We have not run the same miles on the lifters in the engine as the ones that failed yet, so I can't say for sure which one will last longer.

Kurt

 

Kurt,

How long did the ones that failed last for???

Did it hurt anything when they did fail??
What lifters is your perferred Lifter to use???

Kyle

 

The ones that failed lasted around 5000 miles. The car is a powerglide with 4.30 gears, so the highway cruise is brutal on the valvetrain (3200-4000rpm)

It took out the cam on that lobe, and scared up a piston because I kept driving it another 400 miles after it broke.

Jesel without question.


Kurt

 

Kurt,

Have you tried Morel's? Any info about them?

What were some signs of a bad lifter? Any noise?

Thanks,
Wes

 

Thanks for the info Kurt...
Ill put Jesel Lifters on my list... since i was looking at Comp's...
Already have there Rockers...
Just waiting on my new heads...
I guess mine wont be as bad with ... a Glide and 3.54's out back...and 28's..
Im around 26-2700 @ 65 mph...

Kyle

 

For all out power solid roller is the way to go but what was said earlier is true, if the motor is sub 7000rpm rev'ed (which 99.5% of the street cars you see are) then the gains will be very minimal. The response is a little crisper on a solid roller but not worth the effort if your gonna have to shift at 6600....

 

Now i agree there since ill be shifting higher then what you have written above....... 74-7500 rpm....

Now with Boost......

 

The lifters usually show signs of going away with lash increase on one cylinder that keeps coming back. Write down what cylinders need to be tightened up when lashing valves if you do it often, and you will see the lash getting loose on a lifter as it goes away. When it finally goes bad it is very noisy, usually starting as a squeal then quickly changing to a cam speed knock.


Kurt

 

Yeah, just look at what LTLHomer's old twin turbo car did. That thing hauled *** and he shifted around 8k+.

 

Kurt, if you guys can't get lifters to last 5,000 miles, what kind of lobes are you guys using?

I guess my question is how did Chevy build solid lifter motors back in the 60's that would last many, many miles?

Does it have to do with the solied ROLLER part? Do the rollers not stand up to the HUGE cams that are usually run with solid lifters?

 

yeah and he also ran into oiling problems...... i think ill stay in the middle....
Were still bushing my lifter bores with my new motor and ill prob try to stay around 74-7500 rpm range tops.....
The higher you spin the motor the harder it is for the stock wet sump setup to keep up.... thats why most switch to dry sump.... and thats another $4500 or so....

 

The wheel/roller/axle is whats failing in the lifters I am trying. The jesel stuff will last a long time, but we are searching for something less expensive that will get the job done. My car is worst case, and most of our customers will not be as hard as we are on them, but I want to know before we sell them what works and for how long. This will give me guidelines for replacement life on our solid roller engines. At this time we try to steer away from solid rollers in street driven cars, although we have used them in rare cases.

Kurt

 

Theres no comparison. The lobe profiles today, plus spring pressures, werent even in cam grinders wet dreams back then. Even the most radical solid lifter cams, L88, LS6/LS7 (thats right) were well under .600 lift. Not to mention duration and ramps.

 

Kurt, am I correct in saying the Morel's failed on you within 5K miles? I am just guessing, because that's what I have.

 

Kurt,

What Jesel PT# are you using??

Kyle

 

The Morel solid lifters last as long as any of the less expensive lifters.

The lifters we use from Jesel are different part numbers to match the engine they are for. My personal favorite is the .937 body with the .850 wheel on center, but some heads can't work with this.


Kurt

 

Thanks for the info, Kurt. I am glad there are experienced guys like you who don't mind sharing good info.

 

How do I check to see if a lifter went bad? I had the squeal that turned into a knock but the lifters look fine. Mine had 300 miles on them.

 

FWIW I do NOT regret going to a solid roller in a street car at all. The powerband is much better and the exhaust sound is much more crisp and clear.

 

And what lifters and Rockers did you go with???

How BIG is the cam??


Wow Kurt i looked into the Jesel Lifters.... $1K is alot for lifters LOL
A guy could have $3K in lifters, rockers and pushrods LOL

Kyle