Quote:
Originally Posted by Formulajones
I run 3 of them. One is a daily driver.
As far as noise, I don't even notice it. It's a tight lash (.014") solid flat tappet. With the hood shut you can't hear it.
As far as adjustments, we've put about 50k miles on it so far and it hasn't budged since initial break in. Been close to 5 years now. I was checking it frequently at first but as it got miles on it and wasn't moving I started checking it once a year. This past year I didn't even bother checking it. It's been maintenance free.
As far as failure rate, it's about the same as hydraulic rollers and hydraulic flat tappets have been for me........none. I did go the extra mile and nitride the camshaft, then bought the Comp EDM hole lifters that keep the face of the lifter and the lobe lubed with pressurized oil. Then went through a proper break in procedure.
Apparently it's working perfectly because the adjustments haven't budged anywhere.
Not sure why anyone would be afraid of solid flat tappets. They were OEM in tons of cars right up through the 60's and with todays advancements and all the things you can do, they are even better now.
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All of the pain and misery above is the primary reason I changed direction on my Catalina engine. I am building it with a solid flat tappet camshaft. That and saving approximately $1200.00 between the camshaft and lifters. Spent the savings on a better set of connecting rods to raise peak power to 7000-7200 RPM.