Camshaft Compatibility

[vorpal]

Hey all, newbie owner here. I recently purchased a '84 Ram 50 G63B with an alleged blown head gasket. Wanting to get out of my comfort zone I bought it without really looking into it. Upon disassembly, the blown head gasket was not the issue, but the cracked head was. Now I need to source a new head and camshaft. Looking online it seems like they came in two flavors. Hydraulic lifters and solid lifters. I also read that the camshaft *does* matter when it comes to the different lifters. Any way to distinguish the two types of cams?

If anyone is located near Boise, ID, I'm willing to purchase some parts

[SubGothius]

In your situation I'd just buy a ready-made rebuilt head. Clearwater has them in stock, which others here have had good luck with:

With core return:
https://www.cylinder-heads.com/produ...lifters-81-86/

Without core return:
https://www.cylinder-heads.com/produ...81-86-no-core/

These have the preferable combination of no jet-valves and non-hydraulic lifters. Only downside of the latter is that you need to adjust valve lash manually every so often, whereas hydraulic lifters are self-adjusting but prone to other problems.

[xboxrox]

I requested & received hydraulic cam and lifters but they had to search every corner of the Clearwater property...

[85Ram50]

My G63B is 2.0. Searching their site said they may not have it.

[SubGothius]

Ah my apologies, had G54B/4G54 on the brain and overlooked you had a G63B (aka 4G63 without jet valves).

Here they've got a 4G63 bare head without cam or valvetrain:
https://www.cylinder-heads.com/produ...e-cast-ch124n/

This search should bring up their other 2.0L heads for the D50/Ram 50; one's a full rebuilt head, but the others come with valves/springs only:
https://www.cylinder-heads.com/?s=mi...ct&dgwt_wcas=1

I gather the Astron 4G52 2.0L was never offered in the States for these trucks, so those should all be Sirius 4G63 2.0L heads, but may wanna contact them to confirm anyway.

[85Ram50]

Thanks. Saved the page.