whats the difference between cams

so what is this the difference between flat tappet and hydraulic cam ext.. and i am going to build a mild 350 with stock heads a weiand intake whats the most lobe cam i can get and still run on the street its going in a 74 nova so what is the best headers to get

Quickie definitions:

Roller lifter = lifters that have a wheel on the end that follows the cam lobe

Flat tappet = non-roller style lifter that has a flat end that follows the cam lobe

Hydraulic = lifter designed with an oil chamber in it that automatically changes height (slightly) to take up the slack caused by wear in the valvetrain

Solid = lifter that does not compress, and has no oil chamber in it

How much lift you can run is dependent on a few things:

1) valve to piston clearance - how much room is there between the valve head and the piston top
2) spring bind height - what is the shortest you can compress the springs without having the coils touch
3) valve seal height - how much room is there between the valve seal and the spring retainer

Without specific info on your engine, it's hard to recommend anything. You really need to know the above info to find out the max lift you can run. It all boils down to how much room you've got.

In general...no guarantees...you can get away with running a .450 lift cam (using stock ratio 1.5 rockers) on most stock engines.

Even if you know the max lift you can run, that may not be the best cam to pick. Keep in mind that the performance you get out of an engine is the COMBINATION of a bunch of things (cam, intake, heads, exhaust, compression ratio, gearing, vehicle weight) Changing just one of those things without considering the rest of them is not going to get you a huge improvement. In fact, if you chose badly, you can actually hurt performance.

I would go ahead and convert it to hyd roller and not ever have to worry about lobes.

The best street set up I’ve come across for a 350 with stock heads is a .488/.510 hydraulic cam, Weiand Stealth intake or you can go with a single plain intake such as a Edelbrock Torker II Intake , Holley 650 double pumper, headers, and a 3000 rpm stall. You can run this set up with flat tops or domes but I would put 1.46 valve springs on your heads. You can run your stock HEI distributor. With the right rear end gear and tire combination you should be able to run in the 13s all day.


As far as headers go I have always like Hooker Super Comps but Headman also makes some really good headers but it mostly depends on your budget, you can get a good set of headers, such as Flowtech or Dynomax for around a bill and they will be fine for you.