We didn’t want to go too radical on the camshaft, and we obviously didn’t want a lot of maintenance, since the car sees quite a few street miles. When we decided it was time to refresh the engine, we consulted the folks at COMP Cams to determine the correct parts for the job. There are a few additional parts, as well as additional assembly steps required to make sure the roller camshaft lasts a long time in our small block. While a camshaft swap seems pretty simple, it’s important to note that it’s more than just sticking a new camshaft in the block and re-assembling the engine.

“The goal is to free up a few horsepower with reduced friction, while also matching the camshaft profile to the engine’s current specifications.” With plenty of miles and abuse on the combination, it was time for a mild overhaul, which included pulling the cylinder heads and removing all of the valve train to replace it with a new COMP Cams hydraulic roller setup. It is a flat tappet design, with High Energy hydraulic lifters, hardened pushrods and 1.6 Ultra Gold rocker arms, all from COMP Cams. Along with the big split in duration and valve lift, the nitrous-ready camshaft features a 113-degree lobe separation angle. The camshaft in question is a COMP Cams NX274H camshaft, which is designed for use with nitrous oxide and features a 230/244 duration split at. With flattop pistons, Dart Pro1 Platinum 200cc heads and a Dart dual plane intake, the engine had a mis-matched camshaft profile, due to previous plans that never materialized. The car is a 1964 Corvette, and the engine is a 350ci small block Chevy with a mild mix of modifications, which made for an excellent street car with a little more pep than your average weekend cruiser. Our project car drove into the shop under its own power, but had developed some excessive valve train noise. We want to illustrate the necessary steps involved in converting a hydraulic flat tappet camshaft to a hydraulic roller, using the common small block Chevy as an example.

It’s quite common for a mild mannered small block Chevy to have a roller camshaft and valve train. For instance, camshaft and valve train technology has allowed gear heads to use parts and pieces that were once considered hardcore racing components in their weekend cruisers. Although the platform has remained the same, a lot of the internals are leaps and bounds ahead of the original equipment. However, it still stands at the most popular engine platform, whether you’re dealing with a street rod, a drag car or a rowdy street machine. There aren’t many cutting edge ideas associated with the small block Chevy, as it’s been in the hot rod rotation for 60 years now. By Tommy Lee Byrd Converting a Tried-and-True Small Block Chevy from a Flat Tappet to a Roller Camshaft

Mild cam 350