[mchell]

Originally Posted by Cliff R

Cliff, What cam are you currently running in your 455 combo?

The current engine uses SD's "Old Faithful" cam with 1.65 rockers on it. It's on a 112 LSA with the ICL at 109.5. Idles nearly dead smooth with 13.5 vacuum at 750rpms. Excellent street manners.

My first 455 had 6X-4 iron heads and Crower 60919 cam, Rhoads lifters and high ratio rockers on it. It made great power and excellent street manners as well, 12" vacuum at 700-750 rpm's, strong off idle power and ran as quick as 12.0's at 112MPH at the track. Later on I added KRE heads for the KRE dyno head testing that made HPP and Popular Hot Roddings "Engine Masters" articles. A few years later I did some cam testing and replaced the Crower 60919 with a custom ground hydraulic roller cam with 230/242/112 specs. It was worth 3hp/4ft lbs torque for the $1000 investment. It does show us that you can mimic the power of a well chosen roller cam with a flat cam using Rhoads lifters and high ratio rocker arms.

I did run a bit quicker at the track with the HR cam, best ever with the flat cam was 11.64. I went 11.52 with the HR cam and almost 2mph faster........Cliff

Cliff,

Thanks for that info...still having a tough time stomaching the extra expense vs gain myself.

Do you know anyone running the road paver grind?

Wondering if I do choose to go roller if I should look stepping it up a notch. Or simply stay with what I’m using.

A couple more questions if I may:

What forged cranks are being used/recommended these days?

Would you even consider building a 3.25 main engine if starting from scratch? Considering the stroker kits available etc.

Sorry for the bother but appreciate any input....thanks