Who has had success with a roller cam big block?

[cdr]

Huges has the Melonized gear, note,,,, I would ONLY use the Johnson lifters, they are also very well known to have a lifter that solves the Gen 3 Hemi tick.

[Kern Dog]

Hughes melonized gears are almost $300 compared to under $200 for a Milodon bronze or this one from 440 source:



What would be the advantage of a melonized gear on a car that gets driven maybe 1500 miles a year?
440 source also has roller lifters made by Howards and Morel.

[b5blue]

Spend all this money, then get cheap? Do it right!  This is gonna make a great "Why did it fail" thread later. 

[John_Kunkel]

Huges has the Melonized gear,

Which begs the question, what material are hydraulic roller cams made of? Solid roller cams are usually billet steel while hydraulic rollers might be cast. The bronze and Melonized gear are only required with billet cams. 

[Kern Dog]

It isn't going cheap, Lipshitz. It is making an informed decision.
I see idiots at car shows with far more money than skill. The only thing some of them can do is check the oil and replace headlight door bumpers.
If you ask them about engine or suspension specs, they recite a list of things that their builder did for them.
When the car has a breakdown, they have it towed to a shop instead of doing a roadside fix themselves.
Which guy do you want to be?

[cdr]

Treated gear with shaft is $265.00, gear is 109.00, can be run on ANY cam

[b5blue]

 While you were still filling your diapers I was and have been fixing cars.     Mine STAY fixed.

[Kern Dog]

Now YOU'RE in diapers and can't fix anything.
Go away if you have nothing to add here. Start your own topic and post all that you want.

[b5blue]

  It's so easy, instead of spitballing just call the pro's like Hughes and do what they tell you to. But no, you mess around. You an only child With no children? You sure are impressed with yourself. None of this is "new" you roached your last build and don't know why.
  You try to mock others with chest beating blow hard about doing it yourself while not knowing/caring of others situations like heath or wealth when this site is dedicated to the common bond of Chargers.
  You have side railed plenty of topics and caused many to not come back with your redneck posts!

[John_Kunkel]

Treated gear with shaft is $265.00, gear is 109.00, can be run on ANY cam

Yes, but the issue is, is it necessary?

[Kern Dog]

None of this is "new" you roached your last build and don't know why.
 

Where did you get this idea? Your memory is failing you.
Also, not everyone just cracks open the wallet and buys the most expensive thing. I am not broke but I'm not sitting on an unlimited supply of cash. Smart people don't spend more than they have to spend. Only an idiot wastes things, money being one of them.
Hey, you may not care to try getting value for your money but I do, others do as well.
I don't see what I contribute as chest beating since I actually am out doing things instead of paying someone else to do it. If this were chest beating, I'd not ask for help, I'd just brag about what I have. If you are intimidated by a guy that writes about ongoing projects, that isn't the fault of anyone but you. When I see threads of others doing things, it inspires ME to do things.
Read the title of this thread again and maybe it will be clearer.

[Kern Dog]

The LA series and Magnum small blocks used a cast iron camshaft so the distributor drives for those were the same as the flat tappet units. Aftermarket cams are usually billet from what I've read.
I have seen that some vendors sell reground original LA/Magnum cams so of course, the same rule applies as stated above.

[will]

Can we please not turn this into moparts?

[Kern Dog]

I'm just asking for advice on this. I've never done one before and I wanted to hear from those that have had good results from their efforts.
I want to make good choices and avoid mistakes. Paying someone else to work on my stuff isn't my style. Paying more than I have to pay isn't my style either. Looking for a good value in the parts that I need just makes sense. The "Melonized" gear would work but is overkill. I already have several intermediate shafts for both big block and LA series engines so their claim of will work in all applications doesn't matter to me. I drive less than 1500 miles a year so a bronze shaft that needs replacement every 5000 miles is fine for me.
I don't buy torque wrenches or rod bolts from Harbor Freight but I don't aim for the stuff needed for a 1000 HP 8 second Hemi.
The main advantage that I see from using a roller cam is the peace of mind from the risk of cam failures being greatly reduced. The ability to run regular oil is great but again, at maybe 1500 miles a year, It isn't like I'm changing the oil every 3 months like many people do with their daily driver cars.
I have a big flat tappet cam in place now with EDM lifters for added insurance.



I have 1.6 ratio rockers so I am right close to .600 lift and huge duration numbers too. The Comp Cam I'm looking at is spec'd closer to the Mopar '528 solid I had before.
That one ran strong and produced enough idle vacuum to run the power brakes. It was a single pattern design with approximately 242 degrees of duration @ .050.

[b5blue]

www.hughesengines.com  It's all here dude. 

[Challenger340]

No wars wanted..... just my opinions based in my own experiences.... the BB Mopar short Lifter Bores with relatively LARGE intersecting Oil Gallery so close to the bottom of the Lifter Bores does NOT lend itself well to Hydraulic Roller applications.... success therein directly proportional to the amount of "wear" present in the Lifter Bores directly BELOW the Intersecting Oil Gallery that can allow excessive leakage OUT of the bottom of the Bores instead of maintaining Hydraulic Lifter pump up of the candidate Block.
Just saying that with Hydraulic Rollers you are balancing the Higher V-Spring Pressures Req'd against keeping the Lifters pumped op ?

Based in my experience only....
A guy is FAR better advised for basically the same cost to investigate a Tight-Lash SOLID Roller "Street" profile that makes Waaay better Power, Better higher rpm stability.... and once Lash Stabilized can run just as quiet as the Hydraulic Rollers !

Next time you've got a BB Mopar bare Block roll it over and shine a flashlight at the area directly below the intersecting Oil Gallery in the Lifter Bore and you'll "see" the leakage issue for the particular Blocks wear in that area.
We still don't install HR's anymore unless "Bushing" the Lifter Bores to repair that worn area.

Just Trivia....
but you will Notice that ALL oem manufacturers when converting their legacy Blocks for Hydraulic Roller usage immediately LENGTHENED their Lifter Bores for the above noted extra leakage issues the Higher Hyd Roller V-Springs require.
Chase Knight et al at CRANE did all the original "Hydraulic" Roller R & D for Ford in the early 80's... that R & D subsequently being implemented on the first "5.0 L Mustangs mid 80's and later copied by GM Small and BB later generations but never retrofitting for BB Mopars, although retro-fit Hyd Rollers are available for the earlier leagcy 302/351/sb and bb chev's they still have FAR smaller diameter Oil Galleries in their Bores and BIGGER wear areas that will work.

Just saying that with BB Mopars retro-fitting Hydraulic Rollers 'successfully" across the entire rpm range is directly proportional to Lifter Bore "wear" present in the candidate Block in my experience.... some will work fine... others NOT so much !

[Kern Dog]

I have heard the same thing about the B/RB series engines and how they were not designed for the hydraulic roller lifters. I have a 1990 360 engine that I;m rebuilding now and am glad that it was an original roller cammed engine. Yeah, the lifter bores are taller as are the lifters themselves.
I do understand the concern about the short lifter bores with roller cams but I wonder if the cam manufacturers are using a smaller base circle for the roller cams to help this situation. I didn't think to ask until this very moment.
I made a call to Dwayne Porter today and ordered a custom grind, Comp Cams Hydraulic roller with 238/244 I/E duration @ .050, .581/.578 I/E lift with a 112 LSA. The wider LSA will give more vacuum and better idle quality. This will allow me to ditch the vacuum pump for the brakes.
Dwayne made a few suggestions for additional parts needed that do stretch the wallet a bit further than I expected but screw it...I made the leap now and will go all in.
He did strongly advise to use the Melonized distributor gear/intermediate shaft based on the fact that they last and last while the bronze gears wear out too quickly, often within 2000 miles. I do apologize to B5 blue here for part of my resistance to using one, I didn't know of the extremely short life span of the bronze gears.
The timing set with the Torrington bearing on the cam sprocket was a "must" in his opinion so I'll be getting one of those. Hardened pushrods, Isky valve springs, spring shims to obtain proper installed height.....A process that I have never done before!
This isn't really a simple swap but a conversion by some measure since so many parts are different. Cam button? Bronze tipped fuel pump drive? Lots to change but the payoff is a combination that runs strong, makes power where I want it, more idle vacuum for the brakes, no anxiety over wiped out camshafts and lifters, fuel economy improvements given the difference in cam timing...