Street-able NA 454 7.4L build

[Amsterdamned96]

I'm wondering what is the right tradeoff between a road-legal (here in Spain, no modifications from stock are allowed to be made) and street-able camshaft and valvetrain set-up. Gen V block came with solid hydraulic lifters, I'm considering swapping these along with the cam, pushrods & springs for a hydraulic roller cam or a perhaps even a solid roller cam. Any thoughts on this, is there a point in going any crazier than a hyd roller for a ported peanut port build with square accel mpfi intake?

or should I just swap out the lifters & pushrods but stick with my solid tappet cam? it'd be most economic, anyone have any experience with this?

 

[618 Syndicate]

What are your goals? Power? If so, where in the rpm band? Sound? Emissions? Heads, cam, bigger bore, longer stroke, and headers is a tried and true formula with a big block, but such a motor won't be legal or easily hidden.

 

[Amsterdamned96]

What are your goals? Power? If so, where in the rpm band? Sound? Emissions? Heads, cam, bigger bore, longer stroke, and headers is a tried and true formula with a big block, but such a motor won't be legal or easily hidden.

From what I've understood retro-fitting hydraulic roller lifters, rods & springs with a mellow cam (similar to stock in terms of lift dur. and lsa) is the least I can do within legal bounds to increase fuel efficiency as well as power. I also don't expect this to be a problem at any technical inspection, even here in Spain.

 

[Amsterdamned96]

So I have a square "Accel ram" 1000cfm high rise intake and the large 118cc open heads, they have been ported nicely into a teardrop shape that tries to match the square port on the alu mpfi intake. I'm trying to get the most of out of these heads by retrofitting a hydraulic roller that'll give me good driveability & mpg. I'd expect to have to swap out the springs and pushrods as well but I was hoping to keep the GM rocker arms though.

Also the exhaust manifold has quite long tubing per individual cylinder for a cast iron exhaust manifold, I was hoping to just get away with re-wrapping it and calling it a day, are proper headers really that important?

Edit:
Do I go for an Comp Extra energy flat tappet cam with springs or do I commit and bring this engine into the modern day with a roller cam and minor valvetrain upgrades? The comp cam has 112 LSA, it has .480 / .485 lift, 212 / 218 degree duration and would only require other springs, this seems like a fair option in terms of performance/price. Is a hydraulic roller retrofit really 1.5k USD atleast?

 

[Amsterdamned96]

Should I just settle for a hydraulic tappet cam/ RV cam doesn't seem like anyone has opted for investing in hyd roller setup with peanut port heads. If anyone can give me their 2 cents on running ported 118cc with high flow riser intake. I'd really like to bring this rig into the 21st century!

I've also concluded that the Comp Extra Energy cams are a little too rowdy to pass off as stock cams, thus i think a torquey RV cam (1000-4500rpm) might be best for power/economy. Was really hoping to go hyd roller on a budget, though.

 

[Schurkey]

I know a guy who has made serious power with peanut-port heads. Buying a set of his peanut-ports will cost serious money. (Plus shipping to Spain.)

VortecPro - Racing & Machine - Homepage

Without bigger valves and bowl work, the peanut-ports are unlikely to flow enough to make use of a bigger cam.

I had a boat with a hot-rod (240-ish duration at .050) cam and peanut port heads. Would not go over 5K rpm. Removed the peanut ports and the hot-rod cam. Installed oval-port heads and a very mild roller cam. Got ~5100--5150 rpm out of it afterward. (Still disappointed.)

Mating a "1000 cfm" intake to peanut ports seems to me to be a mis-matched combo unlikely to work well.

When I put a roller cam into a Mark IV, I used the step-nose Gen 6 cam core, the Gen 6 thrust plate (block already set up for thrust plate) and the "special" Gen 6 timing set. I had to use aftermarket Lunati "retro-fit" hydraulic lifters since the block doesn't accept the OEM dogbones and spider. The Gen 6 cam core had the cast-iron distributor gear and rear journal pressed-onto the steel main part of the cam core, so the distributor doesn't have to use a bronze driven gear.

Remember, Gen 5 uses a "net lash" valvetrain--NON ADJUSTABLE. So either your camshaft has the same base-circle as the stock cam, or you need to convert your rocker stud system to the older style that can accept changes to the lifter preload adjustment.

This was a dozen years ago. No promises on cam core availability now in the Biden Supply Chain era.

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[Whosprim]

I know a guy who has made serious power with peanut-port heads. Buying a set of his peanut-ports will cost serious money. (Plus shipping to Spain.)

VortecPro - Racing & Machine - Homepage

Without bigger valves and bowl work, the peanut-ports are unlikely to flow enough to make use of a bigger cam.

I had a boat with a hot-rod (240-ish duration at .050) cam and peanut port heads. Would not go over 5K rpm. Removed the peanut ports and the hot-rod cam. Installed oval-port heads and a very mild roller cam. Got ~5100--5150 rpm out of it afterward. (Still disappointed.)

Mating a "1000 cfm" intake to peanut ports seems to me to be a mis-matched combo unlikely to work well.

When I put a roller cam into a Mark IV, I used the step-nose Gen 6 cam core, the Gen 6 thrust plate (block already set up for thrust plate) and the "special" Gen 6 timing set. I had to use aftermarket Lunati "retro-fit" hydraulic lifters since the block doesn't accept the OEM dogbones and spider. The Gen 6 cam core had the cast-iron distributor gear and rear journal pressed-onto the steel main part of the cam core, so the distributor doesn't have to use a bronze driven gear.

Remember, Gen 5 uses a "net lash" valvetrain--NON ADJUSTABLE. So either your camshaft has the same base-circle as the stock cam, or you need to convert your rocker stud system to the older style that can accept changes to the lifter preload adjustment.

This was a dozen years ago. No promises on cam core availability now in the Biden Supply Chain era.

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

What is the "special" gen 6 timing set?

 

[Piratehunter]

What is the "special" gen 6 timing set?

non-adjustable single roller with 6* retard

 

[Schurkey]

non-adjustable single roller with 6* retard

The one I bought gave me the cam timing I expected based on the cam-card, within a degree.

I don't think they're set up with 6 degrees of retard.

I bought the GM "kit", chain, both gears, thrust plate, and bolts. The only thing I wasn't thrilled with was the slack in the chain. My block has been align-bored, but I've heard the same complaint from other folks.

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[Whosprim]

non-adjustable single roller with 6* retard

Ok. So the factory one had the 6 degree retard? I'm swapping to a mild CC cam with that effect the timing on the cam? Not knowledgeable on this engine. Thanks in advance.