Mechanical or solid lifters

[747mopar]

After all kinds of lifter troubles (2 sets) I'm thinking about just putting solids in, Comp doesn't recomend it. They say the cams profile is suited to a hydraulic lifter. What's the difference? seems to me there shouldn't really be a difference other than a little clearence and more periodical maintenence.

 

[IQ52]

Comp should have explained that the approach ramp is different on the hydraulic and solid lifter cams. I have successfully run solid lifters on a hydraulic camshafts by using .005-.006 lash. Remember, that is .005-.006 LASH, not preload.

 

[Supershafts]

Another set of lifters on that cam.... wth sounds like china got into the lifter business

 

[krowbar]

Maybe your springs are too much for the lifters you're running?

 

[67 coronet]

you also need to be carefull of mixing lifters and cams since the metal quality can vary alot.one will get destroyed in a short period of time.

 

[krowbar]

Do you guys run the zinc additive in your oil?

 

[lewtot184]

if your not happy with the cam change it. eventually your going to wreck a couple of lobes swapping tappets around and have a real mess to clean up. wiping a cam is like crapping the bed; real mess to clean up and might get expensive.

 

[krowbar]

if your not happy with the cam change it. eventually your going to wreck a couple of lobes swapping tappets around and have a real mess to clean up. wiping a cam is like crapping the bed; real mess to clean up and might get expensive.

Quite the analogy...I guess if I crapped the bed I would probably just get a new bed.

 

[747mopar]

Comp should have explained that the approach ramp is different on the hydraulic and solid lifter cams. I have successfully run solid lifters on a hydraulic camshafts by using .005-.006 lash. Remember, that is .005-.006 LASH, not preload.

Fully aware that solids need clearance not preload and they said the same thing regarding the .006 lash. Thanks

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Another set of lifters on that cam.... wth sounds like china got into the lifter business

They claim the same company that makes GM's is making there's "in the USA" who knows. The cam only had about 10 min on it when switched, I'm not switching again without getting a new cam.

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Maybe your springs are too much for the lifters you're running?

It's a matched set but I have the sheet from the machine shop stating the iopen and close pressure, I'll double check. What should the pressure be? The cam is 21-224-4

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you also need to be carefull of mixing lifters and cams since the metal quality can vary alot.one will get destroyed in a short period of time.

Gotcha, I finally got a hold of them and they are going to send me a new cam and lifters "solid".

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Do you guys run the zinc additive in your oil?

Yeap, I used a Lucas breakin additive that contain all the EPA unfreindly stuff.

 

[krowbar]

Fully aware that solids need clearance not preload and they said the same thing regarding the .006 lash. Thanks

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They claim the same company that makes GM's is making there's "in the USA" who knows. The cam only had about 10 min on it when switched, I'm not switching again without getting a new cam.

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It's a matched set but I have the sheet from the machine shop stating the iopen and close pressure, I'll double check. What should the pressure be? The cam is 21-224-4

Not sure about what pressure you need to run. Machine shop should have that info specific to the build. I would call them and ask what they recommend. It's partially preference on your part also, but I would think too many shims under the springs might collapse those lifters after awhile or trash the valve seats.

 

[747mopar]

if your not happy with the cam change it. eventually your going to wreck a couple of lobes swapping tappets around and have a real mess to clean up. wiping a cam is like crapping the bed; real mess to clean up and might get expensive.

LMAO, that's to funny. I couldn't tell you how happy I am with the cam because the damn lifters won't shut up long enough to drive it. Trust me I am not swapping anymore lifters. I changed them out after 10 min of run time because they were bad, Comp checked them and confirmed it and sent new ones and thought with so little run time I would probably be OK. Now that I have well over 30 min on it I'm not doing it again and the guys at Comp were very understanding and said they'd hook me up with a solid lfter cam and lifters even if they had to do a custom grind. So now to figure out what I want, really I think I want to stay close to what I have because I chose this one because it's in the RPM range that I'm planning on running. The main goal for this car is to make a good cruiser, cruising at aruond 2,000 rpm on the freeway which is why I liked this cam "that's where it makes it's power". Thanks guys, anymore input is welcome "Like crapping to bed" still LMAO

 

[benno440]

hearing so many horror stories about comp cams at the moment, i destoryed a set of lifters a few weeks back, they were also comp cams, so i put lunatis in.so far so good, feels like i gained some power too somehow

 

[747mopar]

Found the spec sheet, 110 @ 1.950 closed and 290 @ 1.450 open.

 

[Kern Dog]

Awhile back I was talking with Dwayne Porter about the problems I've had with my 440/493. Among the several topics we covered, one was about Hydraulic lifters. He had an interesting view.
He said that when the big 3 ( GM, Ford, Chrysler) switched to roller cams and lifters, the companies that manufactured flat tappet lifters saw their buisness drop off like a rock. Those that stayed in business sent some/most of their manufacturing to offshore companies. The result was/is that many of the lifters still being made today are inferior, not from the manufacturing process, but from the softness of the metals used. The "rockwell" of the lifters is lower than what it used to be when the lifters were made HERE. Add to this the sudden withdrawal of Zinc from the oil and you have the "Perfect Sh**storm for cam and lifter failures.