I lost that roller lifter pretty close to home, I turned around and actually drove it home! The cam lobe didn't look bad, not that I would have used it again, but I was surprised at how little damage it had incurred.
I ended up rebuilding the entire motor mostly because I wanted to do it "my way" with all new specs on everything.
Valve train failure on an FE, RodKnock says:
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...(granted it's more related to old FE's, not modern era),
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Oh really?? I'm not so sure about that!
There is still plenty of room to screw up a motor with all modern parts. It's all about how those parts work together and how it's assembled.
Actually the old FE's were pretty darn reliable, ANY engine is going to have it's share of problems when it's RACED hard (like the side oilers were). And many an old FE was rode hard and put away wet! I'm not sure the failure rate today is any different than it was back in the day. When you max out the horse power and run it hard, "stuff" is going to break, old or new.
And that will happen sooner if it wasn't built right in the first place. Like leaving bolts and nuts loose, or not choosing wisely what parts to use that work together well. Some combinations of parts are just better than others. There's more to it than just going through the catalog and buying this set of heads and that set of rockers and these pistons to go with that cam.