Q. What types of lifters are available?

A. The four types of lifters available are hydraulic flat tappet, solid flat tappet, hydraulic roller, and solid roller. Their characteristics are as follows:

Hydraulic Flat Tappet lifters feature a “flat” lifter face (actually, it’s slightly convex to promote rotation) and a pushrod seat that is hydraulically controlled by the flow of engine oil through the lifter body. This style lifter is often found in engines manufactured in 1984 and earlier.

Hydraulic flat tappet lifters are ideal for performance street cars and limited race use where valve spring pressures are moderate (below 350 lbs open), and engine speeds generally stay below 6000 RPM. Because the flow of oil maintains pressure against the engine’s pushrods, hydraulic flat tappets require little maintenance if set up correctly upon installation.

COMP Cams® offers OE-style High-Energy series and more race-oriented hydraulic flat tappets: Pro Magnum, High-Tech™ and Race series lifters.  Each of these high performance hydraulic flat tappets have tighter plunger to body tolerances and heavy duty internals which allow for increased engine speeds with less chance of valve float. 

Solid Flat Tappet lifters contain a solid pushrod seat that does not depend on the flow of oil for applied force. Solid lifters work well for high performance street and race engines, as they lack the internal hydraulic mechanism that causes hydraulic lifters to lose control under high-rpm operating conditions.

The downsides to solid lifters include increased valve train noise and the need to manually set the clearances between the rocker arm and valve stem tips (better known as “valve lash”).