My setup
TSP 113LSA Camshaft Torquer V2
660 Dual valve springs
Chromoly pushrods
CompCams Retro fit trunnion
Blue demon lvl2 36lb injectors
3,000 yank stall converter
Longtube headers & true dual axle dump exhaust


I was told if I install this setup i need to add lifters for it but it took me a week to finish this bc it was my first time & I didn’t want to remove the cylinder heads, so is it okay if i can make 20-50 more horespower before i replace them or do have to get them swapped out soon?


Im making 352 whp & 405 flywheel
torque is 340 wheel & 392 flywheel


The car has 191k miles but motor was rebuilt back in 2017

 

It’s normal to always replace the lifters with a new cam.

 

How many miles on current lifters? While you should replace, you may not have to.
It is not an issue of how much HP but more about wear in general.
If miles are low and you put good lifters in when you rebuilt, I would stab a new cam and go. (I would check pushrod length)

 

That is optimal but that would mean every cam swap involves pulling the heads to access lifters which is not the usual.

 

With 191k on the clock, I probably would. Don't use some cheap crap though. There's a lot of cheap "LS7" lifters out there that are Chinese knockoffs.

That said, I used stock lifters for about 10k miles with my Torquer V2 cam, until I swapped heads at 65k, they were perfectly silent.

Also FYI, horsepower doesn't affect the lifters. RPM, valve train weight, spring pressure, lift, and cam ramp rates are what affect lifters.

 

With flat tappets, yes, but not with rollers. Flat tappets have to "wear in" to the cam lobe and break in to each other. Rollers don't need to do that. They are reusable as long as they are in good shape.

 

I can tell you that my car had the entire motor destroyed because I decided to cheap out and not replace the lifters and I had a cam that was smaller than the torquer V2. If I could do it all over again I would have replaced with LS7 lifters. At 191k I would absolutely replace the ls1 lifters.

a few hundred bucks is a lot less than a few thousand.

 

They are reusable AS LONG AS THEY ARE IN GOOD SHAPE.
I should have stressed this....

 

People have had motors destroyed by lifters and didnt even put a cam in. Is it a good idea to do? yea. Do you have to? No. Are you taking a chance by not doing it? yea, but you are also taking a chance everytime you stick the gas pedal to the floor. Did I change my lifters in any cam swap i've ever done? Nope. No problems either. i did put new lifters when i built a new engine. I even had the heads off the cam swap 5.7, twice, and didnt change the lifters while the heads were off. Maybe I like to live on the edge? My truck had 189k miles on it when i put a cam in it and didnt change the lifters. I put a cam in that truck over two years ago and its still going to this day.

 

Stock lifters are fine for camshafts with 0.600" lift. You can do more but you won't make more power.
They will handle dual valve springs rated at 0.660" lift.
The power drops off early, like 6,500 rpm with GM lifters, in my case compared to Johnson lifters.
Lifters don't fail from horsepower. The only thing related with hp and stock lifters is valvetrain stability and geometry, which then results in HP difference.
Excessive preload will cause problems and break stuff. Spend the time to measure pushrods. You don't have to get 16 different exact sizes.
LS7 lifters are the same as the old lifters in terms of performance. All stock GM lifters vary slightly throughout the years in construction.


I was revving stock 200,000 mile lifters and new LS7 lifters up to 7,500. Nothing happened because I have high oil pressure and change oil on time.

 

Okay I think i will just keep the stock lifters in the car until I replace my 241 heads for 243 or PRC’s

 

Awesome thanks!

 

Don't the LS7 lifters have an improved oil hole?

 

Great advice.

 

thanks! I had a few people tell me my engine would have a nuclear meltdown if I didn’t pull the heads and replace lifters. Yea, no thanks. Might as well do heads and cam at the same time. But I didn’t have (couldn’t afford) heads yet. So should I just have waited? I mean that’s what everyone else does right? We all know EVERYONE pulls the heads off of an ls motor on every cam swap. Right?

I sense your sarcasm, it’s unfortunate you had bad luck, but it’s DEFINITELY NOT TYPICAL. it’s not even common. You don’t hear about the THOUSANDS AND THOUSANDS of successful cam swaps that did not change lifters because why would you? But you’ll hear about a handful of people that did have issues. How do we even know it wasn’t installer error?

To anyone reading this.....do whatever the flock you wanna do. But me, I’ll continue to take advantage of the LS engines ease of cam changes without removing heads.

 

.
This...
Save your cash.
Stock lifter's are just fine.
Drama queens just trying to start you second guessing yourself. I would bet there's been hundreds of LS1 cam swaps done without changing lifters without any problems whatsoever.
No worries

 

Car may have a lot of miles on it but OP states engine was rebuilt 2017 so lifters are only 3-4 years old. Slap in a cam and let her rip.