Hello all!

I have heard that solid lifter / roller rocker cams are better than their hydraulic counterparts. If I chose to replace the cam in my 350, would I have to make more changes than just swapping the cam and lifters? If so, would it be worth it?

Thanks!

 

The good folks here at CO are going to ask for more information. Like is the car otherwise stock? Do you have single or duel exhaust. Stock trans and torque converter?. Intake manifold and headers? Stuff like that. Just a heads-up :-)
I would think you at least need new springs and more than likely a different length pushrod.

 

First of all, there's no such thing as a "roller rocker cam". The rockers are independent of the cam. You can get hydraulic or solid LIFTER cams, and you can get flat tappet or roller LIFTER cams.

Solid lifters (either flat or roller style) need an adjustable valvetrain, which the stock Olds does not have. Hydraulic lifter cams have come a long way from the 1960s. The only reason to go solid is if your motor is designed to operate at much higher RPMs than stock. The entire motor needs to be built for this, including piston selection, bearings, rods, etc. I'm guessing you are working with an engine that's pretty much stock, so it's doubtful that you'll see any benefits from a solid lifter cam (and the work and cost associated with making it work in an Olds motor).

 

Macadoo, here's what I know.

The car is totally stock. It has (for some strange reason) gas shocks on the rear, but it looks like everything else is original. I have dual exhaust, but it looks like it was single exhaust, the cross pipe cut and sealed at one side and a second exhaust pipe installed on the drivers side. It has the two speed jetaway, and I am assuming it has the stock torque converter (I don't even know what that is). It has stock exhaust manifolds. The intake manifold is stock and is paired with a 2 bbl.

I love this car. I bought it as a tribute to my father who had this car when I was born until I was about 6, then it was wrecked and totaled. I just don't know how to make it what I want. I am buying tools and I am somewhat mechanically inclined but I just don't have the experience.

Thanks you guys for all the correspondence. I need it.

 

Thanks Joe.

 

Well I've only been on here a couple of months and am just learning, myself. But what I DO know is that Joe here, and MDchanic,, Coppercutlass, CutlassEFI, and a bunch of others REALLY know their s&*t. Listen to them, it's worth it.
I also bought my 71 as a tribute to my father. he was an Olds man with a Jetstar 88, a 442, and a Supreme over the years.
The first step towards making it what you want is to figure out WHAT you want. Will it be a daily driver? A show car? Or a hotrod to play around and tinker with. If it's power you want, this is what I'm doing:
1. Edelbrock Performer intake 2711 or 3711
2. Cam, matched to your build. I had CutlassEFI grind me a custom
3. A good dual exhaust and performance mufflers, maybe headers?
4. New timing set, these tend to be in bad shape
5. A good carb, mine was in need of a rebuild so I just bought one with an electric choke.
6. upgrade or fine tune your distributor. I went with electronic because I didn't want to mess with points and dwell
7. **Keep it safe** This should have been #1. Brakes, suspension, steering.
8. That 2 speed tranny is going to hold you back. TH350s can be found for reasonable. My long term plan is to swap my stunty 2.56 gear rear-end for something closer to 3.11 with a four speed trans. Lower gears mean quicker off the line.

Again dude, I'm not an expert. Just learning as I go. Listen to the fellows on here. Sometimes they doll out hard pills to swallow (cuz we want what we want) but they know their stuff.

 

Oh, and a factory chassis service manual for your year. This is priceless.

 

the web site wildaboutcars.com has the shop manual on line.

 

Absolutely no reason to put a solid cam in there. If you're keeping the intake/heads/exhuast as well as the torque convertor/transmission all stock, then I wouldn't put too much of a bigger cam in there anyway.

Is the motor out of the car? Are you just looking for ways to give the vehicle some more pep? How concerned are you with keeping the stock trans? If the motor is running fine, I would spend you money on a TH350 trans and possibly gears. Do you know what rear end ratio you have now?

 

Mr. Nick, by solid do you mean solid lifters? I will be changing the intake to a performer / 4bbl, exhaust to headers, and I may move to the W31 valve train with the heads. All of that will be "over the years" though. I would like the car to be able to do burnouts from "the light" and just be a bit quicker in the mean time. I was looking into the 200-r4, but that will be 2g so I thought I'd do the other stuff first.

 

Hydraulic or solid always refers to lifters, same with flat and roller. If you aren't planning on big power a close to stock 2004R trans will live behind your 350.

 

Both, solid cam uses solid lifters. Just run a hydraulic cam if you plan on upgrading, but use a modern grind. Don't use a W31 cam or the outdated Edelbrock Performer cam either. A few more bucks for a better cam is worth it.

A 350 engine with a mild cam, headers, intake, (I'd also suggest an ignition upgrade), and TH350 engine should have no problem smoking the tires. You need to find out what gear ratio you currently have, as that will play a part in future decisions regarding cam, torque convertor, and transmission.