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Can anyone tell by this photo if this block can be converted to a roller? I see two bosses. The stock cam is still installed in this photo and you can see a few lifters barely breaking the surface of their bores.
it would take some measurements to know for sure if that block could be machined to a roller block spec, but any block can house a roller cam with link-bar roller lifters.
Those two bosses on the lifter valley floor sure look like they are the ones that are drilled and tapped to hold the "spider" on an OEM roller engine. Compare to this engine from this thread:
The camshaft should be removed for those bosses to be drilled and tapped, and short screws used that don't extend into the cam. Getting the whole setup from a junked engine would be ideal, the roller lifters last almost forever and don't need to be matched to the original cam lobe.
Looks like the tops of the lifter bores are machined flat. I'm pretty sure the bores on the block I have are not. I'll measure and consult with Bryan when I take the E7 heads back. From the looks of your photo, my block may have enough material there to machine.
If the engine were cleaned up, it would be easier to see what was up with the lifter bores. It seems likely that if the block has the extra material for the spider attaching bolts, it would also have the extra material for the roller lifters.
Note that the roller lifters do project quite a bit out of the bores.
Note that the roller lifters do project quite a bit out of the bores.
I see that. And the amount that they stick out agrees with what I think I read earlier today about push rod length, roller push rods being a half inch shorter.
The stock roller lifter is 2.515" high, so you can compare it against your flat tappet, and estimate how much it will stick out of the bore on your block. Remember that you need to have at least the flats showing to engage the dog bones at full close and lift.
And now, just to complicate matters, I find a motor on local market. A running engine advertised as having 55,000 original miles. A roller from a 1988 Crown Vic. $300. "Can hear run"
That Crown Victoria motor would be an okay starting point, but has a pretty tame camshaft and heads.
A much better starting point would be an Exploder or Mountaineer 5.0 engine that already has the good F4TE camshaft and GT40 heads. Probably you could find one for not much more money and have those great parts.
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