I'm looking for a new set of 914 lifters.

I see Web Cam has a set that has EDM hole of the face of the lifter they claim improves oiling. They are pricey at $200 a set. I'm skeptical EDM hole seems to be a likely place for stress cracking to start. I also don't think there is any evidence that would lead me to believe the Cam is under lubricated to start.

Prices are all over the map. Who is the preferred vendor for solid lifters of late?

Everybody is using them and for that matter it would seem all the big "cam houses" offer them. Race stuff for stiff springs.

You'd be hard pressed (see what I did there ) to crack face hardened lifters.

I'm just not bought into the idea that racing modification are always better for the street.

I agree stress cracking is unlikely but . . . . there are other concerns too.

For example, drilling (I know EDM isn't drilling) these holes in the face of the lifters provides a new oil flow path that wasn't planned for. Could decrease the oil pressure and feed to the lifter bores at best and could decrease pressure at the rod end or mains as a worst case.

The cam lobes actually will get a lot of lube from crankase windage and oil mist. The lifter bores, mains, and rod ends are all dependent on pressure feed. I just don't see that I'd want to decrease that pressure feed to "fix" a problem that I don't think exists on street driven engines with a stock (i.e. very mid lift) cam that isn't putting much stress on the cam lobes or lifter face to start with.

Now if you're racing you are probably running a bigger pump (30mm vs. 24mm stock) and have a whole new flow circuit (likely external oil cooler) to deal with. Also if racing, I'm going to plan on an engine teardown at least once a season so there would be an opportunity for inspection and refresh if needed. Not so on a street engine.

I know from experience OEM German lifters can go 100K on the street so why change it.

Problem is I'm not finding NOS lifters very easily.

That brings me back to the spread in price between $40 new set of lifters and these Web lifters (and others) that are closer to $200 but have EDM holes in them.

Just hoping to find a good NOS quality lifter that someone has had in an engine for a lot of miles without problems.

Any problems with these lifters would be unlikely,I don't think that price is too bad ($25 each ), oiling in this area is a weakness in the T4 ,I've seen so many of these motors with worn out cams as opposed to say the T1 for example.
There was a modification done years ago to run T1 lifters I have no idea if it was successful in the long term, certainly the need to machine the case would have put many off.
Do the top cam builders now still insist you use their matching lifters ?...used to be the case or you had no warranty.

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