If you tried to do that with a flat tappet, the edge of the tappet would be digging into the cam lobe.
 
#7 ·
the lifters are brand new. they were taken out of the box and they guy put oil on then and set them back in the box and then on a shelf inside a closet. the reciept is actually in the box still. ruined because of the oil. i bought it off a long time friend of my family. he kind of "fell out"cof building motors. i really had no intention on putting this cam in any motor i cared about, . im throwing together a decent running big block just to move my truck around town while i take the time and money to plan and build another BBC 454.ci wont be doing whole shots or revving it at redlights. i guess i was just wondering if the wolverine cams had any kind of reputation. after the 454 is complete ill strip down the 402 and ebay everything and put the block on a stand in the corner of the barn :D . thanks for the help and advice :thumbup: i figured it out right before i checked back. flat tappet
 
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