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Hydraulic Roller Cams
Pontiac V8 Hydraulic Roller Cams
Start Here — Hydraulic Roller Cams for Pontiac V8s
Hydraulic roller is the modern answer for a Pontiac V8. A roller lobe carries more lift for the same seat timing, runs with far less friction than a flat tappet, and skips the break-in ritual entirely. Pontiac never built a factory roller block, so everything here is a retrofit package, and that brings its own short list of requirements.
Butler groups the roller cams into the Hi-Torq Street, Performance and Aggressive series, the Max HP boosted and N/A grinds, the Ram Air Series retrofit reproductions, Comp Cams book grinds and Lunati Voodoo. Cams, cam and lifter kits and full master kits are stocked across the range.
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More About Hydraulic Roller Cams
1. The Families, and Who Each One Is For
Every hydraulic roller Butler stocks sits in one of these groups. Pick the family first, then the grind.
| Hi-Torq Street Series | the mildest Butler/Comp billet grinds, for an engine that still has to idle in gear and make vacuum. |
| Hi-Torq Performance Series | the 500 to 600 horsepower window, for a built engine with the compression and converter to use it. |
| Hi-Torq Aggressive Series | the largest hydraulic rollers in the Hi-Torq family, up to 300/306 advertised. |
| Max HP | grinds for ProCharger, turbo and nitrous combinations, plus big naturally aspirated Stage 2 and Stage 3 cams. |
| Ram Air Series retrofit | Butler exclusive hydraulic roller versions of the factory 067, 068, Ram Air III 744 and Ram Air IV 041 grinds, plus the McKellar Super Duty reproduction. |
| Comp Cams book grinds and Lunati Voodoo | catalog profiles with published rpm ranges, for builders who already know the grind they want. |
2. What Every Retrofit Roller Needs
These three items are not upsells. They are the difference between a roller cam that lives and one that does not.
| An aftermarket valley pan | a stock valley pan will not clear the tie bar on hydraulic roller lifters. Butler points to TPP-0421 or a BFA fabricated valley pan. |
| A bronze or polymer distributor gear | all hydraulic and solid roller cams require one. The cast iron gear that ran against a flat tappet cam will not survive. |
| Pushrod length checked, not assumed | a retrofit roller lifter is a different height than what came out. Butler's master kits include a checking tool for exactly this reason. |
3. Reading a Cam Spec Before You Buy
The numbers on every product page here mean the same things, and two of them do most of the work.
| Duration at .050" | the comparable number between brands, and the one that tells you where the engine will make power. Advertised duration is measured differently by different grinders and is the less useful figure. |
| Lobe separation | tighter LSA gives a rougher idle and less vacuum but more midrange and peak power; wider LSA idles smoother and makes more vacuum with a broader top end. |
| Lift and rocker ratio | lift is quoted at a stated rocker ratio, usually 1.5:1. Running 1.65:1 raises actual valve lift and brings coil bind and retainer clearance into play. |
If the combination does not land cleanly on one of the stocked grinds, Butler can have a custom hydraulic roller ground to your lobes. Bring displacement, heads, compression, converter and gear, and the choice usually narrows to two.
Comp Cams Book Grinds- Hydraulic Roller Cams Ram Air Series Hyd Roller Retrofit Cam and Cam Kits by Butler Hi-Torq Street Series Hydraulic Roller Cams Hi-Torq Performance Series Hydraulic Roller Cams (500-600 HP) Hi-Torq Aggressive Series Hydraulic Roller Cams Max HP Cams, Boosted / Nitrous / Naturally Aspirated Hydraulic Roller Cams Lunati Voodoo- Hydraulic Roller Cams
Not sure what your Pontiac needs?
Email our tech team at tech@butlerperformance.com. Tell us your engine, heads, car, and power goal, and we will put the parts together as one combination that works.