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Okay guys.. Here are some pics of the lifters after 15 hours of single spring tension. This is with ZERO break in. Just fire up and idle at 800 RPM.

The billet lifters are pictured in this post and they had maybe one ten thousandth of wear so far. They have lost .0005 in radius in my measurements. I could not get good straight onpics due to the shininess of the lifter. The pics show a wear pattern that is not present measureable or visibly with the naked eye. The pattern is made by the camera's flash.. Next we will be running with 3 more tensions of dual springs, ending up right around 350 lbs over the nose tension. Everty 5 hours it will come back down again, and we'll take more pics and measure each lifter and log the differences. Charles and I will make a spreadhseet to show the wear from start to finish and post it when I'm done. Look below for more captions. So far these billet lifters show that the manufacturer knows their stuff, but the dual springs really tell the tale!
Billet Pro-Extreme Lifters

These are the pair of lifters running on the second lobe.. The have measured a loss of .0005 from new ones. One lifter has lost .0012 of its radius already. These are "New and improved" from their manufacturer, but i have had failures with this batch also.

Lifters #2

These are lifter that many shops are using because they don't go flat! They are not flattening right away but the wear is severe. an engine will last long enough to get through warranty with these, but thats about it!

One of them measures .001 of wear already! Both of them have completely lost their radius and are going FLAT(one is flat and staring to concave)... Wait till the dual springs hit them! The cam is also wearing more on this lobe- alot more. In my measurement device a slight dish is already measurable!
Lifters #3




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These lifters are highly recommended these days- But as you can see by the small horizontal line dead center of the lifter it is wearing already. These have very nice radius' and seemed to be promising till we compared them in a few tests. Both of them show a loss of .0005 on the radius and one is wearing more on the outside of the radisus than the other by 1/2 thousandth..
Lifters#4






Doing this kind of work is a pain in the ass! Its oily, nasty and the measuring is a pain in the butt!

Now we are going to add dual springs and turn it for another 5 hours! Then take it down and measure and log again.

I don't mean to ask a dumb question, but if you are running different lifters on the same cam, are all the lifters compatable with the cam? Is the cam wearing differently lobe to lobe? I'm assuming lifters 2,3,and4 are other brands and only #1 lifters are the billet ones. Right? Awsome test!

Ron

Thats was kinda my quetion from before.

Each pair of lifters has its own lobe. They are all being tested at the same time... I have other tests to show that the same set of lifters and same cam wears equally in my fixture- just to back it all up!

Jake,
Great test,
but I was wondering what was the thought behind "firing it up and idling at 8oo rpm's"? instead of doing a "proper" break in at higher rpm?

...

I think this is Jake's ultimate test against the new billet lifters.If it lives with no breakin it will live forever.
Jake, The T-1 builders are looking to you for the answar as well.There is a LOT of frustration about lifter quality going around.

Yep,
A good lifter won't need a break in!

The spintron is turning as we speak! Testing will be 100% completed this week!

In reality, much as any used engine is simply a core awaiting validation....what this kind of testing without a break-in period shows, is exactlywhat the average shop is giving you when they sell a complete longblock over the counter. Since they probably didn't break them in...and no one can trust that every buyer would even know how to break them in....its a real world acid test. The average engine builder is in reality, trying to persuade you that it will all run fine....when this kind of damage is probably what is resulting from running. Ray

Stage III results
http://www.shoptalkforums.com/viewtopic.php?t=74842

Stage IV results
http://www.shoptalkforums.com/viewtopic.php?t=74843