Solid Mechanical Roller Lifters

[Ty Kwaiser]

Any feedback regarding bushed rollers rather than needle bearing rollers? Seems that needle bearings, while small, create mayhem at 9200 rpm when they leave their home. Also, I suspect Jesel key ways are likely preferred, but any thoughts on favored non-keyed....Morel, Isky, Crower,... Coated? Any experienced or inexperienced input is appreciated.

[Alan Roehrich]

Most people seem to find that the bushed lifters do not make as much power. Not sure why.

Use a premium quality lifter, the biggest body and the biggest wheel that will fit the engine and the rules, with pressurized oiling. Have them rebuilt no less than once a year.

Do not use restrictors. Possibly the biggest contributor to lifter failure is loss of control in the valvetrain, which isn't always readily apparent. You may not see any other symptoms, but if you're hurting good lifters that have adequate oil (quality AND quantity) and proper maintenance, then odds are good that you have a control problem. Too little spring will hurt lifters far faster than too much.

[carl hinkson]

Originally Posted by Alan Roehrich

Most people seem to find that the bushed lifters do not make as much power. Not sure why.

Use a premium quality lifter, the biggest body and the biggest wheel that will fit the engine and the rules, with pressurized oiling. Have them rebuilt no less than once a year.

Do not use restrictors. Possibly the biggest contributor to lifter failure is loss of control in the valvetrain, which isn't always readily apparent. You may not see any other symptoms, but if you're hurting good lifters that have adequate oil (quality AND quantity) and proper maintenance, then odds are good that you have a control problem. Too little spring will hurt lifters far faster than too much.

X1000000000000000


If you can go to a .904 or .937 lifter those have a bigger body, bigger axle, bigger wheel, And those are pressure fed, The bigger wheel means less revolutions around the lobe and slower speed.

I have seen about every lifter out there and I will say be-careful most companies like Crower, Comp, Isky lifter are to small for some reason. OEM Lifters measure right at .842 to .8422 The ones mentioned I have found to measure to small for an OEM lifter bore some are at .8405 to .8415 In blocks with short lifter bores those fit to loose. Morel lifters seem to be right at OEM spec whether its an .842, .875, .904

A lot of old blocks I find have a lot of lifter bore wear which needs to be addressed before installing roller lifters.

[Woodfin]

the comment about "bushed lifter makes less power" I am very curious about that.

any more comments about this? Sounds like a good topic for investigation.

[carl hinkson]

Originally Posted by Woodfin

the comment about "bushed lifter makes less power" I am very curious about that.

any more comments about this? Sounds like a good topic for investigation.

Do a search I read something about that a few weeks ago.

[Jeff Stout]

I inquired about bushed lifters from known S/SS engine builder and his thought was anyone running the trick of the week light weight oil would have trouble with bushed lifters. Lubrication was not sufficient enough for the bushings. When I had Carl prep my Little M block he highly recommended the Morel lifter and I can see why.

[carl hinkson]

Originally Posted by Jeff Stout

I inquired about bushed lifters from known S/SS engine builder and his thought was anyone running the trick of the week light weight oil would have trouble with bushed lifters. Lubrication was not sufficient enough for the bushings. When I had Carl prep my Little M block he highly recommended the Morel lifter and I can see why.

Jeff you went with the Morel Ultra Pro .904 lifters which are pressure fed lifters, Which was a great choice !!!

To date I have never seen any one that had any issues with .904 lifters.

I am still on the fence on bushing lifters !! Over the last few years I have had calls and emails about problems with those lifters.

To the OP if you go to a bigger lifter its a good way of getting the lifter bores corrected to blue print.

Here is a good article on lifter bore placement on page 52
http://edition.pagesuite.com/html5/r...1-ae5dfcff4c38

[Ty Kwaiser]

Thank you Alan, Carl, Larry and Jeff for the replies. So I am not certain where the objective evidence lies in "bushed makes less power" but one thing I am concerned with regarding a larger surface contact area with a bushed lifter versus needle rollers is the oil wedge to lubricate the wheel on the shaft. I like thinner oil and low drag oil pumps so I will probably continue with needle rollers. I will likely go with Morel from now on. Regarding the other thread about lighter being better, I have read some data collected on a Spintron analysis suggesting that may be the way to go. Thanks guys.