Haggard-hawk

[Catmaigne]

I started thinking about the 355 LE2 motor I'm piecing together again since the season is almost over. I was hoping to get the block to the machine shop soon since I'm sure they'll be super busy over winter.

I found myself reading some reviews for the Morel 7717 (Summit HT217) LS7 style lifters on the Summit website when I stumbled upon this... here we go again

7717 problem.JPG

What he's saying is true. The lower bushing area (wheel side) of the Morel lifter body extends too far down and completely blocks the oil galley holes when the lifter is at the peak of a cam lobe. This means oil will have a much harder time making it to lifters at the front of the engine. I double checked this myself with a stock cam and it's true for gen 2 LTx too.

The pic below has a Johnson 2110 on the left, Morel 7717 in the middle, and OE LT1 lifter on the right. I put a red line where the bushing area ends on the Morel. It extends about 0.165" farther down compared to the others. Morel also says that these lifters are compatible with gen 1 and 2 engines, but that seems like bullshit and bad engineering.

lifters.jpg

I'm just gonna run some Delphi LS7s from BTR since my cam is lazy enough. I can't find anything better short of buying Johnson 2110Rs for $750. If I was forced to drop that much on lifters then I'd be shopping for a much better cam and springs.