Im looking at putting a roller cam in my pre-roller 302, and Id like to know what my options are. Ive been online all afternoon looking, and it seems Ive narrowed down my options. If anyones done this and has some input, Id love to hear it. So far, this is what Ive come up with: Crane: Crane Cams 36532-16 - Crane Hydraulic Roller Lifters - summitracing.com Comp: COMP Cams 8931-16 - COMP Cams Pro Magnum Hydraulic Roller Lifters - summitracing.com Ford: Ford Racing M-6500-S58 - Ford Racing Hydraulic Roller Lifters - summitracing.com Crower: http://store.summitracing.com/partdetail.asp?autofilter=1&part=CRO-66337-16&N=700+115&autoview=sku And even eBay specials as low as $239 a set. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=360094104159
that is what i did...'87...$100...got the complete engine... i used the... block, crank, lifters, dog bones, spider. from this...to this...to this... ......
I posted a more complete answer to this over on StangNet.com. As for these ebay lifters, I'd avoid these like the plague. Anyone who claims their hydraulic roller lifters are "good to 10,000 rpms" :16suspectis full of she-ite.
actually, it was that easy for me.... and Frank but if ur wanting just the lifters and retainers then you must pull the intake of course, and my local yard has sold me three roller setups (spider tray, dog bones, lifters and pushrods) for $20/set or buy the engine for $100/pulled & $50/u-pull
I guess you've never done a retrofit into a non roller block then. To use the O.E. stuff, you have to use them with a reduced base cam, drill the block for the retainer spider mounting bolts, and when you're done, you've got a rpm limited setup that may not allow you to get the full benefit of the cam profile. The stock rollers are only good to about 6500 rpms. And you may also have lifters with a questionable service history, if you don't know how to pick and choose donor parts.
The original ? was retrofitting into a non-roller block. I agree, it is not that easy! Frank used a roller block to start with.
well, i built a 302 for a local guy running a falcon and used a D4 block (being non-roller) and used the O.E. stuff from a LTD. as far as the cam goes, i used a FRPP E303 w/o issue at all. as far as rpm limit goes, this is a street engine and performs extremely well. i wouldnt offer my advice on something i didnt know anything about...
I cant remember who it was that told me but, stock lifters can be used on a non-roller block IF and ONLY if the oil ring on the lifter does not come out of the lifter bore at max lift. You would need a pretty tame cam or as BADDAD 457 mentioned a reduced base cam for this. The lifter bores on roller blocks are deeper than non roller blocks. When you look at the Conversion lifters next to the standard roller lifter you can easily see what the difference is. I ended up going with the conversion lifters rather than attempting to strip the block down to drill the holes in the lifter valley only to find out that my cam had too much lift anyway.
You must be the first to do so then, everyone else, including Ford concluded that the non roller lifter bores are too short to contain the oiling band on the O.E roller lifters. If it all works as you say, Ford made a huge mistake in redesigning the 5.0 blocks for roller cams.
my point was...for me...it was best to get a ...roller block and build it... Earl did the same thing... ...Frank...
as did i.... but i just added that i had accomplished the conversion on a prior engine so it might give this fellow another option
im sure the redesigned block was the best design for this feature, i was just stating that i had done this before. no hard feeling :Handshake
I probably should have mentioned that my engine is fresh, so I wont be building another one just yet. I also dont want to use a reduced base circle cam, or cobble in some OE lifters. The cheapy lifters look identical (without going back and looking) to the Cranes. This could be because they are made by Crane for an off brand, or an off brand trying to copycat Crane. I dont plan to have a lot of mercy on the car when its finished, but then again I doubt it will ever see 6500 rpm, and it wont have a lot of spring tension, so the cheap lifters may be ok. I really hate doing things twice, so Im leaning towards a name brand. I should email a couple of the cheapy vendors and see if they can tell me what brand their lifters are.
