I have a '56 Desoto 330 motor in my '50 Mercury. I have been running a mild Racer Brown regrind that I got from Hot Heads several years ago. I have had trouble with noisy hydraulic lifters on an off and got tired of it. I had one lobe start to go and had the cam repaired. I reinstalled it with another set of new lifters. I just received my new solid lifter roller cam from Donny Johansen and it looks great. This is another mild grind but a little more timing than before. I will be using solid roller lifters from Howards Cams. They should be here soon. I will run the coated intermediate gear from Hot Heads with this cam. I have had problems with intake valve stem seals leaking and will be redoing the intake guides and valves. Hot Heads sells Manganese Bronze valve guides for either 5/16 or 3/8 stem valves. Or cast iron 3/8 guides. Does anyone have an opinion of the Manganese Bronze valve guides vs. cast iron. If I use the 5/16 guides I can use 1.94 Chev intake valves with chrome stems. Thanks for any advise. Billk
I guess no 11/32? You can have the bronze 5/16 inserts installed in your present guides [pretty sure] or use the bronze guides from Hot Heads and be sure the Chev valves have no grind marks on the stems..Wouldn't hurt to polish the stems some length wise with 400 or 600 wet/dry..
Shouldn't it be the opposite?? Hydraulics are quite (when adjusted correctly) and solids are always noisy.
Sorry for my error. The Bronze Hot Heads guides are 11/32 not 5/16, as are the 1.94 Chevy valves. I have had 4 sets of hydraulic lifters in this motor and all have given on and off ticking. I have had enough of it. I have adjusted them every way imaginable. Maybe its my incompetence or just bad luck. But it is what it is. I will be happy to have the minor steady noise of the solid rollers over the crappy ticking. And I get rid of the chance of another wiped out cam lobes. Thanks, Billk
DeSotos don't have adjustable rocker arms, are you running adjustable pushrods? Do you have Donny's contact information?
I have had 4 sets of hydraulic lifters in this motor and all have given on and off ticking. I have had enough of it. I have adjusted them every way imaginable. Maybe its my incompetence or just bad luck. But it is what it is. I will be happy to have the minor steady noise of the solid rollers over the crappy ticking. And I get rid of the chance of another wiped out cam lobes. Thanks, Billk[/QUOTE] I feel your pain, Billk. I have had the same problem with hydraulics in hemis, White box or even name brand ones. Solids are the only way to fix them.
Hemideuce has the same sort of ongoing issues with noisy hyd. lifters in an early hemi. Seems to be a common problem.
Solids can be quiet as a mouse when adjusted correctly. My 318 poly mopar has solids in it, you absolutely cannot hear them even with a stock exhaust. Lippy
Lippy, What clearances are you running on you valves to get a quiet operation with solid lifters? I remember the sound of the old duntov 30-30 solid cam. That's not what I am looking for. 56Don, Donny Johansen phone number, 909-815-9185. A very nice guy to deal with. I have been running adjustable pushrods but find them to be a pain to adjust with special home made wrenches. I expect adjusting solid lifters would be worse. I am going to have a set of adjustable rocker arms converted. I have been in contact with these guys. http://www.rockerarms.com/pages/contact.html .
In looking all over the board and the net I have seen pictures of and mention of a type of "mousetrap" spring used on solid lifter Hemi's, I think, to keep the lifter/pushrod/rocker arm setup in constant contact so that the takeup of the lash does not cause hammering of the rocker arm pushrod cup. Anyone know where I can find that? Now I can't find it and would also like to hear opinions on what this does and how important it is. My Howard's 91717 solid roller lifters are scheduled to arrive tomorrow. I have also sent off my rockers to Rocker Arms Unlimited to have the adjuster's put on. My rockers and shafts are in very good condition so I didn't have to have the rockers bushed and the shafts chromed up. Quite a bit cheaper for me. I don't know yet but I may have to space up my valve covers to clear the adjusting screws. Billk
On valve guides. Stock style rocker arms push the valve sideways with every operation. Add lift and duration and it adds to it. Not pertains to this cam wear but roller tips are the only way to negate this. Good luck.
Jimmy Six, the cam I am installing is pretty mild. Its a 212/212 duration at .050 lift with .447/.447 lift. This in a 330 + .030 displacement will do what I want in a fairly heavy car. Since I will not be racing this motor Donnie suggested that 140 pounds of seat pressure should be fine. All of that may help the guides out. I had thought about making some aluminum roller rockers but talked myself out of it and the bought ones are out of my price range. Billk
Donny has ground every single cam I have ever used at Bonneville in my GMC's. 140 would be typically lite for a roller cam but in your case is probably perfect. Most cam manufacturers want way too much spring pressure on solid lifter cams including Donny, I always lowered the pressure by 30-40 pounds on the seat. 5500 ain't 7500 rpm. I don't the number but the spring pressure over the nose is important on every cam and its use. I made my own true roller rockers because none were available. Good luck.
I think solid roller cams are usually used on all out performance motors and need lots of spring pressure. I think I'll be fine with less. I can always increase it. Billk
Hey Flat-Bill How did make out with this cam setup. Im having the same problems with my 330 as you did with the racer Brown cam .
BRYS36, I have the cam in and running and so far I am very happy with it. I went with Howards street solid lifters on the Johanson cam. The lifters JUST fit in the lifter bores under the block deck. The lifters are SBM units. These lifters are stated as being for street use with idling. I got them from Summit for about $350 for the set, I think. They have oil to the roller axle. I did note that the oil band gets oil from the lifter bore oil holes mostly when the lifter is up. If I had to do it again I think I might run the oil supply hole in the lifter bores down a little. My cam is mild with 212/212 duration and about .450/.450 lift on a 114 lobe separation. I also went with the adjustable rockers from Rocker Arms Unlimited. These are nice BUT the intake locknuts interfere with the spark plug tubes. They sent me some short locknuts but that didn't help. I wound up making a form tool to add a relief in the tube where the nut interfered. It was easy but you need to index the tubes when you install the spark plugs. Not hard. You do need to pull the plug tubes to adjust the intake rockers. I had adjustable pushrods before and I never did like them. A real pain to adjust. I suppose if you went hydraulic you might get a nonadjustable pushrod the correct length and not need to adjust them. I just had too much trouble with the hydraulics to use them again. I could post a picture of my tool if you want. It is just a 1 inch round bar with a groove cut in it .060 deep with a 3/8 ball nose endmill. I clamp the bar in the vise horizontally sticking out one side so when I slip the tube over it to the side of the vise jaw the groove is in the right spot. Then I tap the relief in with a small ball peen hammer. You can't go too deep or your spark plug socket will no longer fit in the tube. It does not take much to get the required clearance. Donny said the spec on the cam clearance is .020/.020 but that .015/.015 would be fine. I have read that tighter specs will work and quiet the lifters down with no problems. I am currently trying .008/.010 and it seems to be fine. The lifters give that light "sewing machine" sound and there has been no sign of problems. I have a vacuum gauge in the car and see no sign of a difference from the .015/.015 settings. I would think that it would show up if there was a problem with the valves not seating properly. I will continue to keep an eye on it.
Ok thx for the info, going to talk to Donnie for a cam. Im thinking of using hydra. lifters . I have adjustable pushrods already. Yes your right , there a pain to adjust .
BRYS36, I would suggest that you get the pressure oiled roller lifters. Also check out how the oil band on the lifters matches up to the lifter bore holes. I think lowering the holes in the lifter bores is a good idea, especially if you use hydraulic lifters. This would give you more oil to the lifter. I got non oiling pushrods from Smithbrothers. Billk
Hey Bill Talked with Donny, Going to open mind up . And see whats going on inside . He was going to talk to Bob Walker about the pushrods. Any updates or suggestions to take note of ? Bryan
Still running great. The solids seem to be holding adjustment but I may be reconsidering going to hydraulics. The noise is not bad but a really quiet motor would make me happier. I have messed with different lash settings. I now have .009/.012 clearance. Vacuum runs 20 at idle. This is a mild cam and what I had asked for. Performance is just what I wanted. 330 + .030 Desoto, 212/212 cam on 114 lobe separation. Installed at 110.5 intake centerline per Donny's suggestion,(110 to 114 with 111 preferred). 800 cfm Quadrajet carb, 9:1 compression, TKO600 OD trans with 4:11 rear gears 28 inch tires, 3670 total weight. Cruise rpm is about 2100 at 65 mph. Donny said the cam didn't care what type lifters it had. I will ask him about any differences as far as clearance ramps on the solid cam with using the hydraulics. If there is not a significant difference in the "actual" duration at the valve, I may go to the street Howard's hydraulic.
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