I was wondering if anyone has used a roller cam in a 429/460?The motor will be going into a pulling truck.

 

I have a roller in my 460. It is a Comp Cams solid roller; the specs are: .727" int/ .692 ex, 276 deg@.05 int, 280 deg@.05 ex on a 110 lobe sep. It requires more maintenace than a flat-tappet cam, but I like them and don't plan to switch back. The valve springs have to be replaced occasionally and the timing gear has to be modified to use 2 dowel pins. I found out the hard way that one pin will not handle the torque. I was lucky, though. It didn't warp any valves, but it did break 6 rocker arms!

 

I would like to know more about your drag truck. Give us a run down of what's under the hood: block, heads, pistons,...... Is it a SWB? What headers. The reason I'm so nosy is that in a year or so, I would like to start racing my truck. 71 SWB 460/C6/9". I'm not going to run a solid roller or anything like that but would like to know what all you have done. What does your 1/8 mile time translate into a 1/4 mile time, rough estimate.

thanks
Austin

 

I've been running a roller in my chassis car for years. Does require some modifications but I run my valves once a year, run 1 dowel pin & never break it. It helps to use a good stud girdle. Getting ready to put one in a twin Garrett T-04 turbo engine I'm eventually installing in the '65.

 

qtrmiler, glad you haven't had any trouble with your cam dowel. When mine broke, I called Engine Systems in Tucker, GA and they told me that they have had some trouble with the cam pin in roller-cammed engines, too. I guess some dowel pins aren't as good as others. As far as my engine specs go, Austin, I'll list my combo best I can here:

1974 Ford F-100 SWB Drag Truck
All steel body except for the 'glass hood and lund roll pan, gutted to the max with only the outer skin remaining. No inner fenders, no bed floor, only a bed cover. It has lexan windows all around with the vent windows removed and the top has been chopped 3". It sits about 5" off the ground at the lowest point. It has an all mild steel cage now, but will have a 4130 CM chassis later built to SFI 25.1D specs.

Suspension:
Front: Tubular A-arm with pinto spindles and Chassis Engineering coil-over shocks.

Rear: Custom built 4-link with coil-overs

Rear Axle: 9" Ford with 33 spline Moser axles, Strange spool, 4.86 gears.

Trans: Powerglide with 1.76 1st gear, transbrake, Hardened input shaft, Coan 5700 stall converter, steel hub, billet rear piston and TCI scatter shield.

Engine:
1974 460 car engine, 0-decked, .060 over, stock crank polished and cross-drilled.
CJ rods with ARP bolts, shotpeened and bushed.
Pistons are TRW domes, lightened to around 530 grams, pins are also tapered on the inside to reduce weight.
Rings: Total Seal
Cam: Comp solid roller, custom built needle brg retainer
Oiling system: Melling hv pump w/ bolt-on pickup, custom made rear sump pan with power kick-out, windage tray, restrictors on the cam circuit, bronze lifter bushings(to restrict oil to the top end)
Heads: Blue Thunder "B" design with Chevy Exhaust bolt pattern, 2.3 int valves, 1.8 exh, Ford SVO roller rockers, stud girdle, Comp cams springs, titanium retainers. At .800 lift they flow 350 cfm Int, 260 Ex. The ports have been cleaned up but hogged out to the max. Combustion chambers are at 72cc. Comp ratio is 14.5.
Headers: 2.25 Dia BBC kit headers
Intake: Weiand Tunnel ram w/ 2 750 holley annular discharge carbs.

Wheels/tires: 31 x 13 MT on 15 X 15 Weld drag lites rear,
26 x 7.5 MT on 15 x 5 Welds on front

1/4 mile time would probably be 9.6-9.7. 60' time is 1.31.
The truck would probably run in the 5's (1/8 mile)if I could get it to hook better. The 6.13 it ran was on the last rebuild. Ever since I rebuilt it, it hasn't hooked up like it used to. I spent about $3000 lightening everything and have the heads worked on. They flowed 340 int and 230 ex before the bigger valves were put in. The pistons were lightened nearly 1/2 lb each. It has only 2 runs on the new motor. The first was up in smoke, the 2nd left good, but slid sideways on the 2nd gear shift and I lifted and coasted to a 6.56 @ 90 mph. On the third pass, it had an electrical short and shut off. I took it apart to re-wire it and decided to go ahead update the chassis so it would hook better. Sorry for the long post, I just like talking about Ford Trucks!! The best never rest!

 

Talk about it all you want. Sounds great. Your mph in the 1/8 is what mile will probably be in the 1/4. I'm finally going to take mine once I put the new edelbrock intake and carb on. Right now the parts are sitting in my garage. Besides the above my 71 SWB will have a completely stock 1974 460 w/ C6(shift kit). When it needs a rebuild I will be going to 71 or earlier heads, and 9.5 comp instead of the 8:1 that I have now. Right now I take my 97 Mark VIII LSC up to the track. Completely stock it is running 15.2 at 92 mph. I few simple mods will have the 32v in the mid 14s. Not bad for a two ton luxury car.

Thanks for the info and good luck.
Austin

 

hey bud, could you send some pics of your drag truck too? sounds like a beast.

mike