Anyone have any experience with Crane's "High-Performance Lifters" (rollers)? Evidently, they max out at 6500 - 7000RPM; which is pretty impressive for a hydraulic lifter. I'm looking to build a decent street motor for cruising and am going for a trans am type theme. Should I bother with these lifters or would I be better off with a solid roller? I was looking to run a 228/232 @0.050", 0.600"/0.600" lift cam (3500 - 6500 RPMs per manufacturer) or a 234/242 @0.050", 0.539"/0.558" lift cam (2800 - 6800RPM per manufacturer) in my 383 small block. I'll be running a 3.73 rear gear ratio and a TKO600 transmission. Any thoughts on the combo would help as well.

i dont think either of those cams will make good power past 6000-6200 in that cube motor anyways, so i think youll be fine:)

Ditto on above. Add to that , most of the hydra rollers check out at that rpm with out some rev kit. If you can stand the noise, use thick alloy covers ,, Solid roller would work better but you still need to work with the cam some....
I notice on these stroker motors that tq falls off some at 5800 so if you have the gearing and it seems like you do,,, just work the motor between those usable rpm's, I am thinking, isn't that what geariing is suppose to do ? With enuff gearing , you prolly could pull a freight train with a lawn mower? One other thing too, valve control with the correct valve springs has something to do with it. When spring pressure falls off, so does engine rpm, so thats a factor also.

i dont think either of those cams will make good power past 6000-6200 in that cube motor anyways, so i think youll be fine:)

I was looking for a high winding engine for the trans am style I had in mind. Should I back off on the cubes for a faster reving engine or add more duration to the cam selection? I liked the idea of running a big reving cam without having to adjust the valvetrain. The Crane High Performance Lifters looked to help that situation.

I wasn't alive in the 60s; so I don't know what these cars sounded like (Smokey's Camaro?), but I'm guessing they were pretty close to what a modern NASCAR engine sounds like. I also wanted a throaty, raspy exhaust; so I was going to go with Borla mufflers or Cherry Bombs (although I've heard they "pop" too much). Recommendations? Thanks!

You gotta remember that even though a solid lifter cam will lay down and not keep producing rpm, that it will still rpm WAY above that point IF you want to keep your foot in it!

It's valve float on a solid lifter cam that is the killer up top!!

Same thing with a hy-roller lifter that is lashed out to where it behave's like an old solid lifter!!

Good valve springs and 8,000+ rpm outta a good stout solid lifter cam is very POSSIBLE.

Imho!!

pdq67

Honestly...and don`t take this the wrong way, if you build a motor based on the PEAK MAXIMUM rpm ability of a cam you`ll end up with a stone.

What parts do you have right now, in hand, as far as the motor goes??
Do you actually have a TKO trans?

228 @ .050 with .600 lift??... sounds like an LS-6, LS-7 type cam to me, who`s making something like that for you? that`s got to need a 1.8 or so rocker I would think.

Anyway, post more information you`ll get some good idea`s and suggestions.

8000 RPM ??? WOW...maybe for some teeny annemic 265/283 from "back in the day" :rolleyes:

Actually I have a 383 with a mystery cam in the Camaro now. It's got a Holley Avenger carb and manifold, long tube headers and steel heads. I was planning on building another engine for the car and selling off the one that's in there now when I get it complete. The goal was basically to make a street-driven (not "daily") car with trans am roots. That doesn't necessarily I need to make a Z-28 replica (clone or other term). I was actually just looking through the Summit catalog at parts trying to figure out what I'm trying to do. Like I said in a previous post, I wasn't around in the 60s; so I don't know what the trans am styling was. I have a few pictures that I found through a google image search, but nothing extensive, and nothing really on engine performance or parts lists. I was thinking of going with a Edelbrock Torker manifold, but I'm wondering what the advantage is with the Torker over the Performer RPM. It seems like the RPM will give you more power band. I'm guessing it's a "flatter" curve while the Torker will give you more mid-range peak? I guess I'm hijacking my own posts? Any information would help a TON.

228 @ .050 with .600 lift??... sounds like an LS-6, LS-7 type cam to me, who`s making something like that for you? that`s got to need a 1.8 or so rocker I would think.

It's a catalog cam (http://www.cranecams.com/index.php?show=browseParts&action=partSpec&partNumber=1449601&lvl=2&prt=5) for 5.7s and LS1, LS2, & LS6s. The spec sheet says it needs a 1.7 rocker. The only thing I don't see is the overlap...

So you have a GEN III/IV 383 ??

I have a 244/252 at .050 duration in my 383 the things do not loose torque about 5800 it depends on how you build it im reving mine up to 7600.. I think im going to put a high pressure cap on it too to keep it running around 240 to minimize wear on the engine. Its peak power is right around 6800 and its power starts to kick in around 3000.

Since you're building an engine from scratch, why not investigate some of the proven "recipes" from all the TV shows and magazines. The small-block Chevy engine is the most hot-rodded engines in the world and there's tons of variations to choose from.

If you follow someone's dyno-proven recipe, then you'll probably get exactly what you want on the first try.

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Please pardon my ignorance. I'm a recently converted ChevroletGM guy (I owned a '67 Mustang before the current '68 Camaro) and I have no idea about the engine designations or differences between them. I was looking to build a higher-revving stroker motor based on a later model 350 block and was merely looking through catalog cams, intakes, etc. Glad I asked about this. Anyone have any particular reading material I should be looking at?

So you have a GEN III/IV 383 ??

Here's one, 427ci and 600hp:
http://www.carcraft.com/howto/1004/

Here's a 406, 428hp and 525torque for total cost of $6,000:
http://www.chevyhiperformance.com/techarticles/148_0306_chevrolet_406_big_block_torque/

Here's two engine builds, one a 350 and one a 383:
http://www.popularhotrodding.com/tech/0503phr_small_block_engine_build/

Here's a 350, with all kinds of combos:
http://www.superchevy.com/tech/0406sc_small_block_chevy/

Here's a dirt-cheap 383 build:
http://www.hotrod.com/techarticles/383ci_chevy_small_block_build/

As I said, tons of articles and info around. I would recommend following a dyno-proven recipe, or buy a crate engine. Yeah, you can build it yourself to your own performance ideas, but why re-invent the wheel? Follow a proven recipe and you can look at the dyno sheet before you build it, that way you get exactly what you want with minimal guesswork.

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it kills me how all these people are revving long stroke motors to the moon with no cam or heads?:sad: MUST LIKE ENGINE NOISE WITH NO MOVEMANT I GUESS:confused:

Heck, come on guy!!

Let's be positive here and try to help him out.

Where's the link to the matrix of all the build-up's onna the guy's has posted that he made up to store all this info in??

pdq67

"Hydraulic roller" and "high RPM" are two phrases that don't go together IMO. No matter who makes the hydraulic roller lifters they are still somewhat heavy by design and you are limited to how much spring pressure you can use because they are hydraulic. (high spring pressure will collapse a hydraulic lifter)

About the best you could do RPM wise with a hydraulic roller would be in the high 6,000 range if you use the right parts. That would include a rev kit, Ti retainers, and beehive springs. Even then there is no gaurantee.

I would suggest that you consider a solid cam (a solid flat tappet cam) to get that TransAm sound. Back in the day they used the 30-30 solid FT cam that gave the valve train a sewing machine like sound to it (if you can remember what sewing machines sound like).

There's nothing wrong with wanting to rev a 383 either IMO you just need the right parts combo. I would look for a 248*-250* @ .050 duration solid FT cam and build the engine with 210-215cc heads and 11:1 compression. That will sound fairly "Trans Am like" with long tube headers and dual exhaust.

Then you can row through the gears of your TKO and sound the part of an old Z-28 -- and the car will actually go fast too.

im not pointing fingers at anyone.:confused: all im saying is that rpm is not needed ,if all else is not built for it .everyone gets on here and asks "how hi can i rev my engine to" because the cam card says 7000k.well until you run it in a car or dyno it to see where it gives up power at ,then its all a crap shoot anyways.a stock engine will go to 6000k ,but it doesnt mean its making power there is all im saying .most people who over rev and over gear their cars are just masking a problem that if fixed ,would yield a better running car :hurray: if you want to rev up your engine just cuz, all you'll usually end up with is poor times, and a blown up engine :sad: .i'd rather see him cam it correctly, and run decent exhaust to get the sound he wants ,and it will still run hard ,and sound good ,and he'll be happier with it in the long run .instead of having an overcammed car with no throttle response ,that will barely get out of its own way ,you can have a car that is respectable ,and still fits your wanted intentions:thumbsup:

Street car: build it for lots of torque. That's the key for fun on the street.

Hydraulic rollers are perfect for street car, IMHO.........



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What i rev my 383 and does a 280/288 solid count as a cam?? and im tryign to get a set of AFR203's my friends about to get me some.

This buildup was suggested earlier and it looks pretty decent to me. Seeing as how it's done at 6400rpm, would a 3.73 rear end be too short? (Remember - I'll be running a TKO600 manual).

http://www.popularhotrodding.com/tech/0503phr_small_block_engine_build/dyno_reslults.html

That much lift with that little duration doesn't make sense to me for my 2 cents. To make power above 6500 you'll need at least 300 degrees advertised duration, and remember you can't measure a roller @.050" the same as a flat-tappet cam if that's an issue. As for the Torker or a Torker II, it'll beat a Performer RPM from about 4500 on up if you have enough cam to spin the engine past 6200 and have it still make power. 280 degrees advertised (roughly 230 @ .050") will sound good at idle and pull to around 6200. From my experience 280-290 degrees is the fine line between using a dual-plane manifold vs a single-plane. Lift makes virtually no difference. Duration is what kills your bottom-end, but makes more power as the rpm climbs. But it all depends on your combination. With 3.73s the Performer RPM might be a better manifold with a 280 cam because it'll make more torque and less top-end horsepower. But then, I've built a 400 with a .500" lift/306 hydraulic flat-tappet cam in a '68 with a 3500 stall converter and 3:55s that ran mid-12s and was street-driven everyday. It simply takes time and experience to figure it all out. That's my 2 cents for what it's worth and good luck!