Roller Lifters
- Thread starter LRDONE
- Start date
My buddy picked up an engine from Keith (Rovertracks) back in the day with rollers. It started life as a 4.0. I think he upped the displacement to 5.0 though. I think it’s still on the engine stand at the shop. Did you have any questions you want me to ask him? I cold check with Keith on who built it for him.
I'm more so just curious what's out there. I need to put a cam and lifters in my motor and was just exploring all of the options. Crower makes a set of roller lifters that I THINK might fit however I don't know what cam would work with them. I'm sure crower makes a cam as well but it's probably a hot rod cam. I don't know if I need to be sitting at a street light with 180hp sounding like 1000 lol.
I am in the process right now of having a shortnose roller cam made. There is no roller short nose billet so im working around that. i will warn you its going to be expensive.
You should really just purchase an LS cam ( already set up for rollers ) and then get the rest of the parts needed to fit around the camshaft until you have a running motor in your Rover.
I wish. there is aleady a 215 billet but not a gems. The trick is to get the 215 long nose shortened to match the gems. I am having trouble finding anyone that wants to take the time for a 1 off and my machine shop kida had a dazed look in their eye when i took it over there so it kinda has to be someone that does engine stuff. No one want to do something cool just make the same thing they already are set up to do over and over again. its not a crazy thing just have to find the right person to do it.
Ed, does it mean there's a roller option for a serpentine belt 3.9 (made out of 4.0)?
Yep, its still a custom grind but the billet is available for a long nose. Think Buick 215 and possibilities open. I am going full roller on this engine and probably then next as well for the classic. But thats a whole nother story for another forum. Right now is race truck build project taking all my free time.
its a sleeved 4.6 with ported and polished heads and intake running, Roller rockers and pushrod oiling, 24lb injectors and it monstrous. Im on the 3rd cam swap trying to find the right fit in the last year and having problems with a few not so good parts. hoping to go full roller and alleviate some issues while gaining power. There is so much time and money in it its stupid.
My Roller cam billet and gems cam sample are off to another machine shop. fingers crossed they are willing to do the work. No one wants to do anything fun, they just want to do their square box cam work. everyone is to busy to take the time for a 1 off.
Yeah what’s going on with camshafts right now? My friend is telling me a story that goes like this…there are really only a couple manufactures of camshafts in the states. One of them has burned to the ground and the other one is either having a hard time getting quality steel dowels? Or in the machine process the cam lobes don’t have a slight angle in them to rotate the lifters?The end result is cams going weeks and rounding off a lobe or two.
I believe that guality steel dowels are probably getting hard to find. I’m a steel brat and I remember my father going to ports to inspect imported steel. He did that in retirement and steel rod was already the biggest problem. Anybody trying to make threaded rods for clamps or whatever had a problem.
Last edited:
I was told that the quality of lifter was the bigger problem. Really the dome on the lifter should be matched to the cam taper but they aren’t and the lifter will chew the cam. Competition cams make you use their lifter with their cam. The lifters I just bought for my truck from lucky 8 say China on the package and come in a white box. and I doubt they will be the last set that goes in the truck. The cam I got from lucky 8 wasn’t the greatest either and it’s place of origin is Turkey. They tell me it’s fine and they will work but I’m real skeptical.
I hate Chinese metal. I bought a timing chain kit online and the pics showed dynagear, but it was allmakes gears. The cam gear "stop" broke off in the cam when I torqued it down. The chain, euromakes, was made in mexico and was as loose as the one on there (morse usa). Thank God, as otherwise I wouldn't have taken it back off. I ended up keeping the original chain and rover gears and ate the 72$ the kit cost. JUNK.