Cam Selection
 

I am trying to find out why someone would use a regular solid lifter flat tappet cam on a 600hp 496 stroker, rather than a roller set up.

Thats old school, I have built several strokers, buy a custom cam designed for your engine from RMBUILDER. It's worth the extra money. IMO :cool:

in a single word.....cost.flat-tapplet cam and lifters=250.00 roller cam/good lifters=800.00.when your doing 2-3 motors that little extra $$ helps.a roller would be better though.

nobody else is chiming in soooo.
If you truely thing you are going 600Hp with a flat tappet cam you are going to need the the best parts money can buy. Unless you are going to strap a blower to it, you are going to have to spin it past the limits of a Bravo drive.
To make 600HP with a 496, the exhaust system will cost way more than a cam and lifters.

There I said it.:grinser010:

One thing to remember when running a flat tappet cam is that the engine oil MUST contain zinc. Most oils today do not have zinc as flat tappets have become a thing of the past. Shell Rotella still has a high zinc content as do most "break in" oils, there are many Zinc additaves to add to your oil as well. No Zinc + Flat tappet cam = severe and RAPID lobe wear.

Thanks for all of your inputs

Rotella does NOT have adequate zinc for a flat tappet cam. They reformulated a year or two ago. I was running Mobil 1 20/50 V-twin in my 420's before I pulled them down. Now they are getting roller cams. Between the available flat tappet cores, the available flat tappet lifters, and the poor oil choices, the odds are stacked against a flat tappet being durable.

I have a flat tappet cam in my engine and zinc is a must. I buy the expensive Brad Penn racing oil with high zinc content cost me about $100 per oil change. I did flat tappet to save money during that build. My next engine will have a custom RMBuilder roller cam in it. I will get my money back buy not having expensive oil changes.

fixx
 

one,,cheaper,two less moving parts which makes it more reliable.and three if you use crower cam saver lifters then you really dont need to run zinc additives..

Good info on the lifters.