Hydraulic vs solid cam for weekend cruiser, Pros and con Options

[914Sixer]

I know that the hydraulic is frowned on. All of the later type 4 motors went this route. Even the last Type 1 Beetles from Mexico went there too! The newest 911 are hydraulic.
I am not going racing just crusing in my 73 2.0. I know the power band is different but most of the driving will be under 4500 rpm. I plan on running some modified Hoffman AMC 2.0 heads, 94mm Euro pistons, 1.7 rockers with 911 swivel feet, solid rocker spacers and stock FI. Nothing exotic.

[SGB]

I rebuilt my 1973 2.0 engine 15 years ago and about 70,000 miles back, using a webcam hydraulic "street-grind" and webcam lifters. I had pushrods made to size. I put in swivel feet 911 adjusters (not Ford). I did not put in any spacers to lift the rocker arm. I also have dual 40IDA webers, and a couple of years ago replaced the .050 with a mallory unilite, got CBs tall manifolds, and put on SSI exhaust. I already had equal length extractor and Bursch muffler.

There have been a few times when the whole thing was a real problem. Carb work would get confusing b/c of a lifter not pumping up. or plug would foul b/c a lifter took too long to pump up, etc. The hydro lifter often had a bearing in whatever engine manifestation was going on. If the car is down for more than a few days, it will be noisy and have spotty behavior at startup, making other engine work more challenging.

That said, when they are right, they are quiet. But so are solids actually. At the end of the day, I wish I still had a solid lifter setup, but not b/c I am dissatisfied with the hydro, but it has an even smaller knowledge base than the regular teener.