[rwfisher]

While I’ve already purchased a 744 cam and FTL set up I’m now weighing just spending the $$$ to switch to a roller set up. I’ve heard / read horror stories both ways so it’s been a tough decision. Anybody have experience with the Lunati RF HR cam / spring kits? In particular, are the lifters Pontiac specific or are they Chevy lifters which will require mods to insure no oiling issues?

FYI, basically stock 400 RA III build, .030 over 14cc dish, RPM H-Beams, with 48 heads. This is a reliability build hence the question, ~400hp, <5,500rpm, man trans, 3.55gr.

[64speed]

I have them, they were a tiny bit noisy at first and I thought great I gotta deal with ticking but suddenly they stopped and havent made really any noise since

[Tim Corcoran]

I would not buy the Lunati kit I would get the Johnson HR Lifters they are the best and made in the USA. You can get them from Butler and Butler also sells Lunati Voodoo hyd rollers cams and valve springs too. Cam companies are best for their cams but for the rest they just buy from other venders and rebrand them.

[rwfisher]

Originally Posted by Tim Corcoran

I would not buy the Lunati kit I would get the Johnson HR Lifters they are the best and made in the USA. You can get them from Butler and Butler also sells Lunati Voodoo hyd rollers cams and valve springs too. Cam companies are best for their cams but for the rest they just buy from other venders and rebrand them.

I’ve been pondering if the Johnson were worth the extra $$..

[HWYSTR455]

The recommended spring rate by Lunati are on the light side, many say to get ones that add 15-25lbs on the seat. Up to you on that decision.

I know many swear by the Morel HR lifters, and I've had success with them on 3 different builds.

There are other factors that are in play when it comes to 'noisy' lifters, and you can't always blame the lifters, like many do.

You can always go solid roller and remove any doubt. Again, decision is yours.


.

[Formulajones]

I used Lunati on the last 455 I built. While I do like Johnson, they were unobtainable when I built the last 455, and Paul had already been waiting 6 months for them at that point and had no idea when they would be available.

So I used the Lunati roller lifters at Paul's recommendation. They worked just fine. The oil band stuff really isn't much of a concern. I've run oil bands that were raised for Pontiac as well as the standard location and have found no difference in noise or performance in the engines I've built. A lot of the noise from what I've found and what others have mentioned is based more on improper preload and/or the internal bleed down rates of the lifters that can be very inconsistent for one reason or another.

As far as springs, Paul run's a lot of those Lunati lobes in his builds, specifically the voodoo line, and has found his own spring rates he prefers to use from lots of dyno testing. So I let Paul spec the springs and they are in fact a bit stiffer than anything Lunati recommends. That's the little things in these engine builds that really make a difference when dealing with a good machinist/builder. I get a better end result that way rather than a kit from a cam company.

As of right now, I believe Johnsons are available again, and Butler has a list of the various versions he may have in stock.

[rwfisher]

Thanks for the quick feedback all.. Really not a simple process making this switch.
The heads had been originally set up years ago with the HFT plan as my cam and lifters were purchased before the whole Non zinc oil / break in issues started. Times were simpler ( & cheaper) then!! May be a day when I can sell off all that stuff for big $$ vintage parts when we all are electric��

[Cliff R]

I've used several different HR lifters offered over the years including Lunati, Comp, Morel and Crane. I noticed that each time I'd inspect the lifters they were different than the others except for the Crane. The others were either being outsourced from different suppliers or the folks supplying them were making changes to them due to customer complains and other issues.

I suspect many of them were from Morel and are USA made but not all that great for quality control. Never had any failures but leak down rates (plunger to body tolerances all over the place) were inconstant and there were ALWAYS a few "tickers" in the bunch.

i don't know this to be true but suspect that Crane was buying them from Johnson as they were the best of all the HR's we used.

Morels were not only noisy in comparison but we also had high RPM issues with them as well even with plenty of spring pressure.

Isky is rumored to make excellent HR lifters, but they are expensive.

My info is a tad "dated" here as I got out of the engine building business 4 years ago so don't know what's out there at the moment, or how good they really are?........

[Steve C.]

Stated- "The recommended spring rate by Lunati are on the light side, many say to get ones that add 15-25lbs on the seat."

Stated- "As far as springs, Paul run's a lot of those Lunati lobes in his builds, specifically the voodoo line, and has found his own spring rates he prefers to use from lots of dyno testing."


X2

Pay attention to these two statements !


.

[Scarebird]

My personal experience:

Morels/Lunati = loud rubbish
Johnsons = quiet
Solid Crower = slight noise, cost effective

Ask yourself how much your time, gaskets, etc. are worth if you have to do the job twice or three times if the lifters are defective?

[slowbird]

Morel hr lifters are complete junk imo.

[JLMounce]

I have a set of Lunati HR’s in my 455. They are a bit on the noisy side, but perform well and have not given me any issues in the 7 years and around 30000 miles I’ve had them.

[BDH79TA]

IIRC Lunati uses Morel for their lifters. Seems I read that somewhere while researching all this last year. I could be completely wrong. Morel just did a revamp and/or change to their HR lifter for Pontiac in 2021. That info was on Butler's site. I grabbed a set but haven't got the build completed to say either way. May end up wishing I had gone with Johnson in the end. We shall see.

[AG]

I have used a set of Crane HR lifters circa 2008 on a motor and they are completely quiet. I also used a set of CC 857 circa 2010 and they are also completely quiet. For my new motor I will be building net year I have new Johnson's. I called Johnson and spoke with the head engineer and was told 100% American made and the plunger to body tolerances are very tight. I have my fingers crossed. The guy said the lifters are ready to drop in and don't require any prep.

[redhawk44]

I am running the Lunati Voodoo for 3 years and have had no problems with them. My guy at the machine shop said he thought the springs that came with the Edelbrock heads were not up to par so he swapped them to a stiffer set, not sure where I ended up on those but I have no issues.