Was flipping through the April '05 PHR that I bought only because it mentioned nastyz28 and came across an ad for "laser" drilled solid lifters to supply oil directly to top of cam lobe.

Anyone have experience with these or similar? How much does this affect oil quantity getting to pushrod (i.e. how much is re-directed downward).

Superficially, it sounds like an idea that could prolong cam lobe life- but I would like to know at what expense.

We have used the ones from Crower before with no prolems as the holes in there lifters are done with a EDM machine,

i was gonna use some on my motor but they were backordered when i called on them.

Have a friend just buildt a small block and is using them. He said the holes do not affect oil to the push tubes do to the volume coming to the lifter body itself. Said it is a small amount directed to aid in oiling not take over the job. Sounds like a good idea. I guess thats why the roller cam guys are coming out with their lifters with oiling directed at the roller wheel to help longevity on the street too. . Well whatever its worth thats what I've been told.

i thought of buying them, i think lack of oil claimed my last cam, kinda wish i woulda.

When I was working I did a few sets by EDM. Seem to work pretty good. They use a .020 hole.

I have the Crowers on both my smallblock & my bigblock. I figured they would help a bit during cam break-in & also let the cam live a longer life after that. Do expect a drop in oil pressure though- I experienced that in both cases but still have plenty of pressure.

why a drop in oil pressure?

Good question & I wish I could give you a definitive answer. It happened first on the Vette (bigblock). I only changed the cam & the heads so couldn't figure out why. A few months later I did the Z28 (smallblock), again changing only the heads & cam. When I saw the drop the 2nd time I figured the only real change in parts that could have an effect on oil pressure was the "cool face" lifters. Then it came up for discussion on another forum & I found out I wasn't the only one who'd seen this with them.

Obviously they direct oil where it hadn't been before, I just wouldn't have expected a noticable drop in pressure. My friend who helped me (performance engine builder for about 30 years) wasn't surprised though, for what that's worth.

[This message has been edited by chevyles (edited March 14, 2005).]

I just spoke with my engine builder today about these lifters. Yes, they supply oil to the cam lobe for friction and durability issues, however, they are very expensive to buy. There are some cheapo versions out there. I recently seen a set on E-bay for 50 bucks brand new which prompted the visit to my engine builder and he answered my questions. I decided to stay with the standard tried and true solid lifter for 90 bucks.
Rich

Well, the company that had the ad in PHR (Howard's Cams) sells them for $99.95 if that means anything- that would be about double what a set of decent Sealed Power units would have cost a few years ago (I'm not up on current pricing).

Any idea what the approximate % drop in oil pressure (hot) is/was? I.e. did things go from 20psi hot to 18psi, or 15psi, or 10psi?

Is Howard's a good place to shop? Does anyone have any experience with them? I was looking at the Crower catalog and didn't see the prices for the cool face lifters. Just guessing I would think they would be more then Howard's but don't know for sure.

Yes, Howards are good people to deal with.

Eric,
My bigblock went from 30+ at idle to low 20's when hot. My smallblock went from about 40 to low 30's when hot.

Pressure drop shouldn't be surprising- more flow area equals less head loss. Less head loss means less supply pressure.

Note that pressure is not the end-all indicator of good lubrication, just one tool. Flow is what keeps your bearings from seizing.

kinda suprising that the drop would show up on a gauge though. 16 x 0.02" holes is only 0.00503 square inches.
That translates to the area of a single 0.08" hole.

Maybe a 0.01" hole to reduce the pressure drop? You'd still get oil to the cam lobes.

If one had a drill press and a long ehough, small enough drill, couldn't you modify your own lifters? Just be careful to get it centered, and chamfer the hole nicely. The center of the lifter face shouldn't ever touch the cam, so it should be pretty easy to do. It doesn't have to be laser-drilled...

------------------
-'77 Camaro 'Original' - 357, home-ported heads and intake, Q-jet, headers, hyper flattops, ~8.5:1, 3.42 gears, 214/224-112LSA cam, 1LE rotors, D61 pads, 5642 springs
-'92 LeBaron LX sedan - all family owned, great daily driver and highway cruiser. 52mm TB, rear discs swapped.
-'70 Camaro - 350, 4-sp, nothing power, needs work, lotsa fun
-'65 Nova - 230 I6, 3 on the tree, nothing power. HEI swap.
-'70 Cadillac Sedan Deville. 10:1 472ci, TH400 - stock.

Not sure a regular drill could make it thru 1 lifter,let alone 16. Would probably need carbide, rigid mounting, high speed. Then what if the drill breaks off? Don't think you want to go there.

<font face="Arial,Verdana" size="2">Originally posted by tgw323:
Not sure a regular drill could make it thru 1 lifter,let alone 16. Would probably need carbide, rigid mounting, high speed. Then what if the drill breaks off? Don't think you want to go there.</font>

I agree 100% - especially if your talking about a 0.010" hole. Never happen in a drill press with plain steel bits.

I'd like to try these....

http://www.schubeckracing.com/flatultralight.html

They're about $80 more than the composite solid flat tappet lifter ($720 vs $640)

Regardless....some of the be$t http://www.nastyz28.com/ubb/smile.gif

(and I will run these in my NEXT motor) http://www.nastyz28.com/ubb/wink.gif

Schubeck is making some very promising stuff. Their roller lifters w/ the same material may have me going to roller cams some day- no bearings to worry about. I'll see if they live up to their potential...I think they will.