Cam And Roller Lifters VR V6

[GunnaBeSumthingVP]

OK Guys so im thinking about a CAM and Roller Lifters and possibly head work...Just done High-Ratio roller rockers..
i've got a VR V6 With a Buick 3.8

Just wondering if anyone has done it yet and what sort of power are they getting..

[GunnaBeSumthingVP]

BUMP

Really no one has this done???

[cander24]

Maybe chuck up a little more info, such as the specs of the cam you were thinking about as this will change figures quite a bit. Also, what sort of head work were you looking at? Just a rough clean up/smoothing of the ports or a little more extensive with some flow testing?
If you do go with a new cam i'd be ditching the rockers and go back to stock ratio. In most instances the combined lift of high ratio rockers and a cam with greater than standard lift will end in disaster. Yes there are cams on the market that are profiled for use with higher ratio rockers (i.e the cam has pretty much stock lift), but I dont see the point and think you're better off with just the cam. New lifters with a new cam is always a very sensible practice.

[GunnaBeSumthingVP]

Shit eh....

Not really to keen on ditching the rockers as they cost me $600 and only had them in 4 days...
but yeh i was only thinking a little bit bigger then stock cam and also roller lifters to get rid off all friction
and most probally port and polished heads..

[GTP 85]

Maybe hit up MACE and ask what cam could be compatible with your rockers? S1 or S2 would be ok off the top of my head.

But there is lots of other stuff to take into consideration too, its not 'just a cam' install....

fitting cost, valve springs, retainers, collets, timing set, gasket kit, sealants, oil, coolant.... and the big one, tuning.

Oh yea... and the buick could do with a bit more compression too

[GunnaBeSumthingVP]

Yeh i have considered all that and when i talked to MACE they said unless your going into massive RPM's valve springs slow your car...
yeh and about the tuning i'm not sure there is anyone that tunes the old buicks....

[cander24]

they said unless your going into massive RPM's valve springs slow your car...

Yes, this is correct, as to compress a greater spring seat pressure requires more effort and therefore demands more power to do this... We're only talking little numbers though. In saying this, depending on your cam choice (particularly the amount of lift) heavier valve spring upgrades may be necessary to avoid valvetrain failure. The tiny bit of power you'll lose with heavier springs can be negated by the otherwise positive gains you'll see with the right choice of cam.

[GunnaBeSumthingVP]

Yeh thats the thing i aint got no idea on what cam to get...i messaged MACE and they said we might be able to help you we might not
And i have found someone that tunes the old buicks so if i do go ahead with it..i should be ok

So what do you think a S1 or S2 CAM??

[cander24]

I can't really help on that one sorry as all my experience is with the ecotec 6 and L67. If you really want to keep your high ratio rockers, you'll need to determine how much lift the vr heads can safely handle and make sure the extra lift you've gained with your rockers plus the new cam doesn't exceed this. Once your lift starts getting into some nice numbers, you really then want to upgrade springs to something a little heavier. But, with increased lift and heavier springs you're now putting a much greater load on other components such as your timing chain which is not going to hold up to this punishment for too long. This is when you want something like a double roller timing chain which is much stronger and a must in my opinion with any decent sized cam. However, the double roller chain will foul on your balance shaft gear, so now you'd need to disable the balance shaft by either just removing the drive gear or removing it completely and plugging up the rear oil feed to it etc etc. I'm by no means trying to put you off a cam (im all for them) but just think you should really do your research first before jumping into anything (i know, that's why you asked the question in the first place which is good )
To sum up, unless you're willing to do some supporting (and expensive) mods to safely handle a decent cam that's going to last, i would only be looking at a small cam (especially with other than stock ratio rockers). What ratio are you running by the way?
Hopefully some other members who've done this with a vr can help you out a little more.
Hope that helps a little
All the best with it!

[GunnaBeSumthingVP]

The Rockers i got in there are High-Ratio and are 1.9:1

Yeh but thats what im thinking i dont want a huge lumpy cam i just want something a little bigger
then stock to give it a bit more punch thats all im not trying to build the fastest V6

I'll see what MACE and Crow Cams have to say anywho...

[Brett_jjj]

I know a couple of blokes who have better cams fitted in their V6's and they go well for N/A 6's.I will be doing this to my VSV6 in the next couple of months.Its not just the lift,its also the duration of the cam,or how long the valves are held open for,people go on about lift,you dont need huge valve lift to make good power,a longer duration will do the same thing with less stress on the valvetrain components,ask the guys where you buy it from about it anyway,theyll steer you in the right direction if they know their stuff, and you only need heavy valve springs if your reving it up around the redline all the time.Also you should always fit new lifters with the new cam, as the lifters and cam lobes wear in as a matched set basically, if you fit a new cam with old lifters,it will wear the new cam lobes out in no time.

[GunnaBeSumthingVP]

Yeh thanks for that Brett_JJ i just spoke to MACE and they said they have designed a cam specially for high-ratio rockers and he said also i should
do double row timing chain and upgraded valve springs...