Originally Posted by brando1118

Thanks Motorhead and Cardo0,
Well hell, all the rowdy ones have come to join the thread so I might as well give all you guys some cam and valve spring specs too....

Cam is a custom grind from Comp Cams:
Hot Valve Adjustment: Intake .016 and Exhaus: .016
Gross Valve Lift: Intake .571 and Exhaust .577
Duration @.50 Intake 242 Exhaust 248
Lobe Lift Intake .3810 and Exhaust .3850
Lobe Separation: 112.0

Valve Springs are Comp Cams CCA-938-16
Dual springs, damper included 480 lbs./in

Originally Posted by 540 RAT

Jim is absolutely correct about the RPM trick only being intended for the early style unpressurized lifters. Plus, that was outdated thinking anyway, from when people did not know why those lifters failed so much. They were not pressurized, so people just assumed that was the cause of those failures. But, that was not the case, because now we know why they fail. More on that below.

So, you don't need to be concerned about oil pressure for your lifters. Keep in mind that needle bearings by design, are a very low friction bearing style that does not even require a ton of oil in the first place.

A plain bearing like is used in rods, mains, or bushing type solid roller lifters, do need a lot of oil to stay happy. But, a needle bearing rolls, it does NOT slide (unless it has a flattened needle or needles that won't roll normally), so little oil is actually needed.

As an example, two stoke motorcycles always use needle bearings at the small end and at the big end of their rods, just for that reason. The only oil they ever see is the oil that is mixed in with the gas, typically at a 20 to 1 ratio (20 parts fuel to 1 part oil) or even less oil. And those engines typically make way more HP per cubic inch than our stuff ever will. Bottom line, don't lose any sleep about getting oil to your needle lifters.

I did extensive research and a root cause failure analysis on BBC solid roller lifter failures. The conclusion was quite clear, every failed lifter I examined had failed from metal surface fatique failure, which has absolutely nothing to do with oiling. None of those failed lifters showed any signs at all of an oiling issue.

So, any worries you have about those lifters failing is related to the basic nature of the solid roller needle lifters being a poor design for what they are subjected to. Those little needles, only three are carrying the entire load at any given instant, simply cannot stand up to the constant pounding they see. It does not make any difference how well the cam's opening/closing ramps are designed, because the lash slop allows the lifters to bounce around within that slop. So, they see repeated jack hammer loading until they fail from that fatigue failure. It is not unusual at all for them to fail by 5,000 miles or even less.

If you ever decide you want to or need to replace those lifters, next time go for a set of the bushing type solid roller lifters. Because they have a 350% higher load rating than the needle type. And their bushings can stand up to the pounding far better than the needles. Isky has them as well as Crower.

As for running 15W50 motor oil, you may want to re-think that. Because that is way too thick for most any engine. You should never need to run an oil thicker than some type of 30 weight. You don't want to see a lot of oil pressure just for the sake of oil pressure. Because pressure is only a measurement of resistance to flow. And flow is lubrication and cooling. An engine's internal components are directly oil cooled, but only indirectly water cooled. Thinner oil will flow better/quicker to lubricate and cool better/quicker. And during cold start-up where most wear takes place, thinner oil will get to all the parts much quicker.

540 RAT
Member SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers)

Originally Posted by brando1118

Thanks 540 Rat,
I'm hoping that the milder spring pressure of my motor will help lessen the affect of the hammering you describe. I'd like to get more than 5k miles out of this set of lifters. But I will go with a bushing type lifter next time. But I see that I will have to make some changes to my oil pressure if I decide to run the bushing type solid rollers. You state that they need a lot of oil and I'm assuming that you mean more than my 20 psi at idle. From what I've learned here in this thread that is only happening with a higher volume oil pump. So I'll drive the car and have fun and yank the covers and check the lash regularly and.......pray a little.
This thread has been a learning experience. Thanks to all that have contributed.

Originally Posted by brando1118

Thanks Motorhead and Cardo0,
Well hell, all the rowdy ones have come to join the thread so I might as well give all you guys some cam and valve spring specs too....

Cam is a custom grind from Comp Cams:
Hot Valve Adjustment: Intake .016 and Exhaus: .016
Gross Valve Lift: Intake .571 and Exhaust .577
Duration @.50 Intake 242 Exhaust 248
Lobe Lift Intake .3810 and Exhaust .3850
Lobe Separation: 112.0

Valve Springs are Comp Cams CCA-938-16
Dual springs, damper included 480 lbs./in