The big con with a flat tappet cam is, if your break-in procedure wasn't done perfectly, and/or you are not using the correct oil (which is getting harder to find locally anymore)
I'm pretty sure those little bottles of ZDDP (zinc) are still available?
you run the risk of some lobes going round, and really messing up your crank, bearings and piston skirts. It happened to me, and many, many others.
I can see the wear particles from the cam & lifters being thrown into the cylinder bores by splash, but how would they get through the oil filter to the crank and bearings?
Nobody's mentioned the old "Mini-Express" mushroom cam/lifters P3690588 (316 adv. @ 0.654) and there's a bigger one 328, 0.690. Lifters are a PITA to change but the few people who have run one have had good things to say about the performance. I think it's around 270 duration @.050. A lot cheaper than a roller setup...
