ok guys heres my situation, I am trying to do a performance upgrade on my 350 and this is my first time inside the engine so im a little nervous. im running a cam with 230 int. 230 exh. with .480 int. .480 exh lift. lobe center 107 int. 111 exh. heads,world products 202 int 160 exh. valves. either 72 or 67 cc.heres the combo I want to run (suggestions from comp., jegs tech, and reading) trick flow 23 degree heads and comps hydrolic roller cam 12-432-8. specs 230int. 236 exh. lift .510 int .520exh. lobe sep. 110 degrees. also I will have 373 posi and m21 4 speed. sorry about this long disciptions but usually some asks. plase give an honest thumbs up or down onthis upgrade. thx in advance

That's a lot of money spent for roughly a 25-30 peak horsepower gain. What's the rest of your setup?

I would like to know which heads you are running, first. Are the S/R Torquers? Sportsmans?

If they were Torquers, you could sell them to make up for the Trick Flow heads, as they will make more power. More compression, too.

If you currently have Sportsman heads, keep 'em.

Remember, this all depends on your carb, intake manifold deisgn, etc. Can you give us complete specs on your motor?

as far as my heads they are either s/r torkers or just s/r's. I'm using a edelb. rpm air-gap manifold, holley HP 650 carb msd ignition with 6a box, 2 1/2 dual exhaust with 1 5/8 headers. the piston are hypereutectic flat top. they have the 4 eyebrowl indents is that ok? I really appreciate your advice before I jump into this project.
thx again

Go with AFR 180cc heads, stroke the engine to a 383 and run a holley double pumper.

ahhh yaaa

Dump the World heads and go for the TF's. I'd keep your current cam for now and see how it runs with the new heads.

I'm personally not a big fan of hydraulic roller cams, I prefer solid FT cams --- but maybe I'm weeeeeird graemlins/clonk.gif LOL

Ok, sorry but I need a little help here. I am still a bit of a rookie when it comes to opening up an engine. I can change oil, spark plugs, alternators, and starters (and plenty of other basic maintence stuff) like nobodies business but I am reall trying to learn the good stuff.
What is the difference between hydraulic roller cams and solid FT cams? What makes one better than the other? Is one better than the other or is it all personal opinion? Any help would be great, as soon as you are done laughing at me. Thanks.

Sure, everything is cool! The only stupid question is the one NOT asked!!!

Hy-rollers are like hydraulic lifters with a needle-bearing wheel on the bottom of them. They make solid rollers too which are like solid lifters but with the same type wheel.

The difference between the two are that each behaves about like it's standard old-fashioned non-roller wheeled counterpart.

Hydraulic lifters tend to pump up and cause valve float at high rpm's due to too much oil holding them fully extended at high rpm. They are also heavier then solid lifter's.

Solid lifters are simple little jewels that are just a solid "spacer" between the cam and the pushrod. They have to be periodically adjusted to set their cold/hot running clearances or they cah either become too loose and screw things up or too tight and possibly burn an exhaust valve.

Solid type lifters, both solids and the rollers don't pump up so can rpm a lot higher then hydraulics even though modern hydraulics are a lot better then the old ones used to be.

Solid lifters, since they are solids can bang the valve-train open a lot harder, thus faster which means that valve acceleration numbers can be faster which equates directly to more area under the cams lift vs duration curves!!

I.e., they cause the valve to be able to "suck" more for a given duration which means a solid cam can generally make about four percent more power across the board then a similar hydraulic cam!!

But the drawbacks are, if you consider them drawbacks, they are noisy and have to be adjusted periodically. And this is generally an oilly little maintenance job that takes like 45 minutes or so...

I personally like solids b/c they rpm real well, plus I don't mind wrenching on my motor every so often. They have that neat mild "Singer Sewing Machine--"tick", engine sound going down the road that you can't mistake!! Kinda like having a cam gear-drive in your motor thing...

Have I left anything out guy's??? pdq67

hey flyers69,

what cam do you have now? it sounds like the comp cams magnum 280h, i have that one and I like it. if you're nervous about pulling the heads off and onovakind67 is right about the potential gains you might consider spending the money somewhere else. roller rockers, electric fan, some aluminum pulleys, waterpump, and a hollow sway bar could add up to some realistic performance gains.

pdq67, good job describing.......Nothing like a SBC at 9K rpm and a close-ratio 4-spd & 4.10 gears........ graemlins/thumbsup.gif

As others have suggested, TF heads, maybe stay with a hydraulic grind since you are still learning, nothing wrong with learning, hydraulic better for street driving and less maintainence. Better for stop-and-go driving. ;)

hey guys, thx for all the info I really appreciate it esp. because anyone I know is very selfish with there knowledge and that really **ss me off. I am shying away from the hyd. roller mainly because of the price so if you have read in the org. question what cam i have could anyone sugg. another type that should exceede my orig. performance. by the way the cam i see popping up all the time is the 282-hr and i see xs-282 the first is a hyd. roller but im not sure on the second. anyway thx. for your help. p.s what is IMO

HR = hydraulic roller
XS = solid flat tappet

IMO = In My Opinion

Hyd rollers will gain you about 5-maybe 10 hp because of lower friction, rolling verses sliding.
However, hyd cams can and are usually ground with alittle more lift, read faster rate of lift, from the time valve starts to open till max open. And the same on closing ramp of the lobe.

Whatever cam you install, mock up a piston, rod, cam, solid lifters, one intake, one exhaust, push rods, and head with clay on piston head. Turn engine over two revs and remove head and check for min thickness of clay at 0.080 inch clearence between piston head and valves.

Hope all this help from everybody is not boggling your mind....... graemlins/thumbsup.gif

hey everett 2390, after checking piston to valve clearance can i use the same head gasket or do i need a new one? also if anyone read my first question that explains my org. comb do you think the trick flow combo (heads, cam lifters etc.. part# tfs-k314-420-395 in summit) will be a noticable inprovement? Im just a little shaky about going away from the norm. comp cam do you think this trick flow cam is ok?

One will use a head gasket without torquing it down, so you may reuse it later.

Summit combo looks good.

Yes, my junk 301 was a blast up around 7,000 or so rpm with just the little solid Duntov cam in it!!!

My long gone, crippled buddy in the F.I. '58 Vette 4/speed roadster used ta wrap his 327 up above 8,000 with the Isky Z-30 in it!!
Later... pdq67