[Ronnieroadster]

There's really nothing to worry about when it comes to our Ford flathead engine's. The amount of wear created by the spring rates needed for a flathead are extremely low when compared to what's needed by any type of over head valve engine. Another positive is the adjustable lifters available for the flathead are good quality. After building many flatheads none of them have ever experienced any cam or lifter failures. One important detail is to use oil that has some Zinc content.

The lifter and worn cams experienced by many shops for years has to do with not only the poor quality of the parts but also the elimination of Zinc in engine oil. Zinc was found to be a killer of catalytic converters in emission era exhaust systems. Along with the emission system changes many auto manufacturers went to roller lifter designs for the valve train. Rollers work fine without any need for zinc. For years almost all of the major engine oil manufacturers simply removed zinc. Once that began the valve train failures began.

Thankfully now there is a number of oils available with zinc added for our flatheads and every other overhead being built with non roller lifter equipped valve trains. I personally use roller lifters in my vintage engines simply because I can and of course like to make as much horsepower as possible with our beloved Ford flathead engine's. One reason why my stock block Ford flatheads burning gasoline run over 200 MPH with ease.
Happy New Year to everyone
Ronnieroadster