Roller Cams in Stock Eliminator?

[Terry Cain]

Originally Posted by 1347

This roller cam thing is like beating a dead horse.
There are plenty of racers that are having success with their solid cams. Using roller cams will not help the class at all. Call the cam company of your choice and tell them you want a roller lobe for your 450 lift application. I know someone with a foxbody that cam stock with a hydraulic roller and wanted to upgrade to a solid roller. He was told no lobes are available and it would be alot of money to design a lobe to use. By the time he was done, it was gonna be 3k to put one in the engine. I'm surprised some of you are gonna spend more time trying to lobby for a roller cam instead of just putting a solid cam in.

There will be 150 cars at Indy in stock, and there are more than 45 with solid cams. The 30% number is fake news!

That's cheap compared to $2200 for tappet lifters, $1200 billet cam, and EVERYTIME you start it wondering if this is the run it eats a lifter and cam up on. Maybe 40% is a better number. Still a big disadvantage running tappet over the newer stuff and if you don't wanna run it no one is forcing you to.

[1347]

Originally Posted by Terry Cain

That's cheap compared to $2200 for tappet lifters, $1200 billet cam, and EVERYTIME you start it wondering if this is the run it eats a lifter and cam up on. Maybe 40% is a better number. Still a big disadvantage running tappet over the newer stuff and if you don't wanna run it no one is forcing you to.

Did you buy these cam and lifters yet? Or do you just put this post up every 3 mos hoping you don't have to? I went to the Indy list and I count at least 82 cars that are solid/hydraulic lifter/cam cars. So for Indy its over 50%.
I also thought your car was for sale, are you lobbying for a rule change right before you retire?

[B Parker]

The problem that I'm not hearing anyone say is the availability of a good flat Tappet lifter. One that will survive in a race car motor. I know several people that had waited for over a year to get a set. My Brother included. Not just 396/375 hp cars. I have flat tappet lifters in mine and would not switch if the rule was changed. But I was able to get good ones a few years ago. At one time there were several companies that made them. They were put in almost every car made. Today there is almost no demand for them and the companies that made them stopped. Yes you can get a set made in China but I wouldn't put them in my street car. So for anyone that runs a Stocker with flat tappet lifters your ok today. But what happens if you hurt a motor and need a set? Good luck. This is not about trying to get more performance it's about keeping the older cars on the track. Anyone that is trying to hold onto the Stock class of years gone by your kidding yourself. That horse left the barn years ago and is not coming back home. In the last 10 years how many Stocker short blocks do you think were built using anything from the Manufacture. It's a joke we have Stockers with parachutes on the back of them running 160 plus and your worried about roller lifters. LOL BP

[Terry Cain]

Originally Posted by 1347

Did you buy these cam and lifters yet? Or do you just put this post up every 3 mos hoping you don't have to? I went to the Indy list and I count at least 82 cars that are solid/hydraulic lifter/cam cars. So for Indy its over 50%.
I also thought your car was for sale, are you lobbying for a rule change right before you retire?

Yes bought two sets. One set lasted 2 runs. Other 20 minutes on dyno. Yes, my car is for sale. Didn't say I was getting out of racing. I said I had thought about it but just like every other idiot that is racing, I'm hooked.
OH, and Yes I am getting older by the hour and would really like to race ( a little) instead of constantly searching, researching and waiting months for parts. The wait for parts has really gotten out of hand. No body stocks anything.

[1347]

Originally Posted by Terry Cain

Yes bought two sets. One set lasted 2 runs. Other 20 minutes on dyno. Yes, my car is for sale. Didn't say I was getting out of racing. I said I had thought about it but just like every other idiot that is racing, I'm hooked.
OH, and Yes I am getting older by the hour and would really like to race ( a little) instead of constantly searching, researching and waiting months for parts. The wait for parts has really gotten out of hand. No body stocks anything.

Unless you bought some crap lifter, or your lifters had a defect, I would be looking at other things. Wiping out 2 cams in that period of time appears you may something else going on. My son bought a set of Clay Smith made in USA lifters for his 350 300hp combo, which they claim are the original Johnson Lifters, broke them in with just the outers, and has had no problems this year.

[B Parker]

Duane, your son is a good kid, and he is learning to run Stock the right way. Like most of old timers did. Buy what you can afford to and work on your car yourself and see how fast you can make it run. I would assume he has a mild cam compared to what's out there today. The problem with running a car in a popular class that way you won't survive to many heads-up races. For me it cost too much in time and money to attend these races and I don't wish to bring a knife to a gun fight. Although it will never happen, I would be in favor of bringing the duration rule back. Would save a lot of motors. I bet not many running Stock would even know how to check duration. BP

[Billy Nees]

Originally Posted by B Parker

Although it will never happen, I would be in favor of bringing the duration rule back. Would save a lot of motors. I bet not many running Stock would even know how to check duration. BP

Now THAT's some funny stuff right there! Barry, if you've been around long enough to remember the "duration rule" then you must obviously remember the camshafts (and camshaft companies) that rule spawned. It sure would be nice to have some kind of a valve spring rule even though with the springs available today it probably wouldn't mean much.

Yes, Doug IS a good young man. I just hope that we (collectively) don't ruin him.

[Terry Cain]

Originally Posted by 1347

Unless you bought some crap lifter, or your lifters had a defect, I would be looking at other things. Wiping out 2 cams in that period of time appears you may something else going on. My son bought a set of Clay Smith made in USA lifters for his 350 300hp combo, which they claim are the original Johnson Lifters, broke them in with just the outers, and has had no problems this year.

Little difference in Valves and springs in these combinations might be a point also.

Same opinion goes for tool steel cams and lifters. Get a cast cam cut with a softer lobe, a good set of solid lifters. Break them in properly. Get a valve spring that will get the job done but not too strong. Maybe keep that 396/427/454 under 8000 rpm. You will be able to race with no problem.
How about port your heads, get a Team G manifold, a roller cam and lifter and pick up some new decals for your window. Problem solved.
Maybe try something different in your engine program

Originally Posted by Terry Cain

That's cheap compared to $2200 for tappet lifters, $1200 billet cam, and EVERYTIME you start it wondering if this is the run it eats a lifter and cam up on. Maybe 40% is a better number. Still a big disadvantage running tappet over the newer stuff and if you don't wanna run it no one is forcing you to.

Plenty of racers here spinning North of 8 without any issues. Correct cam, correct lifters, correct springs -installed correctly and the burnout kept down- there are no issues. Of course if you don’t pull the valve covers to inspect/adjust then yes you will have issues.

My bet is NHRA has no intention of changing this spec to add double the costs to stock eliminator…