mechanical roller? or just stick to hydraulic?

Lemme ask one more question here concerning the heads with mechanical valve springs. My buddy at work has a 10.50s N/A 347S notchback. He has the AFR 205 heads and he has 10.9:1 CR. I asked him about the springs and he said he just converted his motor to Mechanical Roller instead of hydraulic roller, which most of us know can handle more RPM than hydraulic. My question is, since im planning on ordering the whole valvetrain soon (including the retro-fit hydraulic roller lifter kit to make my '75 351W block a roller) should i just step it up to a mechanical roller setup instead? From what i understand, the reason that you have to get retro-fit lifters to run a standard roller cam is b/c the lifter bores are to short in a flat tappet block, and the roller blocks have longer bores?? right? The guy at work said that the Mechanical roller lifters are shorter than the hydraulic roller......soooo.....could i just run a mechanical roller setup without doing a "roller conversion"?? I think i may go out of my mind soon!:rlaugh: Just so many dam options! Can i even do this with my block, or just stick to the hydraulic roller
 
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The reason you need tie bar lifters is that those blocks were never machined for the dogbone and spider setup the factory roller blocks have. They are too tall for one and there is no way to keep the lifters from spinning without the dogbone so a tie bar is used. As far as cams are concerned a hyd. generally leave 10-15 horse on the table over a mech. and about 1,000 rpms its your choice really. With a mech. though you will have to relash periodically.
 
Ok, so will i still need some retro fit crap if i go to a solid roller cam setup? Because everything i have seen is just the hydraulic retro fit.........?? My buddy at work is building a '66 289ci block and punching it to a 347, and i asked him about it and he said you can go solid roller without a retrofit kit.........and that the hydraulic needs it obviously like everyone has been telling me.......is this true?? i know you would still need a link bar setup so they dont spin in the bore, but do you need the $500 lifter kit?
 
I wonder realistically how much RPM the solid rollers are capable of going to. I'm running hydraulics to 7000 rpm on my 331. So can I go to 9000rpm with a solid roller and a nice valvetrain?
 
honestly, im surprised your going to 7000 with hydraulic, thats pushing it. But if you go solid, you can rev to wherever you want to as long as the bottom end will hold. My friend has a 408S with Yates heads, and hes shifting around 7800-8000 and he is obviously running a solid roller valvetrain. My other buddy at work with the 347S in a notch is running 10.37@128 NA and switched from hydraulic rolller to solid roller and he shifts his car at 7500rpm and he goes through the traps with a C4 and 4:30 gears and a 28" tire at 7300. Anything over 7000rpm with hydraulic is asking for trouble. Dont get me wrong, i have done it too, haha! Just got lucky i didnt float any valves. My dad also convinced me to go with the solid roller b/c he had the same setup in an Olds 442, and he was shiftin that puppy at 8200 rpm and it held together with no valvetrain failure. If you are using ur car strictly as a race car, and only hittin da streets every so often go for it! But if you drive on the street all the time, stick with hydraulic. Im sure a lot of the other guys on here can give you some suggestions too, they helped me out a sh*@load! Also, higher rpm doesnt mean ur gonna get a ton more power unless you have the right cam, heads, intake etc. My 2 friends i mentioned have the Yates heads, and AFR 205s and Super Vic. intake with cams around .660" lift, 2" primaries on the headers yada yada yada! haha, good luck!