Roller motor questions

[Prong]

I'm looking into building a BUDGET priced roller motor for my 79 LB. The existing motor has a really nice set of World Products heads on them with the screw in studs, etc. I know the best thing to do would be to man up and buy a set of Vortecs, but I'm trying to be cost conscious here. Could I reuse my existing heads with the roller block? I assume I'd need new roller rocker arms if I went this route? From what I've gathered, I can use any 87/up block as long as it has the provisions for the spider, etc, right? Is there a way to tell if it's a roller or roller ready block without pulling the intake? I'm sure I'll have more ?'s later, but any help would get me started on a plan. Can I also assume my existing p/s , alt, and a/c brackets will work with the newer block?

[joesgarage71]

 Those heads should be good, no need to buy roller rockers maybe just roller tip rockers. If you have guide plates then make sure you buy harden pushrods. Not sure about the years of blocks rollers were but the late eighties blocks had the bosses in the valley for the rocker spyder, they just need to be tapped for the bolts. Most of the earlier-mid 90's blocks had the fuel pump boss omitted or the holes are not drilled and tapped and the push rod hole is not drilled.

[Russ130]

You can buy a retro fit hydraulic roller cam and roller lifters so no need to swap motors also. I put this in my old style 350 now 383 and it runs nice and strong.

[Blue 82]

Most blocks with the 1 pc rear main seal are roller ready
If the 3 bosses in the lifter valley that hold the spider are not drilled,
a half hour with a battery drill and a tap will fix that.
Without pulling the intake it would be hard to tell, but if the dist was out you may
be able to look in the hole to see the rear spider boss and if it is drilled
You need to make sure the cam retainer plate bolt holes are drilled too

Most 1 pc rear main seal blocks do not have the hole for the fuel pump rod drilled
I have found that "some"  of the 4 bolt main 1 pc seal blocks have the fuel pump rod provision
(I have one in the garage)

You will need the spider
some dog bones (lifter retainers)
shorter pushrods
factory style roller lifters
and self aligining rocker arms
and maybe an electric fuel pump

[hilton850]

I think your heads are fine, they're probably just as good as vortecs.  I think it's a toss up weather it'd be cheaper to buy a used engine, and use OEM parts to have a roller motor, or swap in a retrofit kit in your existing motor.  What do you plan to do with your truck? towing, mud racing etc?  I don't think there's such a thing as a CHEAP roller motor...I guess you could build a budget roller motor depending on what your budget is.

[Prong]

The truck is going to be a daily driver. It gets old dumping a 1/2 pint of EOS in with every oil change to keep the cam alive. I'm not looking to go cheap, just stay on budget. I do occasionally pull a small trailer and ATV which runs about 1K pounds, though. I was thinking in the neighborhood of 9:1 compression with a decent streetable (maybe a step above an "RV" cam), with these heads should make 275-300hp and still get semi-decent mileage. Any more thoughts on that?

[Russ130]

Towing 1k lbs is not really much. I wouldn't build it for towing if thats all you are going to tow. I guess it all depends on what you have to start with and what you want in the end. Sometimes you would be better off finding a motor out of the bone yard from a different application and adapting it to your needs. What year truck do you have? What's in it for a motor? Tranny? Gears? 2wd or 4wd? Without knowing more specifics your questions are pretty much open ended.

[Prong]

Specs: 79 K10 4x4 350 4bbl Quadrajet. SM465 4spd. 3.08 gears. Headers with true dual exhaust. With those gears, I need to make decent power around 2000-2500 rpm. The engine turns ~2200 @ 65 mph.

[Russ130]

Why don't you go the 383 stroker route? It will give you tons of power off idle and don't quit making power till around 5000 rpm's. You could also retro-fit your block with a hyd. roller cam and lifters if your budget allows. Of course if you do that you'll be up in the big block numbers for power  With headers and dual exhaust I think those heads will make plenty of power just as they are. But if your budget allows, a little unshrouding and bowl clean up will go a long way. As for your heads they will require some machine work to make them fit with the newer block style. The easiest fastest way for you would be to find either a 400 or a big block and bolt it right in.

[hilton850]

I had a 355 once with a "mild" cam according to the machine shop where I got the rebuild kit.  I believe it was one step above the RV cam...just like what you're looking for.  It was a regular flat tappet hydraulic lifter cam.  I had stock 1.94 heads on it and flat top pistons for about 9:1 compression, I put an aluminum dual plane intake on it, headers and dual exhaust and that thing ran sweet and got about 14 MPG on the highway...my truck set up similar to yours except 3.42 gears and probably bigger tires because my tach runs about the same as yours at 65.  I still kick myself for taking it out.  Anyway I think you're on the right track and you'll have a really nice running engine...just don't go overboard looking for the big horsepower number (trust me on this one).  I can see the roller motors lasting longer but personally, I never had much trouble with the stock cam, or any hydraulic flat tappet cam for that matter....proper break in is the key. 

The biggest thing is getting the right cam for your application...I think 9:1 compression sounds good for pump gas and your heads are better than stock heads.  Add a dual plane intake (edelbrock performer or something similar) if you don't already have one, some headers and dual exhaust...I think 300 hp is realistic and I also think you'll have the low end torque to back it up.  After you decide what you're doing for a block and all that, do yourself a favor and give comp cams a call...their tech line is very good and you won't be disappointed if you use the cam they recommend. 

As for going with a 383...they do make more torque, no doubt but they're more work to build because of clearance issues like connecting rods hitting the cam and also hitting the oil pan rail.  There are plenty of ways to address these clearances but you should have a plan of attack if this is your first stroker motor.  I've been through all this stuff and spent much more time and money than I needed to in order to learn what I should have done in the first place. 

My opinion is stick with the 350, it'll make plenty of power and get better fuel mileage and be cheaper and easier to build.  I also would start with a later model block that had a factory roller cam and lifters.  There are some good factory 1.94 and 2.02 heads out there that will do what you want to do...if you do your homework and buy a junkyard engine that already has these heads you'll be golden and may not need to swap heads, or maybe you'll get lucky and find a vortec 350 in the junkyard...intake manifold and carb and you're done.  I was also under the impression that older small block heads would still bolt on to the newer style 1pc seal/roller blocks, you just need to use the older style intake as well.  If this isn't true can someone explain what doesn't fit?   Sorry for the long rambling post....you got me thinking now.

[Prong]

I looked into a 383 for this truck, but the rub there is spending $400 for a specialty flywheel for the 400 crank(this is a 4spd tranny), not to mention the expense of buying the rotating assembly. My other SB already has a stout 383, so I know what they do. I just want a 350 that runs on 87 octane that'll make about 275-300 horses and still get decent mileage. As far as the cam wear issues goes, it's not the break-in, it's the fact that there's no zinc in the new motor oils (unless you buy the $$ specialty oils), so you need the EOS additive or something similar to keep the cam from wiping lobes.

[Russ130]

One thing you should know about roller cams, you can't let them idle for an extended period of time. This will starve the bearings in the rollers of oil. So every now and then tap the gas to get oil to the bearings. This was in the instructions that came with my hydraulic rollers from comp cams they said no longer than 10 mins idle time. Just something to keep in mind when you do get your roller setup.

[hilton850]

My bad, I forgot about the zinc missing from the new oils.  You're right on the money. 

[TexasRed]

I think the preluber idea is probably a better idea than adding EOS. http://www.autoenginelube.com/

If I ever get around to building my 355 (say I don't get laid off) then I may do a write up and do pictures and some other stuff there.

[hilton850]

through a little searching I found that Amsoil makes synthetic oil with higher levels of ZDDP (the zinc and phosphorous) that works well with flat tappet cams.  There are probably other companies out there too.  Found a link for an amsoil TSB:  http://www.syntheticwarehouse.com/Specsheets/TSB_Flat_Tappet.pdf

I'll probably run the 10 - 40 in my truck when I get it going again.