Chris Edwards

I'm planning an FTI cam, springs (of course), titanium retainers, and a port matched Fast 92 on the stock 243 heads, and all the supporting bolt-ons (headers, vararam, etc).

The car is used for daily driving 90%, and HPDE open track events the other 10%.

I've read that the Morels can be terribly noisy, but there is conflicting information. Guys are saying that when they go 0.060" past zero lash that the lifters are as quiet as can be. Morel recommends 0.030" - 0.040" which apprently is insufficient.

Not as many Morel failure stories, but a few here and there.

LS7's seem to be the standard but guys who know like Tony Mamo and Ed Curtis recommend Morels (or Johnsons if your pockets are very deep).

I'm sure that lifter noise and failure is very much dependent on valvetrain geommetry (specifically pushrod length) and also pushrod diameter (3/8" vs 5/16")

Would love to hear ya'lls opinions on the matter. Three considerations that are important to me are good reliability, no noise, and lastly reasonable price. If the general consensus is to use Morel's, then so be it, but I'd really rather not to considering the price.

mchicia1

Which Morels, the 5290 or the 5206?

The 5290 are the streets. The 5206 is the big diameter wheel version which is a much beefier lifter.

I have heard conflicting info on them, but some people, including Ed @ FTI, swear they are fine as long as the rest of the valvetrain is up to par.

1) Fat pushrods (11/32 minimum)
2) Good valve springs
3) Softer cam lobes

I am tired of the ls7 ticking at low rpm, so I am going to give the morel 5290 streets a shot. The LS7s are designed for a car with stock cam lobes and very light valves with stock spring pressures. They are not really designed for higher spring pressures, thus they bleed down at low rpm and that is why they tick.

It's hard to get factory valvetrain sound when you go to an aftermarket cam

Chris Edwards

The ones I am reading about are the Morel 5206's.

printmanjackson

I can't imagine running a big cam and driving on the street 90% of the time so LS7 lifters should be fine. I'm running LS7 lifters and not had any problem but I don't drive my car everyday and it doesn't see over 6500 rpm ever. I would raise the oil pressure some whichever way you go.

StatmanRN

As another option...anyone running the link type lifters [Comp?]

mchicia1

They're some of the best lifters you can buy. Not even a comparison to ls7 lifters.

Ls7 lifters are junk tbh. Factory lifters with a wide QC margin that are designed to run with a factory cam and factory springs.

The Morel 5206's are top notch. However, if you're only spinning to 6500-6800, you may want to look into the Morel 5290 street lifters for about $200 less.

Chris Edwards

I don't understand this blanket statement. Dozens of guys are using LS7's with zero issues. Yet I read about the Morels being noisy.

mchicia1

Dozens? That's not very much.

And what about the others who have issues?

It's not a blanket statement. The fact is the LS7s are a factory lifter with loose QC requirements, which is why some people are fine and some people have issues.

There is a difference between something being designed to work with something and something that still works OK when used with something it was not designed for.

You can use LS7 lifters fine as long as the rest of your valvetrain is setup fine, but the fact of the matter is they are not designed to be run with aftermarket cams and springs.

I've run them myself for 30k miles with no failures, but they do tick at low rpm from bleeding down. It is quite annoying. I am taking them out for Morels and doing it right this time.

If you want to run an OEM style lifter but don't want the ticking of ls7s or price tag of Morels, then look into the BTR SLR lifters for $200.