[RippinRon]

I have a 355 that is sitting waiting to be installed in my camaro. It has a solid roller cam and roller rockers. It also has a screen kit installed into the lifter valley. Should I remove the oil restrictors and just run plugs? The car is mostly street but plan on the occasional trip to the strip and the road coarse. It has a canton road race oil pan with a 6 quart capacity. Any insight would be great.

Thanks

[oldbogie]

Originally Posted by RippinRon

I have a 355 that is sitting waiting to be installed in my camaro. It has a solid roller cam and roller rockers. It also has a screen kit installed into the lifter valley. Should I remove the oil restrictors and just run plugs? The car is mostly street but plan on the occasional trip to the strip and the road coarse. It has a canton road race oil pan with a 6 quart capacity. Any insight would be great.

Thanks

There should be no oil restrictors or any elimination of flow to the lifters. The SBC is dependent upon flow from the lifters thru the pushrods for rocker box lubrication and cooling. While roller rockers drastically reduce the need for lubrication, high lift cams with stiff valve springs and high operating RPMs drastically increase the need for spring cooling, the source of which is that oil being pumped up there.

Some racers reroute upper end oil by terminating or reducing the typical Chevy flow from the lifter galleys, but they employ modified rocker covers that have an internal oil spray system that is used to cool the valve springs and secondarily lube the rockers. These systems are furnished with oil from externally added plumbing. This is a complicated and expensive solution to the problem considering the factory has a built in process. It does become a necessary addition for Grand National type engines where the hours long extended high speed running demands more precise cooling of the valve springs. But for the street and occasional races this is overkill.

Bogie

[Guy Hiltz]

Heres what Crane Cams has to say about oil restrictors;

Newsletter Issues
Issue 222 January 2, 2007



Issue No. 222 January 2, 2007



Don’t Torch Your Valve Train With Oil Restrictors! - We do not recommend the use of lifter galley oil restrictors in either street or racing applications. Restrictors severely limit the flow of oil to the lifters, pushrods, valve springs, rocker arms and valve guides. This can greatly shorten the life of these components and cause them to fail! Your engine oil lubricates, as well as carries away the heat generated in these areas. Oil restrictors will raise operating temperature significantly and cause valve train components to prematurely fail. In roller lifter applications with high valve spring pressures, prolonged idling will also lead to less lubrication reaching critical areas, again leading to failure. The solution? Simple! You need only to occasionally “rev it up” and get oil flowing throughout the engine!

Guy

[RippinRon]

Ok thanks. So I should just get some pipe thread plugs and replace them. And use some thread sealant?

[oldbogie]

Originally Posted by RippinRon

Ok thanks. So I should just get some pipe thread plugs and replace them. And use some thread sealant?

Yes!

Bogie

[RippinRon]

Thanks guys for the info! Hopefully by the spring when it gets warmer it'll be ready for the road.

[RippinRon]

Its been a while, but I finally got to checking if I have restrictors or not. I removed the 3 npt plugs in the rear of the block and they were just plugs. Is there any other places I need to check? Are there restrictors that go in the valley as well?

[ericnova72]

Originally Posted by RippinRon

Its been a while, but I finally got to checking if I have restrictors or not. I removed the 3 npt plugs in the rear of the block and they were just plugs. Is there any other places I need to check? Are there restrictors that go in the valley as well?

Not in the valley, but there are sometimes small restricters put seperately into the rear galleys, with the larger stock plug put back in over the top of them. You'll need to look close an 1" into each galley behind the rear plugs, might need a flashlight.

They are a smaller allen plug put into a tapped and threaded galley passage and have a small oil hole thru the center.

[RippinRon]

I didn't think so but wasn't sure. I could see right through to the front of the block through the rear plugs. There is a valley screen kit installed I think thats where I got confused. I think I'm good to go. I just have to get thenew pilot bushing installed and I can bolt the tranny on and drop it in.