[Formulajones]

Originally Posted by b-man

Perhaps it’s time for us to think about tool steel solid lifters.......I recently purchased a set for $470......for my air cooled 4-cylinder VW build.....that’s only 8 lifters. All the Type I engines are pretty much stuck using solids. At least with solids occasional lash checks will let you know if any issues are starting with the valvetrain, unlike hydraulics.

A lot harder to swap cams in one of these as you have to tear it down far enough to split the engine case.

Every make is experiencing issues with soft lifters.

That's what I'm using on the new build. Current bug engine has been together close to 30 years back before all these issues and the only problem I have with it is over a years time (check lash once a year) they actually snug up a bit. Valve recession. I set them at .006" and I find a few at maybe .004" after a years time and a few thousand miles so it's not horrible. But that's the nice thing about solid flat tappets, with lash checks you can find something wrong before it becomes a problem.

Been running our Z with it's factory solid flat tappet daily for 6 years now and after break in the lash has been absolutely spot on for over 50,000 miles. Can't complain. I nitrided that cam and run the tool steel EDM lifters on it.