Oil restriction question

[mike1965]

I have a 440 motor that I put a solid roller cam in and I was told that with a solid cam I should restrict the oil going to the lifter's and I was just wondering do I need to do this or should I just leave it the way it is.

The motor had a hydraulic cam in it .

Also this is a street car.

Thanks Mike

 

[lewtot184]

never heard that one before. restricting oil to the lifter/lifter galley would restrict oil to the bearings. simple answer: don't. some folks advocate restricting oil to the rockers. if one looks carefully at the factory rocker oiling design they will notice that it already has restriction designed into it thru the #4 cam bearing journal oil feed holes.

 

[Meep-Meep]

The small block requires that the oil to the lifter bores be blocked but not for the big block. There is a recommendation for the big block to restrict oil to the lifters for an all out race application and that is done by bushing the lifter bores. Note that the intake and exhaust lifter bores for #2 cylinder should not be bushed as that will restrict oil to the mains. This is per the old DC book.

 

[mike1965]

I was told by someone at 440 source to plug the hole on the drivers side of the cam with a small frost plug , he said you don't need it with a solid cam only hyd.cam needs the extra oil anyone ever done this or heard of it.

Mike

 

[lewtot184]

I was told by someone at 440 source to plug the hole on the drivers side of the cam with a small frost plug , he said you don't need it with a solid cam only hyd.cam needs the extra oil anyone ever done this or heard of it.

Mike

if you plug any oil passages that connect to the head then the rockers and push rod tips won't get any oil. i run a solid on the street, have for the past 11 years, built several solid flat tappet and roller engines, and i don't do any of that nonsense. the only way you can get by plugging the passages to the heads is if the rockers have external oiling like the indy heads.

 

[Budnicks]

Depends on what oil pump, oil pan capacity/oil volume & pressure too,
But it's really not necessary to restrict the oil to the top end,
even with full rollers on a BB-Mopar wedge,
some will say it allows too much oil, to drain back down & onto the crank, BUT
the better remedy, maybe is to reroute that drain back oil, that drains back in the lifter valley instead,
towards the ends of the block...

There is an area under the rocker stands, where the second from the rear rocker stand on each head where the studs/bolts hold down, that hold the rocker shafts in-place & feeds the oil to the rockers/shafts
{I've never seen it/restriction done on Cast Iron heads}
that a restrictor plug {allen plug with a hole (IIRC 0.030"-0.060") hole drilled in the center}
the head can be tapped {drilled if necessary to get a tap in there} & restrictor added also,
it would be the best place if you do need it...
I wouldn't think, that it wouldn't restrict the rest of the oiling system, at all, just oil to the rockers/shafts,
but only if it absolutely needs to be done... If you understand what I'm trying to say/show

Disclosure;
I've never done it myself, never had a need to either, even with a full roller valve-train

just my thoughts $0.02 cents

maybe our esteemed head & engine guru Jim/IQ52 will chime in,
he's had personal experience in this area...


good luck

 

[Meep-Meep]

if you plug any oil passages that connect to the head then the rockers and push rod tips won't get any oil. i run a solid on the street, have for the past 11 years, built several solid flat tappet and roller engines, and i don't do any of that nonsense. the only way you can get by plugging the passages to the heads is if the rockers have external oiling like the indy heads.

Yep. As long as the lifter fits well in the bore you won't have a high oil demand at that point. The solid lifter in this case acts like a plug.

And I would not be cutting the oil off at the lifter galley on the drivers side unless I were to bronze bush the lifter bores. But like you I won't consider blocking it in the first place. If one is worried about too much oil demand run a Milodon deep rotor external line pump.

 

[lewtot184]

everytime i see a restricter in the head i take it out and throw it away. the rocker gear only gets a spurt of oil thru the #4 cam journal passages every 720 degrees of crankshaft rotation. now, if the #4 cam journal is grooved for full time oiling to the rocker gear or there is full time oiling off the oil galley above the #5 cam journal then i'd consider control to the upper end. i've never understood the reasoning of restricting oil to the rockers but then adding spray bars. to me; bushing the bores would have more to do with correcting geometry and tappet angles. some aftermarket blocks are bushed because there isn't a lifter bore galley (priority main oiling). i guess the real thing i'm getting at here is smoking the valve train in the name of oil control.

 

[mike1965]

What I was told was when you look at the back of the block where the trans bolts to there's a cam frost plug and smaller threaded plugs on either side of that the one to the left of that is the plug you take out and put a small frost plug in till it bottom's out then put the threaded plug back in .