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Down goes another Lunati

10K views 57 replies 25 participants last post by  Chebell 
#1 ·
Well, all done with Lunati. Really wanted to make it work but they are really draining my wallet and my patience. Second one lasted about five minutes. Talked to Lunati and sent them a bunch of info and pictures but haven’t heard back from them yet. Putting the Edelbrock back in so I can at least drive the damn thing before it snows again. What really pisses me off is that the Edelbrock broke in very nicely WITHOUT having to baby a thing both Lunati’s came apart even treating them like fine china. And yes, in the future everything will be full roller, that would have been WAY cheaper in the long run. The ONLY possible thing it could be at this point is spring pressure, but the Edelbrock handled it just fine and the Lunati acts like it was built out of soft lead. What does this say about the long term durability of the Lunati?!? Anyway, we’ll see if Lunati will be willing to work with me or not but at this point I’m just plain ticked off at their stuff.
 

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#2 ·
Cam failure? There site does say ground in the USA, but when I asked a tech there the other day he said they came from Morel.
 
#3 ·
Yes, cam failure. When I talked to them they said there are only two that still make flat tappet blanks then the different companies go from there. There is clearly a difference in heat treat or something. I used brand new Lunati lifters on all three cams and the Edelbrock looks perfect, the Lunati’s were trash in no time. Spending a ton of money at the machine shop because of junk parts!!
 
#4 ·
That sucks Tyler. I;m not a huge roller fan, but I also reckon that my 25+ yr old solid cam is simply good metal, and today's well....I;d only use Crower and Isky anymore myself on flat tappets, or custom.
 
#5 ·
Talked to a guy last week that had his Lunati 460 Ford cam go south after 45 minutes.
What I found out from him was he used Diesel oil with the Additive recommended by lunati and did put assembly lube on the lifters, molly lube.

But his spring pressure open was 345.
You must not put that molly cam lube on the side of the lifter ..I have no idea if he did that or not.

I use Driven Break In oil and no additives and keep open pressures under 300.
I have used Crower cam saver lifters on all my hydraulic flat tappet cams and have used Molly paste and have used
Driven assembly lube and no issues.
Oil goes on the side of the lifter body.

I wonder if the Lunati lifter is slightly larger diameter than an Edelbrock lifter.
Get molly or other thick lube on the side of a tight lifter and it may not spin well.

I do not know as I have not tested that aspect.. just something that crosses my mind.

I had a friend install his own disc brake pads and got the Lube for the pins and read it and it said to put on all moving parts.
He greased his pads and rotors and not the pins.
Stopped fine.
Not the way to use the lube though.
 
#12 ·
What cam was it ? Just curious.



Chris Straub would know for sure but I am fairly sure there are only one or two suppliers of cores.



As near as I have been able to tell Edelbrocks cams are just "generic" grinds that are the same as a lot of other companies mild cams. Not sure who actually makes them.
 
#13 ·
If my memory is any good, I think you need to ask for a P-55 cam core, which are in limited supply. Chris said that when OEM stopped using FT cams, the quality stopped too.
 
#14 ·
The lifter in the picture has not been rotating. The cam lobe path can be clearly seen in your picture. Was there a burr in the block that could have kept the lifter from rotating? If the lifter cannot spin it will wear out very fast just like your picture. A lifter that rotates and wears out is concave evenly. Yours shows a lobe track. I would get a dingleberry hone and run through the lifter bores and make sure all the lifters spin freely.
 
#16 ·
Just a quick look at the cards...those look like a pretty aggressive lobe even though lift is pretty low. I would bet the Edelbrock is a lot milder lobe as far as ramp speed etc.

And did you say 345 lbs open? Seems like a lot for that cam...

JIM
 
#19 ·
Both cams were listed as a “Voodoo” and were purchased as a package with lifters. So if the spring rates are nearly identical to what I already have in the car then why did both of them scatter! By the way, I put the Edelbrock back in and put about 60 miles on the car turning 3,000 at 55mph with ZERO problems. Nobody will ever convince me that Lunati is superior to anything more than a Mt. Dew can. AND I have yet to hear anything back from them so apparently their customer support is as good as the products they are selling!!
 
#20 ·
I had problems with some of their lifters pitting about 5 years ago. One of them wasn't staying pumped up and when I pulled it out, I found pits on the face of the lifter. I checked the rest and found 4 others that were pitting as well. They were all spinning and the cam was not damaged, just some of them were pitted. I called Steve at Lunati (who I bought the cam and lifter kit from directly) and he offered no help at all. The cam had about 5000 miles on it. No more Lunati for me.
 
#25 ·
When a person see's a cam called a "VOODOO" I would think common sense would say to that person, maybe this cam company is reaching out to the uninformed? for lack of a better word. What kind of a serious cam company names cams like this............I can tell you from my testing, and dealings with this company, this Lunati stuff is junk, and further more they couldn't give a ---- about your project.
 
#24 ·
Last 2 solid flats (both Lunati's) I used I removed the inner spring for the initial break-in and first 50 mile or so. My open spring force was right at 350 with the inners installed.

In addition I've always used the Cool Face lifters (.015 dia. hole on the lifter face) to help with extra oiling in that critical area.

Lots of things can go wrong when breaking in a new cam.
 
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#32 ·
Look, spent almost as time with Mr Brookshire on the phone as I did with Mark personally at this shop. Both gentlemen of the highest order. TO assume that Mark's "disdain" for Lunati product, has anything to do with Harold is spurious, to be kind. Methinks even Mr Brookshire , Aaron, would tell you that "hey all they got from me was a few assymetrical lobe designs, two years of service and that is all" . Please to recall his stint with Lunati was rather short lived. Even Harold whispered to us to get ahold of Bullet if we wanted real deal UltraDyne product on good stock after he fully retired, if I recall. Lunati owned the TL line though, and of course VooDoo, which they launched when he first got there with his signature assymetrical lobes.

ps although its all ex ante to Tyler, as in Jeff's procedure to I did run Harold's A3 solid grind in twice, due to a lifter mixup. Inners out, and each time i went WELL past 30 minutes. Heck, I changed out the oil, put a 3500 rpm chip in, pulled the secondary carb linkage, and drove around for hours on outers only. :) TWICE! The cam still looks mint. 30K miles.

PSS. upon initial installation during an engine freshen, the machinist found the cam bent. I thought it disasterous, but the machinist said he's seen it before, must've sat on a shelf a long time.:) ( old 80's short track grind Harold called it) The machinist, who retired after his built his last big block, an old L88! could have tried to tweak it back, he had done it before but he couldnt guarantee it. Yet, Harold said no, let him do it, so they shipped it back to MO, and the same serial # cam ( according to machinist) was sent back to NY post haste straight as an arrow. Weird! But cool!

Anyway, run that cam in well Tyler ! Sucks about Lunati.
 
#33 ·
Lunati recommends their 74820 spring as an upgrade with their BBC 268 voodoo HFT. That’s the same spring some builders use with hydraulic rollers; 155 lbs seat with a 370 rate. That would put open spring force on the 268 HFT at 360 lbs. I wonder how that would work out.
 
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