Guest Posted January 27, 2004 Share Posted January 27, 2004 First off it is great to be a part of the first generation Monte Carlo club. I could really learn a lot from you all. I have a '72 with a big block 396 out of a '69 Camaro, stock 325 horse. I have done about everything i can externally to the engine to boost power, so now i want to change the cam. How difficult and more importantly how expensive would it be to change the stock hydraulic cam to a hydraulic roller cam? What all does this procedure include? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alex's72fgmc Posted January 27, 2004 Share Posted January 27, 2004 welcome to the board bandit ben you will find alot of information here so by all means pic our brains.... on the cam swap to roller cam you will need to get a cam button which hold the cam to the back of the block since roller cams walk forward "which is not good for the timing chain and the valve train" also you will need to modify the gally area to fit the "spider which holds you roller lifters in the bore to keep them from coming out during high rpm's and new push rods will be required for the cam which are shorter for the roller cam "also note that the push rods for the exhaust and the intake are different lenths as well" so dont mix them up... cam could be in the range of $120-350^ and up depending on the desired lift and duration of the lobes and over lap. pushrods i would go with chromemoly. also make sure that the push rods do not contact the heads at any point of the lift and lowering phase of the cam "you might need to machine/ dremel out the area a little for clearance. over all probably not more than 450 for the swap. also put plenty of assembly lube on the lobes of the cam and put the roller lifters in a coffee can full of oil over night "this helps to prelube them for initial startup. i stand corrected "learn something new every day" let me know how it turns out. alex Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 27, 2004 Share Posted January 27, 2004 I have an early 396 in my BB. I have a Lunatti hyd roller cam with cast gear in it (retarded 4deg for low end HP). The cam has to have the 396 grove on the dist end for proper oiling, also it requires shorter pushrods (Crane #13628). I also have World Products heads and roller rockers on it. I have to watch the tack because it will blast right past 6,000rpm. There is no break-in for a roller cam. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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