I was reading around yesterday and came across the lifter tray mod. What do you all think about it? I was thinking about doing it while the motor is apart.

 

I did it when I installed the head and cam setup i'm running

 

I did it for my 408 build...I would caution you when drilling to use a drill bit thats not too aggressive ....that composite plastic has a tendency to crack if the drill bit grabs it too quickly....know what I mean?....

 

i picked up an extra set of trays just in case.... for 20 bucks i figured i couldn't go wrong... esp since anything that could go wrong always does

 

I researched this quite a bit for my own car and decided against it. Unless you spend a lot of time on the track or at high RPM's its really not worth it. the general idea is to allow oil to flow out of the lifter trays quickly. This is really only beneficial in situations where oil starvation may come into play. (ie. high RPM or lots of turns like a track). For a street car you want oil in the lifter trays since they are hydraulic lifters and you're not likely to see oil starvation.

 

For racing applications YES
For street, no, prefer to leave the cups as is. I however change them every time I swap the heads, which is about every two years.

 

Why only racing applications?

 

This will not be a daily driver, but also not a race car. I will definitely see track time both 1/4 and road coarse. The motor is going in my '71 Chevelle and should stay under 7000rpm.

Is this the correct part number for the tray: 12551162

http://www.sdparts.com/product/12551...ideLS1LS6.aspx

Any reason for changing them? Anything else I should do while it's open?

Already doing cam, caddy lifters, LS6 ported pump, front seal, oil pan gasket, other misc. gaskets, MLS headgaskets w/ ARP studs, pushrods, and valve springs.

 

where can u get new cups? and any idea on pricing? my motor only has 20k on it but why the hell not while im in there.

 

W2W does this. Call them & ask Billy why..

 

The lifters aren't fed from the top though, so keeping them filled w/ oil will not really do anything for you. However, I do agree that there wouldn't be a benefit for a regular street car.

 

I did mine to.

 

The whole pupose of draining them quicker is to recover more oil in the cranckcase at a quicker pace. This is why I'm not a big fan of high volume oil pumps on street or extended high rpm areas.
Increasing oil pressure is good, but increasing pump capabilty can lead to sucking the pan dry. This is where the wholes help a bit as a trick to recover more oil down low.

 

Like the others said, if the motor lives at top RPM, then it might help. I bought the LS2 trays and left them intact for strength...

 

I didn't do it for two reasons, first only see a need for high RPM. Second, you are drilling into a non-metallic that could crack later. I personally didn't think the gain (if any) was worth the risk. New trays, definitely, they will hold the lifters better if you ever do cam work again without removing the heads.

 

Use the JRP tool to hold the lifters up. Not the russian roulette method. But I did not do it. Only for getting oil to the pan quicker.

 

whats different on the ls2 guide's???

 

okay, some of you say its not worth it, some say it doesnt matter. how about for an engine that could see starvation from being on its side and upside down? (in a rockcrawler)

thanks,

jeremy

 

Then you'd need dry sump.