Anyone use a ho- racing hc-02 cam without rhoads lifters?
 

Most reading i have done on this cam indicates usage of rhoads lifters, to tame the idle quality, ect as rhoads lifters do. But everywhere i look, rhoads is way backordered. Out by months. So i am looking so see if anyone has run without them and how your car responded. Or if anyone has a new set of rhoads they would care to part with, i would be interested in that as well. Thank you

That cam in a 400 or 455 will be fine with most lifters. Johnson hylift would be my choice

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I also ran their HC03 in a roundport 455 with normal lifters. Never an issue with vacuum.

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Hc-02
 

Ran it 25 years in a manual trans 400. Pulled excellent to past 5500 ,and nice idle. You definitely do not need bleed down lifters

The H-O cam spec sheet I have describes the HO-02 as 744HL Do you have a cam card? What size engine are you going to install the cam in?

Stan

PS Let add this H-O Recommendation Chart - Not very easy to read.

the HC-02 will fast idle (800rpm) with about 11-13 " vacuum

Stan, i do not have a cam card. I found a couple online. Its going in a mostly as built 72 455ho, mid 8's on cr. th400, 3.08 gear 72 gto. Stock converter, with a/c and power brakes.

Ken, is that without rhoads lifters? Also have some ho racing vs-13 valve springs. Anybody know if these are to aggressive? Man i wish i had a ho catalog that had some insight on these parts i have.

This is one i have found for the hc-02

Hc-02
 

I had 13 inches vacuum in the 400

The 744 High Lift from Wolverine Cams is similar.
A 455 engine with that camshaft made 12" of vacuum with the cheap gage we had.

Tom V.

You can’t nail down vacuum numbers because the smaller the chamber in the head is the higher the vacuum will be.

All things being equal a 455 would have almost 1.6 inches more vacuum then a 400 at the same rpm.

THE ENGINE IN MY POST #11 HAD 87CC ALUMINUM HEADS.

Tom V.

I am
 

In a 10.1 cr 400, KRE, HS 1.65's. This is the 'cam card' I got when I bought it in the middle 80's. I went with the recommended lifters and springs. I'm fairly certain the lifters are not Rhoads or bleed downs. 10.5 - 11" vac at 750 rpm. I'm finding it just a bit difficult to keep my foot out of it. I do have a vid of it idling, if you like.

Tooski, According to that information, the camshaft info you supplied from the camshaft you bought in the 80s is a true RA-IV type grind not a 744 grind. The 231/243 is very close to stock Pontiac RA-IV duration specs at .050" lift checking points.

Tom V.

Tom, that's what I thought; but, in one of the RA-IV cam streetability threads I posted the same info and was told there was no comparison because a real RA-IV had quite a bit more overlap.

My brother ran an HO Racing HC-02-A with standard lifters in an automatic, stock 1971 455 H.O. Blue with White Stripe Trans Am. I don't have the camshaft card anymore, but I specifically remember it reading 301/313 Advertised Duration, 232/242@.050, .465"/.469" lift, and 112° Lobe Separation. It ran really well for a basically stock 1971 455 H.O. with stock, low 8-1 compression. It had mild stuff done to it, like a HO Racing distributor advance curve kit, and maybe some different Primary/Secondary Rods for the factory Qjet. He ran the Crane HI-6 ignition, Super Duty rods, Forged flatop pistons and it was Balanced. It had stone stock 197 HO heads, stock HO Intake, and stock HO round port manifolds. There were zero problems with power brakes, even with the low compression and standard lifters. This was back in the late 90's/early 2000's, and looking back on it now, there was alot of potential left on the table with that car. Had a real nice idle around 750-800 RPM that I would describe as "Racy", not "Rough" or "Lopey". He ran 3.42 gears, the factory TH400 beefed up internally and a TCI Breakaway(2400 stall) converter in it.

You know who Ken is, right ?
He ran H-O Racing. There is your insight on the parts you have. Just ask him.

Back in 1982 when I bought my 69 GTO I went to a local shop and asked him "how do I make this thing go faster? " He told me "put a BBC in it". I turned around and walked out, never spoke to him again.
Went out and found High Performance Pontiac magazine and looked at the adds.

I found Nunzi
Rons Pontiac.
Bethel,s Goat Farm.
Rock and Roll Engineering.
Crane Cams.
Comp Cams
Jim Taylor.
Whitmore Engine Service. Dan became my Pontiac mentor.
Jim Butler. (Dan was his first machinist)
And H-O Racing.

Bought catalogs from Rons, Nunzi, R&RE, Jim Butler and became friends with Dan
And still have My H-O Racing catalog, Torker Tuning Secretes, HD parts and Specs books. And worn the Pete McCarthy SS book to pieces.

Good times.
And still hate Chevy,s in Pontiacs.

Yep i know who ken is. As far as i understand, he has retired. I guess i feel like i dont want to bother him. He has probably been asked the same silly questions a million times. I dont want to drive anybody away by pming ect. He is a member here, and re already responded in this thread. He may come around again. I am grateful for the guys that have been i for the long haul to still come here to the forum. . I am appreciative for anyones opinion.

The amount of overlap shown in post 9 is that same amount as a factory RA4 cam.