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Solid Rollers or Flat Tappet for street and strip. Looking for LONGEVITY and low maintenance!

I ran the same set of 892-16 needle bearing lifters in a hemi for nearly a decade. I still have them and they all feel great. I retired them as a preventative maintenance effort. As I said, most lifter failures are a result of an improper combo. The lifter is a better place for a needle bearing than a rocker arm. I’m not a fan of those.
 
Speaking of lash, the aluminum block aluminum head combo make that a challenge. Add in aluminum rocker stands (hemi in my case) and it’s worse.
 
I actually went with bushed rollers for my HEMI this go around. Up till now it’s always had 829’s. These crowers also supply oil to the wheel. Not a cheep date..

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Hemirunner said:
I ran the same set of 892-16 needle bearing lifters in a hemi for nearly a decade.
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That's impossible. I read it right here.

I distinctly remember 100% failure and carnage for the first 40 years with needle bearing lifters until bushing and positive pressure oiling came along. Thank goodness the smart people showed-up to the world of hot rodding about 10 years ago.

I'm not saying that there have not been some improvements and also that some (many) things have gone the other way as well. You have to ask what is driving the so call improvements and why, and how does that specifically apply to my daily or hobby street junk.
 
BSB67 said:
What a reduculoius statement. It's funny what people choose to believe. OEMs have been using them for 30 years. Do they recommend rebuilds every xxxx miles? Do you hear about failures?
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I am only saying that because of solid roller lifter cam owners on this forum and others who post about worn lifters and having to rebuild them. If I'm not as knowledgeable as apparently you are, it's not a "rediculous" statement, and learning is why I started this thread. What I choose to believe? I don't know what to believe, so I ASK.
BSB67 said:
Realistically, what mileage will you put on it annually?
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Unless my drive time dramatically increases, easily less than 5K miles per year.
BSB67 said:
let's pretend for arguement sake that your lifters should be replaced/rebuilt every 30,000 miles. That's like a 3 hour job
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Once again, good for you. It would easily take me an entire day or more to pull the 6bbl, intake, valley pan cover, valve covers, rocker shaft, pushrods, lifters, rebuild them, and reverse the process, cleaning and sealing all of the mating surfaces.
BSB67 said:
talking which cam type will make more power/last longer in a vacuum of what the specific cam lobes/spring pressures are is simply a circular discussion. It is impossable to answer the question.
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That doesn't mean I can't learn from the replies. If I only get information about required maintenance of solid rollers NOT being a problem with oiling, etc in stop and go traffic, or DEFINITELY not a good choice for my application and use habits, or "Hey my stroker makes *** HP/TQ with solid flat tappet lifters and I only have to adjust my lash once a year, cam specs, pressure, etc" that's helpful to someone like me.
 
biomedtechguy said:
I am only saying that because of solid roller lifter cam owners on this forum and others who post about worn lifters and having to rebuild them. If I'm not as knowledgeable as apparently you are, it's not a "rediculous" statement, and learning is why I started this thread. What I choose to believe? I don't know what to believe, so I ASK.

Unless my drive time dramatically increases, easily less than 5K miles per year.

Once again, good for you. It would easily take me an entire day or more to pull the 6bbl, intake, valley pan cover, valve covers, rocker shaft, pushrods, lifters, rebuild them, and reverse the process, cleaning and sealing all of the mating surfaces.

That doesn't mean I can't learn from the replies. If I only get information about required maintenance of solid rollers NOT being a problem with oiling, etc in stop and go traffic, or DEFINITELY not a good choice for my application and use habits, or "Hey my stroker makes *** HP/TQ with solid flat tappet lifters and I only have to adjust my lash once a year, cam specs, pressure, etc" that's helpful to someone like me.
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What I’ve seen over the years is people hammer the crap out of them with improper valve spring pressure, toothpick pushrods and crappy tunes and they start to widen at the fork over the wheel. I’ve had to hammer some back in place to even get them out of the bores.
 
Since there are some real knowledgeable people here on race car valve train technology can someone tell why the newer lightweight flat tappet mechanical lifters are in about the same price range as roller lifters? I noticed Comp Cams selling a set for over $1500 now. Seems a little crazy. Are they necessary for a 6500 rpm motor? Don't mean to re-route your thread Biomed.
 
JackpotJim said:
Since there are some real knowledgeable people here on race car valve train technology can someone tell why the newer lightweight flat tappet mechanical lifters are in about the same price range as roller lifters? I noticed Comp Cams selling a set for over $1500 now. Seems a little crazy. Are they necessary for a 6500 rpm motor? Don't mean to re-route your thread Biomed.
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That’s got to be a typo. The EDM versions are under $237. Get some Howards tool steel EDM versions.
 
68 HEMI GTS said:
I actually went with bushed rollers for my HEMI this go around. Up till now it’s always had 829’s. These crowers also supply oil to the wheel. Not a cheep date..

View attachment 1008916 View attachment 1008917
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They look short,,,,will they fit w/o hitting the lifter boss? Had that issue with the Red zone lifters! After that experience I will NEVER use Isky for anything!!!!!!!:cursin:
 
Hemirunner said:
I ran the same set of 892-16 needle bearing lifters in a hemi for nearly a decade. I still have them and they all feel great. I retired them as a preventative maintenance effort. As I said, most lifter failures are a result of an improper combo. The lifter is a better place for a needle bearing than a rocker arm. I’m not a fan of those.
Click to expand...
I had a Comp 892 fail in a little over 200 passes. The bottom of many of the lifters had spread .002"-.003". Lash was checked every 20-25 passes. Bushed lifter bores, Trend 7/16" x .165" pushrods, T&D paired shaft rockers, Jessel belt, Pac springs 300/810. So no junk. The Isky bushed lifters have been in the motor close to 500 passes. The springs are currently at 300 passes. The valvetrain has no issues. The Comp lifter may live in a mild environment but the chance of failure and the associated cost is to great for me to chance.
Doug
 
I run comp 829's, had very good luck with them. I think the biggest killer for roller lifters is valve float (valve spring unable to control valve). Once the lifter bounces off the cam it's doomed to fail. my 2 cents
 
NSS Guy said:
I run comp 829's, had very good luck with them. I think the biggest killer for roller lifters is valve float (valve spring unable to control valve). Once the lifter bounces off the cam it's doomed to fail. my 2 cents
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Thats just what I have heard and was also told by a very good eng builder who has done many engines for the FAST cars. You have to run enough spring pressure to be sure you get no valve float since as you stated valve float is tuff on the roller lifter pins and may cause damage over time. Myself I did not want to run alot of spring pressure of the roller cam I wanted to use on the street because I plan to put alot of miles on my car and dont want to pull the lifters and inspect them every so often. So I just went with a flat tappet that runs about 145 on the seat. I also know that all the factory cars today that run roller cams use mild hydraulic roller cams that dont run the high spring pressure of the race type roller cams which is one reason normal drivers dont have to worry about the lifters being hurt from valve float. And thats not saying it will always happen as I have friends who run race type roller cams on the street and have many miles on them and have not had them apart. But I also know a few who have lost and eng when a roller lifter came apart. I have heard the newer bushed roller lifters are a good choice today but I cant say I know anyone using the bushed roller lifters yet. Ron
 
Just an update should anyone get into this thread.
I was just told the Molnar 4.25 and 4.50 stroker cranks were the same price, and if I went with the 4.25 the builder would still recommend a single external oil line although he said a ½" "hemi" internal "may suffice" but a 4.50 stroke would require the external line (that he'd prefer for safety anyway). No clearancing required to my Bill Mitchell aluminum block for the 4.50 stroke, and I'm not spinning it to very high RPMs anyway...TORQUE is my power goal, and I have to admit: 572 sounds even cooler when I say it than 541, so that's what I had him order. Molnar crank and rods, Diamond pistons, moly rings and the bearing caps, basically the entire rotating assembly, paid for.
It's taken longer than I wanted, but at least I'm moving forward!
TrickFlow 270s and cam, lifters, rockers, etc will be the next chunk of change.
Oh, and a solid roller cam and lifters, with the focus being on working for the stop and go traffic and cruising I know I'll be doing.
https://www.forbbodiesonly.com/mopa...wedge-powerhouse.237206/page-3#post-912137290
 
vintage chromoly said:
Good move on the solid cam
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Thanks. I had managed to morph the awesome "Modern Max Wedge Performance" thread into a lot of posts about my neurosis regarding the kind of lifters and cam I (my builder) was going to put in the 572, so I did a thread search knowing I had had indepth discussions about that before, and thought I should update it (this one).
I appreciate the vote of confidence, now where's that SawsAll so I can cut the hood open for my Rural Route mailbox-turned-hoodscoop?:eek: :D :)
 
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