Camshaft parts - lifters, pushrods, rockers etc... for H404

[dnb]

I've pretty much decided on fitting an H404 cam in the Griff. I may have to do it sooner than I planned due to the not insignificant ticking noises from the engine. Will see later this week if that is the case.

I was thinking that fitting the H404 with the standard parts would be a particularly daft idea, so I will be replacing (as a minimum)

cam bearings: After 100k miles they must be pretty tired now, so it may be a good idea to sort these out... Worth the bother?

the lifters: [url]www.v8tuner.co.uk/product.php?id=77[url] Has anyone used these Rhoads Bleed-down lifters before? Do they do what they say on the box? If they work, can I risk something wilder than a 404 and have a hope of a nice idle???

Rockers: Yella Terra roller rockers look nice, but more than I want to spend at this stage, so I will go for conventional design, but heavy duty steel ones. (Are there any other roller rockers available?)

Push rods: Are adjustable ones necessary, or can I get away without? My gut feel says "adjustable" so that each rod can be preloaded exactly right. And they'll probably be necessary for the roller rockers anyway.

Valve springs: I'm just going to use what v8d sell me with the cam...

What have I forgotten? Other than titanium valves?

Thanks!

[hoover.]

Which bank are you robbing ???? I'll bring my own balacava if we can split the loot

[clive f]

try [url]www.v8engines.com[/url]
you may have seen this already, but if not worth a look.

[jester7]

Have you had a chat with V8D to see what they recommend?? Another good company for parts are Real Steel 01895 440505 i know they do the Rhoades lifters and roller rocker sets. And i belive someone used there valve springs in there Griff, worth a chat.

[David H]

Cam bearings do last a long time usually, but if you have the time and skill then yes it's worth doing them (they're very cheap).

Adjustable pushrods are nice but not necessary for a hydraulic cam (rather spend money elsewhere).

Rhoads Bleed-down lifters do what they say but are noisey and the engine noise is a big part of the Griff experience for me.

For rockers I went normal heavy duty steel, roller rockers would have been nice but the price is stupidly high.

Are you sure you want the H404 and not the Stealth? I'm now going down the stand alone ecu for mapped fuel/ignition route, to optimise my setup (I know you already have this so should be ok). Hopefully it'll help reduce the lumpyness of the H404 significantly! But once 'on cam' it does try and pull my head off

[GreenV8S]

I believe that if you replace the cam bearings the replacements will need to be inline reamed. That's quite a job. I'd be inclined to see whether it was actually necessary before disturbing the cam bearings.

You only need adjustable pushrods if you're using solid lifters. Adjustable pushrods are heavier and more flexible than non-adjustable (as well as being much much more expensive) so really best avoided unless you *need* them.

If you're replacing the cam then you will obviously need new lifters as a matter of course, and if you replace the rocker arms you'll need to replace the rocker shaft too. I've never used Rhoads lifters myself but I've heard them, and they sound absolutely terrible. I would treat that as a last resort to tame the cam, and if the cam is so wild that it needs it with standard induction then I'd question whether it was suitable for a road car. I've had a fairly leary 234 cam in the V8S and the bottom end was a bit lumpy but not bad enough to cause any problems.

[gerjo]

David H said:

Are you sure you want the H404 and not the Stealth? I'm now going down the stand alone ecu for mapped fuel/ignition route, to optimise my setup (I know you already have this so should be ok). Hopefully it'll help reduce the lumpyness of the H404 significantly! But once 'on cam' it does try and pull my head off

hi David,
Could you report how the mapped ignition turns out? I have the H404 too and I love it; indeed, it would be nice if it's a bit smoother at low revs.

[dnb]

Thanks for the comments. I had a feeling the Rhodes lifters sounded too good to be true... Not too fussed about a bit of noise, but wouldn't like it to become a clatterbox engine.

My problem is that Nic won't really be happy with any "mild lumpiness" and I won't be happy with a "slow" car when I could have spent the same money and had it considerably faster.

Sounds like the rebuild is at least getting cheaper.

[pupp]

If it helps, mine has an H404 in and is quite civilised and driveable low down... tickover is a bit off-beat but the car is perfectly liveable with.

[v8 racing]

The rhoads lifters do work to a degree, they basically knock about 10 deg of duration of, obviously the overlap it knocks of depends on you duration, the only downside is the noise they make and for top end power because they take time to pump back up you will lose lift on the initial excelaration untill they pump up.