Flat Tappet or Roller Camshaft?

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DixieWASP

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Does the original 350 V8 engine in my 1989 Silverado 1500 have a flat tappet camshaft or does it have a roller camshaft?
 

PlayingWithTBI

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Does the original 350 V8 engine in my 1989 Silverado 1500 have a flat tappet camshaft or does it have a roller camshaft?
Odds are it's a flat tappet cam. Although I've heard instances where some came with a roller cam from a Caprice or other cars. To be sure, pull the intake manifold and look. You can also check to see if your block has the bosses for a roller if you wanna upgrade.
 

DixieWASP

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Odds are it's a flat tappet cam. Although I've heard instances where some came with a roller cam from a Caprice or other cars. To be sure, pull the intake manifold and look. You can also check to see if your block has the bosses for a roller if you wanna upgrade.
Thank you for answering my question. I will upgrade to a roller camshaft if I decide to rebuild my original engine.
 

Moofus02

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89 truck should be flat tappet. The block should have all the provisions drilled for roller cam. Somewhere around 93 they stopped drilling them but they still had the provisions cast in block
 

Erik the Awful

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89 truck should be flat tappet. The block should have all the provisions drilled for roller cam.
It's very hit or miss on the roller bosses. My '89 did not have them. You can use the spider from a roller cam motor as a template to drill and tap holes. Install some all-thread with some loctite and put a couple nuts on it to space the spider up. Boom! You have roller cam provisions.
 

DixieWASP

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89 truck should be flat tappet. The block should have all the provisions drilled for roller cam. Somewhere around 93 they stopped drilling them but they still had the provisions cast in block
Thank you for the information.
 

DixieWASP

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It's very hit or miss on the roller bosses. My '89 did not have them. You can use the spider from a roller cam motor as a template to drill and tap holes. Install some all-thread with some loctite and put a couple nuts on it to space the spider up. Boom! You have roller cam provisions.
When I rebuild the engine, I definitely want to go with a roller camshaft.
 

98 Nitro

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Rebuild it like the TBI Caprice 350's, they had both roller cam and flat top pistons, makes no sense the trucks were not the same way but I guess some GM boss thought it saved money somehow.
 

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With the oil in use today I would never consider using a flat tappet cam. Roller only! The oil today just does not have enough of the correct additives to stand up to the abuse a flat tappet throws out. That is IMO why we are seeing so many cam failures with flat tappet.

Ken
 

Moofus02

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It's very hit or miss on the roller bosses. My '89 did not have them. You can use the spider from a roller cam motor as a template to drill and tap holes. Install some all-thread with some loctite and put a couple nuts on it to space the spider up. Boom! You have roller cam provisions.
Not the end all word but all the tbi sbc truck motors i've had were flat tappet with roller provisions,tbi cars were all roller. I do not know when the change happened in trucks but the 87 to 92 moters were all drilled, my 95 motors have the bosses but are not drilled. never had a 93/94
 
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