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roller cam vs Hyd. flat tapper cam

9K views 48 replies 12 participants last post by  cool rockin daddy 
#1 ·
Hello:
Well, I learned something new yesterday that scared the living heck out of me...I bought the Lunati 60101LK cam for my rv that I plan on replacing the motor in...It appears that I lost some cam lobes with the missing I hear in the old motor, as well as blowing smoke out the tail pipes (175,000miles+)...I lost oil pressure last year and as a bandaid, I replaced the oil pump with a new HV melling...That did not correct the problem with low oil pressure once warmed up...
This past Feb. after traveling about 500 miles round trip, I heard a dreaded knocking sound that reminded me of a rod knock, but it sounded much higher and perhaps piston slap, or a piston pin knocking...Either way, it disappeared when I drove it 5 hrs later about 2 min. after starting it...It reappeared the next day when restarting it at a Auto Zone with a tech at hand, then disappeared after the 2nd heard knock...The tech agreed that it might be a piston, since the sound was near the top of a motor...

Either way, yesterday I learned that all of today's oil has limited zinc and other anti-friction additives in them and this is the sole reason why 1 in 10 motors upon break in fail~! This is according to Joe Gibbs racing...According to his site, if a person uses his breakin oil, they would have a better chance of a 1 in 40 chance of a hyd. flat tappet cam wiping out...
Although the odds are better, after reading his information and with the fact that I travel a lot in my Rv, I do not think it wise to go with a Hyd, flat tappet cam anymore, since I would have to have an oil after break in with high amounts of zinc, phosphorus and sulfur and low amounts of Calcium, which Calcium is a detergent used in today's oil... It is Calcium that washes away the anti-friction additives in oil and leaves the metal bare, causing extreme wear of the cam lobes....This is unacceptable in a pre-roller cam motor...
I would be curious how many people have already lost their motors because of this...Mine took 2 years for the lobes to wipe, now the motor is junk...

So, currently I am looking at two cams, one by Howards and the other by Lunati...I think Howards is going to be the winner for a Hyd. roller cam...

Any thoughts on this oil dilemma from the school of hard knocks and how it tore up your motor and learning about the additives being taken out of the oil you used?

I understand that at the end of 2011, they took most, or all of the zinc out of the oils currently on the shelves at your local big box stores, as well as big box auto parts stores...all because they wanted Cat converters to last 125,000 miles, or more and that zinc coated over time the platinum in the converters which then were either replaced, or illegally removed permanently.
Any thoughts?
 
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#28 ·
Axis_of_Evil said:
I use non-synthetic Valvoline VR1. It has 1400 ppm zinc and 1300 ppm phosphorus specifically for flat tappet engines. VR1 comes in several weights and in either synthetic or non-synthetic.

I believe 1200 ppm is generally considered minimum ppm zinc for flat tappet engines.
I'm curious on how many miles ur running the motor before you change oil?
Also, if it is a daily driver? If it was, how often would oil have to be changed?
 
#29 ·
66GMC said:
Excellent point in regards to reading OLD information.

Using RotellaT 15w40 diesel oil (SH) *used to be* a viable work-around, before they legislated the required use of catastrophic converters on diesel engines too.
After doing my research, I see you had the wiped lobe syndrome on a 454 build...Did you ever go with the roller cam in that motor, or did you do another Hyd. flat tappet cam after your heart was broken?
 
#30 ·
Dannyringo said:
I'm curious on how many miles ur running the motor before you change oil?
Also, if it is a daily driver? If it was, how often would oil have to be changed?
It's a new flat tappet motor from Smeding Performance, SBC 383 mild performance. I haven't changed the oil yet. The car is a work in progress and will be a daily driver.

I'll probably change the oil every 4000 to 5000.
 
#31 ·
Dannyringo said:
perhaps you did not get the full gist of his statement. He said that with their oil they were able to double the life of their flat tappet cams from 600 miles and wearing out(without his products), to 1200 miles...When you get time to check the links they used his break in oil on 3 sets of cams then used 3 different oils after the break in period and showed what happened after breakin....The pictures speak for themselves with the amount of wear using the Chevy SPI oil... The lifters look fubar~! That was with only 4 hrs, run time at 4,500rpm~! Then they did it with Synthetic oil and examined the lifters, then with their oil..

Flat tappet Hyd. cams have been used since at least the 60's through the late 80's. And prior to this they drove the cars a zillion miles...Now, according to his site, they are only going to last a short time, even doing oil filter changes every 100 miles, then pulling and changing the oil every 500 miles?
with a life expectancy of only a couple thousand miles? Is this what we have come to? Or am I missing something...I sat and read his site for several hours and finally came to the conclusion a roller was the way to go...Maybe I am missing something...
Pal, you need to check yourself. This is talking about racing engines as has been pointed out by another astute reader. There have been tons of articles written about this subject. You need the ZDDP at break-in, primarily. It has also been stated that the old ZDDP standards were overkill and today's standards are enough for most flat tappet cams unless they are on the extremely radical side with un-godly spring pressures. You can run full synthetics that have the old levels of ZDDP. You can run Brad Penn dino oil if you want. You can also run diesel engine oils that still have enough ZDDP. My kid's '96 Grand Am with a Quad Four just gave up the ghost at 190K miles after losing the rear main seal. How many other people do you know who are almost at 200K miles running their flat tappet cams with today's oils? Stop and think about what you're reading instead of hatching cockamamie conspiracy theories. JMHO.
 
#32 ·
Dannyringo said:
After doing my research, I see you had the wiped lobe syndrome on a 454 build...Did you ever go with the roller cam in that motor, or did you do another Hyd. flat tappet cam after your heart was broken?
Nope. I must be a bugger for punishment. :embarrass
I replaced that failed bump-stick with an even lumpier flat-tappet one. :thumbup:

It (knock on wood) seems to be hanging in there this time. :sweat:
Time will tell, as the truck hasn't turned a wheel yet ... and it's been 4 years.

Money and ambition ... still looking for a pail full of each. :(
 
#33 ·
Axis_of_Evil said:
It's a new flat tappet motor from Smeding Performance, SBC 383 mild performance. I haven't changed the oil yet. The car is a work in progress and will be a daily driver.

I'll probably change the oil every 4000 to 5000.
Thanks for the fast reply...decisions, decisions...My old motor has so many loose rocker arms, I can't wait to see the cam....
 
#34 ·
66GMC said:
Nope. I must be a bugger for punishment. :embarrass
I replaced that failed bump-stick with an even lumpier flat-tappet one. :thumbup:

It (knock on wood) seems to be hanging in there this time. :sweat:
Time will tell, as the truck hasn't turned a wheel yet ... and it's been 4 years.

Money and ambition ... still looking for a pail full of each. :(
I am sorry that this happened to you...I bumped into that post by shear accident a couple hours ago and that is my biggest fear...The only reason why I brought it up, is because you were contemplating a Roller for the motor, as I am now....
Bugger? AAAA? sounds Canadian :mwink:
 
#35 ·
I used a Howards retrofit roller cam in my 406 and am happy with it, as far as the timing cover I just bought one from summit with a wear plate I believe it is called in it and used a cam button in conjunction with that, the pushrods are lunati, I can possible check my summit order history and get the lengths and pn's for you.
Shane
 
#36 · (Edited)
cool rockin daddy said:
Pal, you need to check yourself. This is talking about racing engines as has been pointed out by another astute reader. There have been tons of articles written about this subject. You need the ZDDP at break-in, primarily. It has also been stated that the old ZDDP standards were overkill and today's standards are enough for most flat tappet cams unless they are on the extremely radical side with un-godly spring pressures. You can run full synthetics that have the old levels of ZDDP. You can run Brad Penn dino oil if you want. You can also run diesel engine oils that still have enough ZDDP. My kid's '96 Grand Am with a Quad Four just gave up the ghost at 190K miles after losing the rear main seal. How many other people do you know who are almost at 200K miles running their flat tappet cams with today's oils? Stop and think about what you're reading instead of hatching cockamamie conspiracy theories. JMHO.

Sir: I beg to differ:
I have been reading this site for awhile as well as others..I sum this up with Inspector1's reply from another person asking on which way to go...Your saying that his logic is wrong? Just wondering and not trying to start an argument, but the logic I see in Inspector1's comments are reasonable....Also, since I was already corrected about Joe Gibbs turning 9,000 rpm's with his engines, that explained it to me...I was corrected...

Furthermore, my current motor has 170,00+ miles on it and it is toast..It is my opinion that when Cash for Clunkers failed to get all the older cars off the road 2 yrs ago, and GM failed, as well...It could be that the next step was the oil,....
1,000,000,000,000 ohms of resistance is the reason why, our country is in the trouble it is in...When bankers, Car manufacturers and whoever else wants Tax payer dollars, because they could not balance their check book from the wild parties they throw, that is a conspiracy, because you and me would have been thrown in jail for fraud... I used that amount of ohms, because people keep allowing the status quo to do the same things over and over again....To much resistance to think outside the box~!


From Inspector1 on this site;

http://www.clubhotrod.com/chevy-small-block/46051-another-cam-suggestion.html

"OK, I'll comment more. DO NOT USE A FLAT TAPPET CAMSHAFT, REPEAT, DO NOT USE A FLAT TAPPET CAMSHAFT.
If you were aware of the number of flat tappet cams I see roached, you wouldn't even consider one. It's not just the fact that the cam and lifters are ruined and you have to buy them again, it's the fact that the motor has to be removed, completely torn down and all cracks, crevises and oil galleys must be cleaned just like they were when you first put the motor together. So, there's the cost of new cam and lifters, all new gaskets, all the cleaning, re-assembly and the possibility that it will happen all over again. I know there are those of you who have successfully used a flat tappet camshaft, or know someone who has, but everything must be absolutely perfect to prevent wiping a lobe. It's just not worth the gamble when a roller hydraulic camshaft and roller lifters aren't that much more money. I'm going to suggest a Howard's CL110235-12 retrofit cam for you with an intake closing point that will match up with your 8.99:1 static compression ratio. You don't want to use any more cam than this with your low SCR. If you want to use more cam, then change the pistons to 12cc units and use a Howards CL110245. Howards are a little less money than some of the other manufacturers, but still have the reputation of being an excellent product and have been for many years. DO NOT USE A FLAT TAPPET CAMSHAFT."
 
#37 ·
Chevrolet4x4s said:
I used a Howards retrofit roller cam in my 406 and am happy with it, as far as the timing cover I just bought one from summit with a wear plate I believe it is called in it and used a cam button in conjunction with that, the pushrods are lunati, I can possible check my summit order history and get the lengths and pn's for you.
Shane
Yes, if you could find out the lengths of the pushrods/part #'s that would be great...I already contacted Summit and they replied with an optional cam cover and Inspector1 replied to another post with one of Cloyes gear covers that can adjust the cam spacer bearing from outside the cover...

\Thanks again...
 
#39 ·
Chevrolet4x4s said:
My order history with Summit is only showing up back to December 2010 :confused:. If my memory serves me correctly they were 7.25", which with Google I am coming up with 7.25'' - 7.3''.

I was looking last nite at comps website and I wrote a tech question about their 2 different lengths of pushrods they sell for the same cam...1=7.266, 2=7.300....I wondered if one was for the 1.6 rocker and the other for 1.5?...
 
#40 ·
Dannyringo said:
I was looking last nite at comps website and I wrote a tech question about their 2 different lengths of pushrods they sell for the same cam...1=7.266, 2=7.300....I wondered if one was for the 1.6 rocker and the other for 1.5?...
I would bet the 7.266" length is for OEM rollers and 7.300" is for after market retro fit rollers.

The I don't think moving to a 1.6 rocker would necessitate a pushrod length change, but I could very well be wrong.
 
#41 ·
sound logic to me

Silver Surfer said:
I would bet the 7.266" length is for OEM rollers and 7.300" is for after market retro fit rollers.

The I don't think moving to a 1.6 rocker would necessitate a pushrod length change, but I could very well be wrong.
That could explain the price difference...I don't remember the order, but one cost $36.00 and the other cost $99.00 ....Thanks...waiting for the outcome from Comp... :welcome:
 
#42 · (Edited)
Silver Surfer said:
Did you see this thread?
http://www.hotrodders.com/forum/questions-motor-oil-217767.html

And this link was posted showing Mobile 1 15w-50 was intended for flat tappet?
http://www.hotrodders.com/forum/questions-motor-oil-217767.html

Not sure how well a SBC will digest 15w-50 oil though. You do have other options for flat tappet specific oil though.
Thanks for the links and yes, I saw them...But both were done in May of 2011...On Joe Gibbs Driven Oil website today, stated that at the end of 2011, they again reduced the oil anti-wear additives in all oils and to be aware of the fact that just adding ZDDP to common oils will adversely affect the oil and could cause engine failure...Worst case... I was corrected on mileage with oil changes and the understanding that Joe Gibbs motors are turning +9000rpm's and that is the reason why they are changing oil so often..

I think I'm sold on using the Retro Roller cam...I would prefer to get a newer vortec L-31 block, but for the van it is going into, there would be too much difference with the oil pan, dipstick location, as well as other hard parts placement...I need to KISS this project! (KEEP IT SIMPLE FOR STUPID: ME)

Moreover, there is no guarantee on oil and the companies continued changing of oil properties to less than optimal anti-wear additives...

With a roller cam, I eliminate 2 problems...
1) cam break in (NO WIPED LOBES)
2) finding cheap oil for a daily driver w/o buying additives, or mail order~!
I can use almost any oil off the shelfs and have no worries..

AND the Benefits of freeing up HP by the rollers themselves and the added benefits of a cam change without buying new lifters and again breaking in a cam...

Lastly:"if it ain't broke, don't fix it~!" Well, why would all those companies that build cars for a living, abandon the Hyd. Flat Tappet Cam for the Hyd. Roller Cam....What part of this problem is everyone resistance for changing over to the new design?
Like I said the other day, it is all about 1,000,000,000 ohms of resistance...
People don't like change, so they resist trends in all facets of life...
 
#43 ·
Again, I think you are over analyzing it. Why would cam companies still be selling flat tappet cams if they were all doomed to fail. Do your proper break in, change your oil regularly and use the right oil.
Now, you want more confusion? Better figure out your proper pushrod length for proper performance. Its not one lenght for roller rockers and one for standard. If you are using roller rockers better make sure you have the correct length pushrods. So search that on this site and then you will see your head spin!!
 
#44 · (Edited)
Richiehd said:
Again, I think you are over analyzing it. Why would cam companies still be selling flat tappet cams if they were all doomed to fail. Do your proper break in, change your oil regularly and use the right oil.
Now, you want more confusion? Better figure out your proper pushrod length for proper performance. Its not one lenght for roller rockers and one for standard. If you are using roller rockers better make sure you have the correct length pushrods. So search that on this site and then you will see your head spin!!

Why would Comp Cams advertise their Retro Rollers FIRST when you look up SBC cams on their site?
Also, talked to COMP CAMS and found out that the reason why they have 2 different pushrods is that one is HARDENED, while the OTHER IS NOT for the cam that I am looking at~!
I thought it might have been for 1.5 and the other for 1.6 rockers, not what you just claimed...that was someone else speculating...

Anyways, I already made up my mind to go retro roller anyways and I will have a ton of advantages to going this method....
And the number one reason for going this route is I DO NOT HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT WIPING A LOBE, then trying to deal with a manufacturer....NUFF SAID~!
 
#47 · (Edited)
Richiehd said:
Sounds like you have all the answers.
Did you do a google search for pushrod length too? 1,120,000 resulsts in .20 seconds
So what does that mean
Yep, since you think ur God with all the right answers TOO and U KNOW MORE THAN ME!?...Especially when someone has a different opinion than yours!

I'll play along with ur silly ideas and games....I buy 1 adjustable pushrod, measure the distance at all 3 points on the valve stem, then buy the appropriate rods...Yep, and I did not have to figure that out doing a google search, either...
I went directly to the source and talked to the guy at Comp Cams...Of course, since your a skeptic and resistance to new idea's is futile in ur feeble mind...Perhaps you need to call the cam guru's yourself and get re-edja'macted. :confused: :confused: :confused: ...Call 1-901-795-2400-EXT 581 and ask for Chris Ryan...
:spank:
And I figure that your going to need mommy and daddy to dial the numbers for you, since from what I am hearing, they have to read this back to you, because of ur mental disability~! Yep, 1,000,000,000 ohm's of resistance! :boxing: I knew a couple of Marines in the Army that I had TTTTTTOOOOOO TAAALLLKKK RRRRRREEEEAAAALLLL SSSSSLLLLLLOOOOOWWWWLLLLLY TTTTOOOOO~! :drunk: :drunk:

Sounds to me that whatever another person thinks about a particular situation, you just have to prove them wrong, AAAA? :spank: :smash:

Go watch Captain Kangaroo~! :mwink:
 
#48 ·
Funny thing about message boards and the internet, there is always someone there saying stuff that they would never have the BALLS to say to someones face. Now just what did I do to piss you off?
Oh and by the way, I am Certified ASE Mechanic for the last 30 years. I have built more than one hot rod, race car, and motorcycle and rebuilt more than one small block Chevy, so my experience speaks for itself.
Come to this forum with questions and you will get answers, maybe you wont like what you hear, maybe you wont agree, but thats what this is about. If you have personal issues, about my "mommy and Daddy" or whether I was a Marine or not take it some where else. I think its probabaly time the moderators stepped in
 
#49 ·
Dannyringo said:
Why would Comp Cams advertise their Retro Rollers FIRST when you look up SBC cams on their site?
Also, talked to COMP CAMS and found out that the reason why they have 2 different pushrods is that one is HARDENED, while the OTHER IS NOT for the cam that I am looking at~!
I thought it might have been for 1.5 and the other for 1.6 rockers, not what you just claimed...that was someone else speculating...

Anyways, I already made up my mind to go retro roller anyways and I will have a ton of advantages to going this method....
And the number one reason for going this route is I DO NOT HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT WIPING A LOBE, then trying to deal with a manufacturer....NUFF SAID~!

Good for you. You've over-analyzed everything to death as has been pointed out. Despite also having it pointed out to you that flat tappet cams can live with no problem with today's oils. Despite the fact that you can buy cams that are nitrided so the ZDDP factor doesn't even enter the equation. Despite the fact that the cam companies keep on developing and manufacturing flat tappet cams. You have made the decision to go with a roller cam. Yippee! Now stop rambling on about it. You're just another freaking noob who thinks he has all the answers yet your posts show you don't have a clue about anything. Thinking that Joe Gibbs' race engine dyno results applied to cam wear and oil use for street driven cars. Then to find out all this hoopla is over a freaking RV. Whatever, FNG, whatever.
 
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