Lunati Hydraulic FT Cam users..........

-
318willrun said:
LOL.... I edited it in respect to the other thread's OP. I have never lost a lobe either.... yet. LOL.
Click to expand...
Yea I figured, I don't like posting in flat cam threads.
The reason for failure is obvious most times. and it usually end's up at the OP.
 
Anyway I'm glad you made your choice on a lifter. I'm looking forward to your always positive results. :thumbsup:
 
My point came from this car is not a daily driver it is a fun car that's driven spirited and cruised around on days off 99% of the time. And once in a great while taking to the track and there's a lot of parts that have been put on it intended for track use. Even more to the point spending an enormous amount relatively speaking for lifters to accommodate a cam that is in hand as compared to the outright performance and non worry of a solid lifter setup...
I did try and quote yellow rose as the stepping over donuts to pick up dog turds or something like that LOL but you get the point...
 
Mopar69gts said:
My experience from about 2 years ago
I have a comp xe 268 in a 340
The comp lifters that came with the cam would bleed down right after running then clatter next start until they pumped up.
Called comp to ask about that,
The guy said so what why do you care?
Well after that conversation I called Lunati
He said their lifters are made by the same manufacturer comp uses and probably would not be any better.
He recommended Johnson or hylift Johnson lifters. ( two different companies. )
I had a new / old mopar purple shaft kit from 1990
I used the lifters from that kit no more problems!

My next cam will be a Lunati because of their honesty not just selling me lifters that probably wouldn't be any different.
Hughes sells hylift Johnson lifters
My 2cents...
Click to expand...

This seems like excellent customer service...
moparker said:
Lunatis customer service sucks also
Click to expand...

Yeah? Why?

Since there’s already one great example of their customer service being pretty good you might get better results by explaining your actual experience, instead of just complaining?
 
j par said:
My point came from this car is not a daily driver it is a fun car that's driven spirited and cruised around on days off 99% of the time. And once in a great while taking to the track and there's a lot of parts that have been put on it intended for track use. Even more to the point spending an enormous amount relatively speaking for lifters to accommodate a cam that is in hand as compared to the outright performance and non worry of a solid lifter setup...
I did try and quote yellow rose as the stepping over donuts to pick up dog turds or something like that LOL but you get the point...
Click to expand...
  1. Don't try to be YR. :D
  2. You are correct on the car's usage.
  3. I don't think 100 bucks for a set of lifters is "enormous".
  4. I don't have the 703 cam - - - -yet.
  5. I think you missed the most important part, the car's purpose. It's purpose is strictly to make me happy. It isn't built for any certain class or any particular race or grudge match.
 
PRH said:
This is how it usually works out for me with fast rate HFT cams.
What brand and part number lifters are you using?

Another issue that often arises with HF lifters is, and it’s not even a fault of the lifters........ entrapped tiny air bubbles in the oil that diminish the ability of the lifter to function properly.
Some oils are just better at releasing entrapped air than others.

Solid lifters eliminate that as something that can affect valvetrain functionality.

Here’s a 360, pump gas, bowl blended J’s, small solid cam:

View attachment 1715557488
Click to expand...
I am questioning whether or not they were in fact johnson hylift as I was told they were,they came in bulk and from a reputable cam company. I was in there a while ago and they said now they are not sure where the stuff is coming from, possibly mexico as the us plants (detroit) were shut down from covid19. That is the main reason I will only use the lunati microtrol lifters as I know they are us made and of good quality to take the guess work out of it. I had great luck with summit lifters for many years with lazy and fast rate cams but I cannot take the chance anymore. Of course now i try to talk anyone building a performance engine into a solid flat tappet.
 
lead69 said:
I am questioning whether or not they were in fact johnson hylift as I was told they were,they came in bulk and from a reputable cam company. I was in there a while ago and they said now they are not sure where the stuff is coming from, possibly mexico as the us plants (detroit) were shut down from covid19. That is the main reason I will only use the lunati microtrol lifters as I know they are us made and of good quality to take the guess work out of it. I had great luck with summit lifters for many years with lazy and fast rate cams but I cannot take the chance anymore. Of course now i try to talk anyone building a performance engine into a solid flat tappet.
Click to expand...
Do you inspect the internals and clean hydraulic lifters as I do. everything must be inspected, everything.
I learned this as a teenager, compliments of my dad and uncle, over 40 years ago.
 
lead69 said:
I am questioning whether or not they were in fact johnson hylift as I was told they were,they came in bulk and from a reputable cam company. I was in there a while ago and they said now they are not sure where the stuff is coming from, possibly mexico as the us plants (detroit) were shut down from covid19. That is the main reason I will only use the lunati microtrol lifters as I know they are us made and of good quality to take the guess work out of it. I had great luck with summit lifters for many years with lazy and fast rate cams but I cannot take the chance anymore. Of course now i try to talk anyone building a performance engine into a solid flat tappet.
Click to expand...

Are you leaving that Poncho motor as is, or is there a planned lifter replacement?

I’d be pretty dissatisfied with 5K rpm.

Many years ago, when we were pretty green about what it took get the stocker motor happy at high rpm...... we played with different cams and lifters.
This is like 25 years ago.
We were running the Hylift Johnson 951R lifters.
The motor was pretty solid at close to 6k.
The problem was, for the gears we had to run, and how much the converter slipped...... the motor needed to turn 6500, and it just wouldn’t do it.
It was hard into float at the top end of every pass.
Beat the crap out of everything.

After a while(several different cams and valve springs) of fighting it we tried some solid lifters on the dyno.
Removed the 951’s, dropped in the solids..... set them to .004 lash....... easily pulled 6600.

We were like, “ah ha........ it’s the lifters”.

Shortly after that we got Joe Shubek to make a set for the Pontiac...... and that was the end of the lifter woes for that thing.


My buddies 350 Poncho stocker runs strong to 7k.
Solid lifters are legal now ;)
 
Last edited:
318willrun said:
  1. Don't try to be YR. :D
  2. You are correct on the car's usage.
  3. I don't think 100 bucks for a set of lifters is "enormous".
  4. I don't have the 703 cam - - - -yet.
  5. I think you missed the most important part, the car's purpose. It's purpose is strictly to make me happy. It isn't built for any certain class or any particular race or grudge match.
Click to expand...
Definitely not trying to be yr!!!!!!!
It won't matter to me what you spend your money on oh, I just also want you to be happy and particularly happy with the performance... I feel the characteristics between hydraulic and solid are night and day.. one is a compromise and one is no compromise....
 
j par said:
I just also want you to be happy and particularly happy with the performance... I feel the characteristics between hydraulic and solid are night and day.. one is a compromise and one is no compromise....
Click to expand...
I appreciate it because you are sincere. You have my word on what I'm going to write in this post, so here it goes:

I've only put together one engine that just flat out disappointed me beyond belief. I was 20, and had one of the top guru's in the area that ran a performance machine shop lead me with all his professionalism through a 340 build. The car laid the biggest egg at the track, embarrassing was more like it. I tore some things down and did some things "the way I perceived it" and we got it straightened out. All other engines have exceeded just about everyone's expectation, including the cars I have now. No, I'm not bragging or saying I'm special. What I am saying is I appreciate input, experiences, and even opinions when they are meant constructively, but in the end the ET slip will determine if I found satisfaction. So the correct question, which nobody has asked over 7 pages, is what kind of gains and engine characteristics am I looking for means I'm the owner, builder, and financer of the car (means the original question I asked has for the most part long been ignored) LOL
 
318willrun said:
I appreciate it because you are sincere. You have my word on what I'm going to write in this post, so here it goes:

I've only put together one engine that just flat out disappointed me beyond belief. I was 20, and had one of the top guru's in the area that ran a performance machine shop lead me with all his professionalism through a 340 build. The car laid the biggest egg at the track, embarrassing was more like it. I tore some things down and did some things "the way I perceived it" and we got it straightened out. All other engines have exceeded just about everyone's expectation, including the cars I have now. No, I'm not bragging or saying I'm special. What I am saying is I appreciate input, experiences, and even opinions when they are meant constructively, but in the end the ET slip will determine if I found satisfaction. So the correct question, which nobody has asked over 7 pages, is what kind of gains and engine characteristics am I looking for means I'm the owner, builder, and financer of the car (means the original question I asked has for the most part long been ignored) LOL
Click to expand...
Lol...
Small block Adjustable rockers - auto parts - by owner - vehicle...
......
Be glad to go pick them up for you...:thumbsup::thumbsup:....
 
318willrun said:
So the correct question, which nobody has asked over 7 pages, is what kind of gains and engine characteristics am I looking for means I'm the owner, builder, and financer of the car (means the original question I asked has for the most part long been ignored) LOL
Click to expand...

Actually ...... your original question was:
What lifters are you using?
Click to expand...
Which has been answered.

There is no guarantee that whatever lifters you use will provide satisfactory operation.

Yooz buyz ur partz...... n yooz takez ur chancez
 
PRH said:
Actually ...... your original question was:

Which has been answered.

There is no guarantee that whatever lifters you use will provide satisfactory operation.

Yooz buyz ur partz...... n yooz takez ur chancez
Click to expand...
Like he said in one of his posts there's no guarantees on which way he'll go or he could change his mind or something like that and again with all that said if he was to choose a solid lifter is there one that you would recommend?...
 
PRH said:
Actually ...... your original question was:

Which has been answered.

There is no guarantee that whatever lifters you use will provide satisfactory operation.

Yooz buyz ur partz...... n yooz takez ur chancez
Click to expand...
True, I asked what lifters are you using, but the rest of the question was "on a lunati HD FT cam". Yes, some have answered, and I found an answer I liked. But for all those that want me to go solid cam haven't asked the question I just in the above post.
 
j par said:
with all that said if he was to choose a solid lifter is there one that you would recommend?...
Click to expand...

I was talking about hyd lifters.

Solids? I like to buy from the cam supplier....... that way if there is an issue it doesn’t become a “he said/she said” situation about which brand of part caused the problem.
 
Why not just step up to a solid roller. lol That's what he needs for that 1% use at the strip. lol
I think for what 318wilrun is building a hydraulic flat tappet is a good choice for a street / strip car.
 
But for all those that want me to go solid cam haven't asked the question I just in the above post.
Click to expand...

Well, first and foremost...... there won’t be any issues of compromised valvetrain dynamics caused by malfunctioning hyd lifters.

That being said, if you don’t ever rev the motor high enough to have an issue with the hyd lifters and your fast rate hyd cam....... then you may not see much gain.

The solid lifters are one of those parts that provide “potential” to make more power.

Not every combo will see a big benefit.
You have to build something that can exploit the potential, and run the motor in a manner that does just that.
 
fishmens67 said:
Why not just step up to a solid roller. lol That's what he needs for that 1% use at the strip. lol
I think for what 318wilrun is building a hydraulic flat tappet is a good choice for a street / strip car.
Click to expand...
I don't understand how all those slant sixes and 273's made it so far with solid lifters...
 
j par said:
Then why are we wasting our time here?! Let's start building some performance!...
Click to expand...
Ok, outside the topic of the thread, I'll tell you why (though you didn't ask directly). My plans were last year for this car for this year were to change 4 things and drop a full second (hopefully). 2.5 tenths per item would be 1 full second. 13.3's to 12.3's.

READ ON... to accomplish this.... I want to use the least performance part (or most street friendly, well mannered) possible to accomplish this mission. The 4 items are:
  • heads - accomplished, dropped 2.5 tenths
  • cam,
  • converter,
  • gears.
Example: The least gearing to get me 2.5 tenths, if 3.23's over 2.94's gets me my 2.5 tenths, then I want 3.23's and not 3.55's. I want the smallest cam to get me 2.5 tenths, tightest converter to achieve 2.5 tenths.. you get the idea?
 
Last edited:
You’re already a hero for the low 13’s with the low cr 360 and the 2.94’s.

But I don’t think a small-ish hyd cam and 3.23’s is going to knock 8 tenths off where you are now.
From a 13.1 to a 12.3....... you’re looking for about 60hp.

However...... I’m happy to follow along and see what you do, and where you end up.
 
PRH said:
You’re already a hero for the low 13’s with the low cr 360 and the 2.94’s.

But I don’t think a small-ish hyd cam and 3.23’s is going to knock 8 tenths off where you are now.

However...... I’m happy to follow along and see what you do, and where you end up.
Click to expand...
gears, cam , and converter for 7.5 tenths? That's the goal anyways.
 
j par said:
I don't understand how all those slant sixes and 273's made it so far with solid lifters...
Click to expand...
That's not my point. A properly setup Hydraulic will perform at the power level/RPM 318willrun is most likely to be at and not give up anything to a solid.
Except the racket. lol
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
-

Back
Top