wildcamaro

iTrader: (15)

Hey what's up...I am trying to build a budget friendly car right now and I know internal engine parts are not the best place to cut corners BUt....I got some low mile ls7 lifters from a guy that was running an ls6 cam...I would think they would be better than the 200k mile ones currently in my engine...my question is there a way to make sure lifters are good short of just running them? All the rollers look great and all the needle bearings look good as well, I just don't know what else to look for...thanks

Ps...I reused my 72k mile lifters during the cam swap on my other ls1 and have had no issues at all and those are the old ls1 design ls1 lifters not the ls7s that I picked that are in question.

salemetro

iTrader: (5)

Here's my take....from my trying to do the exact same thing.

DON'T skimp on lifters. Period. I did....I used new "ls7" lifters with a 5308 "z06" cam....nothing crazy there. In my case, it was a big mistake....a mistake that means I now have to replace the lifters again...only 3k miles and 3 different sets/lengths of pushrods later from trying to stop the noise.

I dropped the coin on the good stuff this time....too bad I get to pull the heads back off to cure the noise. The aftermarket springs that I used on the heads are overpowering the ls7 lifters. Maybe just my bad luck, but I'll never use ls7 lifters again. I have learned from a reputable source that has tested over 400 ls7 lifters, that hardly any of the ls7 lifters meet GMs specs out of the box.....meaning that they bleed off too quickly if you use stiffer-than-stock springs.

I know that many folks here will swear by the ls7's....but I'm not one of them. Been there, done that. Never again.

If you're on a budget, and don't want to do it twice, then check out Comp's lifters if you're not using a really rowdy cam profile. If you ARE, then look at Morel, Lunati, Scorpion, etc.

Just my $.02

vettenuts

iTrader: (4)

I would agree. If they were easy to get at like the older SBC setup, I might take a chance. But having to pull the heads again if it doesn't work out is too much risk in my opinion.

wildcamaro

iTrader: (15)

I will be running a stock z28 cam with stock springs...still think I should get new lifters?

Johnnystock

iTrader: (6)

My car has the stock LS1 lifters since 115K+ miles, and 55K at least with the H/C swap. This why I'm going with LS7 lifters for my rebuild...but I'm still nervous about it after reading all the story about lifters failing.

For a stock rebuild, I would go with stock GM.

How much mileage on your used lifters?

chrisfrost

iTrader: (8)

My take is they are easy to disassemble and clean and re-oil ,,,,,,,,just remove the clip by pushing down on the plunger cap and then remove that cap and the round flat piece then with a bolt that fits into the plunger pull up with a slight pressure sideways so You're bolt will grab the inside of the plunger ,,,,,,sometimes it takes 2 or 3 tries before the air seeps in the relieve the vacuum being created , then the spring and ball bearing ,,,,,,,,,,,clean and install maybe 10 - 20 drops of oil back inside before reassembling in reverse order of removal . If You can't depress the plinger cap down in far enough to get clip back in remove the cap and flat piece and use You're bolt to push the plunger down a little more then proceed . I usually re-stretch the spring while it's apart .

wildcamaro

iTrader: (15)

That's the info I was looking for...thanks frost and everyone else

thunderstruck507

iTrader: (18)

I ran used lifters on my last cam and they worked fine but I checked them all out well before hand.

I didn't have time to order new ones this time with the new heads/cam and had a set of lightly used 350 vortec lifters so I tossed them in and they are working well so far. *knock on wood*