Roller vs Flat Tappet Camshafts - which one is best?
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- Опубліковано 21 сер 2024
- Is a roller or flat tappet lifter better for your engine build?
This video is the first part of an ongoing series where Rob Borden, Principal of Canadian Crate Engines, brings you into the assembly room to discuss the ins and outs of the engine building process.
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About Canadian Crate Engines:
Canadian Crate Engines - a subsidiary of Alec’s Automotive Machine Shop - has been delivering engine rebuilding and machine shop services to customers in Vancouver BC since 1948.
Now in its third generation, brothers Rob and Kevin Borden continue to leverage over 75 years of industry experience to build and deliver the best crate engines to customers across Canada.
We’ve built over 10,000 custom engines to date, with every single one designed with performance, reliability, and value in mind.
There are some engines that do not have the after market support that the Chevy small block has and have no roller cam option, like my Corvair boxer engine. No cam manufacturer makes a roller cam for this engine, so I'm left w/ two choices: solid or hydraulic flat tappet lifters. I went w/ solid lifters to increase usefull RPM band and max RPM capability. Fortunately, they have solid lifters w/ micro-drilled oiling holes to help keep the lifters oiled at the point of contact. Still not optimal, but a definite improvement. I plan on installing a pressurized oil accumulator to eliminate dry starts all together.
I want one for old farm tractor
diesel engines have been running rollers since tha 40/50s an cummins had a great set up with cam followers where u shim them with gaskets to advance/retard tha timing 👍
How do the camshafts differ? The rollers are on the lifters not the camshaft
The actual profile of the lobe is different between a flat tappet and roller camshaft
Thats why all the new Hemi Engines suffering from the roller design
Not necessarily because they are roller, but more to do with the design of the D.O.D lifters themselves. But you are correct, the stock Hemi lifters are a major problem
For equal spec cams, do the rollers have the same choppy idle?
Good question! If all specs were equal, the roller camshaft would have a similar, if not slightly more choppy idle. A roller camshaft typically opens the valve quicker, and keeps the valve open longer at higher lift. That quicker valve speed helps with scavenging and performance. Also, advertised duration will likely be different between flat tappet and roller camshafts, even when the duration at .050" are the same, so it is hard to compare apples to apples in most cases.
@@CanadianCrateEngines thank you for replying back to me. The more lope, the better but I don't want to kill the performance. I will probably go with roller just because of all the problems that people have been having with the flat tappet cams over the last three or four years.
@@ezkempinkemp3467 Absolutely! Don't risk your engine build to a flat tappet failure. Go roller...you won't regret it!
@@CanadianCrateEngines I believe I'm going to heed to you're advice. Thanks!
Don’t you have to get a roller block if you want to switch? I know they’ve come out with a few retro fit rollers for classic cars but I heard they’re not a huge difference in power just lasts longer.