We have had our share of good and bad luck with both solid mechanical cams and solid rollers cams. I had a W2 engine wipe a lobe on the solid cam. I had an issue with a solid mechanical in my last hemi and it turned out to be an adjuster that went away. I also broke a solid cam, sheared the last couple lobes clean and still made a pass with it. Never killed any of my engines though.

The way I look at it, the rollers when they go, they often take out the whole engine. When a solid goes, it generally doesn't kill the whole engine, at least in the failures we have seen. Goes without saying you have all those small parts in the roller cams that end up all over when it lets go...Most if not all the failures I have witnessed are the rollers falling apart.

Yes you need good oil with a mechanical, and yes you have to break it in properly, but I like the lower valve spring pressures, I like the lower costs, and I like the lower maintenance over all.

For now, I will stick with my solid mechanical cams. I even put one in my new 605 Hemi....