And YES Type I "Pro Extreme" lifters are in the works!!!!!
Starting tomorrow we will have a HUGE lifter test beginning with the following lifters all ran against a Web 494 cam with 3 different spring rates. This test will run 50 hours in the spintron and will give us real time data about what works and what don't on the same cam. I already have 13 camshafts ran with different sets of lifters but this will be the first big comparative test so far.
The lifters being tested will all be right off the shelf with no rockwell testing being done to them prior to the test- just like if a customer were to buy and install them unknowingly.
I will be testing the following lifters simultaneously:
*Our "Pro Extreme" lifters
*Web Cam two piece lifters
*Scat Lube a Lobes
*Brazilian OEM replacements
Each lifter will be ran on opposing cylinders and will share a camshaft lobe. There will be a 10 hour test with stock springs, 10 hour test with single H/D springs, and 10 hours with dual springs with 3 different spring pressure from them at 10 hours each. The last test will be about 400 pounds of tension over the nose.
Between each 10 hour round of test the lifters will be removed and measured and pics will be taken of the faces of the lifters. All data will be logged.
These lifters are 100% billet and are made from a chunk of round stock that is hardened BEFORE the machining processes begin! This means that unlike the chilled iron lifters all lifters in that batch have the same hardness. This procedure is very time consuming and hard on tooling but its the only way that these lifters have made the "grade" in their normal alpplications of 9,000 RPM 500 mile race engines.
The faces and bodies of these lifters are polished to a 50 millionths roughness average and are absolutely amazing to look at. The same polishing will be available on my custom web cam grinds to reduce friction even more and enhance compatibility as well.
The lifter is a two piece design with a removeable lifter cup. The lifter was made this way (just like Winston cup) to be able to be cleaned and also so the lifter could be lightened to the point that it has been. The pushrod cup is tested up to 1400 pounds of spring tesnion and sits on a shelf machined into the lifter and is held in place with a Tru Arc circlip.
These lifters are 70 rockwell and require no break in at all. Our testing will be done with zero break in as well... The faces of these lifters have been proven over and over again and the guys that worked with me to design them are amazing.
Now for pricing, expect these lifters to hit the market with a 350.00 price tag. My first run will be 20 sets and I'd like to get names placed on those as soon as possible as I will make the first big order after our testing is finished.
Some people may think that this is alot of money for lifters, and that Ceramics are just a hundred bucks more... Ceramics are the ultimate in lifters, BUT the supplier cannot keep us supplied and he is very hard to deal with.
These billet lifters should kill all our bad lifter problems. I will be testing the hell out of them to see just how they do wear! thats why I built the spintron! I have put alot of design time into these and I'm sure it will pay off- after all their normal application is 500 times more rigorous than any "Normal" Type IV or TI would ever be..
FYI, For those of you that watch Nascar...... These lifters were in 8 of the top 10 cars that finished yesterday..... The Winston Cup version is only .040 larger than these!
