lifters

curious, does anyone have an opinion on variable duration lifters? years ago they were all the rage but you never hear anything about them anymore. yes, i have a set installed but don't remember what my engine was like before i put them in 15 years ago.

When I purchased my 69 Road Runner, of course it is a A4 silver hardtop with a bench seat 4 speed car, the 383 in it has a serious rod knock so I pulled that one. So here i had another nice little 383 that ran pretty descent for being stone stock. I pulled the heads and put on another set of 906's that had a fresh VJ on them. My buddy had a fairly new comp cams hydraulic stick that is around .510 lift and .292 duration. Keep in mind I was on a mission to do this thing on the cheap just to see what we ended up with so I decided the cam was fine since the car is a stick and the idle would be wicked enough. With the cam I got a new set of the Rhoads variable duration lifters. After installing a new double roller chain and new high volume pump we got it put back together. I left the Hi-Po exhaust manifolds on it and used the hemi mufflers with the chrome tips out back. This thing screams! I am not sure what to think about the lifters? I mean it sounds like a grenade waiting to happen at an idle and then it just hauls the mail. Right now it has the original single point distributor and a 68 440 AVS. The motor is zero deck height so it has to around 10-1 compression. The rear gears are 4.10 and it is perfect for me! This car will get rubber in three gears man. Variable lifters or not , I have no complaints. Now if I could get the body done and back to silver I will be flying high. JC.

dude, that is so close to my situation that i was smiling the whole time i read your comment. i did the same thing with what i think is about the same cam (but in a 440) and build. thanks for replying. i was very interested in hearing if anybody else actually uses these lifters and if they do what they are advertised to do. thanks again!

Cool. Yeah I must have around 7500 miles on that stuff by now. I like to drive I guess. Zero problems to report. That 440 should do the trick! Later. JC.

Mike or Quicksilver,I'm curious about the Rhoads Lifters. Did they smooth out the idle and help the low rpm tourque with your cams?

well i have to say yes to your question. i put them in when i rebuilt the engine 15 years ago and according to my cam spec's and people who had used the same or similiar grinds, i should have a very rough idle and little to no vacumn. i have vacumn and except for always running rich (it's a 6pac) i never have problems idling the beast.

Thanks for the info,I have a stroked small block with the MP .508/292 degree cam I have not installed yet and was wondering if the Rhoads lifters would be a good idea.How loud are they at idle? I've been told they're similar to a solid lifter setup.

in all honesty, i have never had a problem with 'loud' lifters except when the car sits for an extended period. but i also have a high volume oil pump so maybe that helps?

I have them in my 440 and have yet to fire the engine so this thread sounds incouraging. The info on them is some noise at idle but improved vac also as much as 5" over std lifters plus more lower end torque this is all on their web site.

I have a set of Rhodes lifters on an Isky cam in one of my non Mopars. It has upper valvetrain noise for sure, but after several thousand miles it is the same as when installed. The lifters "slap shut" from what I understand, you hear it more at the rocker arms I think. I replaced the intake and got to look at the cam lobes last year, they had a nice polish on them all. I always liked the sound, it is only slightly more noisy than original. Sounds like a solid setup somewhat.......and it runs so good, I never thought about changing them. This year I added ZDDP to the oil change, "just in case" and it actually quieted it down a tad. But I would never change them, it is part of that car's personality.