Crane Cams' camshaft R&D Director Mark Campbell said that Crane put hydraulic roller cams in all of the vehicles in Frank Hawley's drag school. Why? The answer is simple. Low or no maintenance -- which is all important to many racers today who either don't have the time or the inclination to adjust valve lash after each lap. A hydraulic roller cam

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lifter is adjusted to zero lash. No feeler gauge is required; just tighten the adjustment up. This would be an especially important benefit to those who have a high performance street car or a serious bracket racer who has to make round-robin laps during eliminations.

What kind of power can you make with a hydraulic roller cam, you ask? I talked to Scott Walker of ASW Race Engines. When he was the shop foreman at Oddy/Perfection Race Engines, he built a 460 cubic inch rat motor using a custom Isky hydraulic cam and lifters, pump gas, 9-1 compression and an 8-71 blower. It made 800+ hp and 700+ lbs of torque at 6,800 rpm. Plenty of poop for a 7.90 class dragster.

As far as small block engines go, Joe Sherman built a small block, pump gas, four-barrel, mouse motor that in a magazine shootout made an average of 420+ hp and 480+ torque. Not a bad small block.

At Ohio Crankshaft they offer their customers a "street" 550-inch big block engine that develops 600 hp and 675 lbs of torque burning 92 octane gas with a single four-barrel and a hydraulic roller. It could easily be a 10.90 motor and certainly something you could use in a Super Pro car.

So, the bottom line is that unless you have to have mega horsepower or are trying to set the national record, building your next engine using a hydraulic roller or even replacing what you have now with a hydraulic roller cam might be a good move. I mean power, dependability, and low maintenance -- I can't see the downside.

SOURCE BOX

Crane Cams 530 Fentress Blvd. Daytona Beach, FL 32114 386-258-6174 www.cranecams.com	Comp Cams 3406 Democrat Rd. Memphis, TN 38118 1-800-999-0853 www.compcams.com	Isky Racing Cams 16020 S. Broadway Gardena, CA 90247 323-770-0930 www.iskycams.com
Ohio Crankshaft 5453 S.R. 49 Greenville, OH 45331 1-800-333-7113 www.ohiocrank.com	ASW Race Engines Route 27, Box 2490 Lake City, FL 32024 386-754-5618	Oddy's Automotive 651 Bullis Rd. Elma, NY 14059 716-674-2500

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