Comparison...

 

As far as those two cams go, it looks like the old flat tappet has the advantage...

 

One thing to consider
I didn't have all the Valve timing specs on the Lunati Roller . DD5 is very sensitive to the info you put in , if something is left out it guesstamates that field and the final HP/TQ number suffer .
They are very close , I think i'd go with the Roller with Today's oil not having zddp

 

Only thing I don'y like about most of the retro fit hyd rollers is the large amount of valve lift they have, this is hard on the valve train and to me takes some of the dependability out of the engine.
There is a cam company (name escapes me at the moment) that makes hyd roller cams for these engines with valve lifts more in line with those of todays modern factory hyd roller engines.
It seems to me that some companies thing these retro fit hyd roller cam should have as much lift as a full race solid roller.

 

 

That "reliability" part is debatable. With the lack of ZDDP in today's oils, flat-tappet cams can be a crap-shoot during the break-in period. Once you're past that though, they're pretty much the same.

The thing I would say also plays into flat-tappet versus roller: Friction - Rollers, both cam and rockers, remove a lot of friction, liberating quite a bit of torque. But I'm not going to say one is better than the other.

 

I tend to agree on a couple things here. But than I'm an old fart and most likely have no idea what I'm talking about.
Anyway, you start going to far past 500ish lift,you might want to get some end-stands for rocker shafts. You might need to up the spring pressure, will most definitely start costing. I personally like the roller stuff but you might want to start making a list and see how deep your pockets go. Everything has to work together. Personally I like a little lobe but I also like to stay between 500 and 550 lift and if from what I have read - that means a custom cut cam. There are different cam companies out there that can cut a custom cam but of course you need to know what "you want or need" for your application. Oregon cams cut a decent custom cam. Make a list of what parts you want to use, and then decide what cam will work the best.

Don't know if you have ever visited,
335-428 Ford FE Engine Forum, but they have some very experienced FE builders on that site. Berry-R from Servivalmotorsports.com, as well as others on the FE Forum, have years of experience with FE motors.
Pretty sure Berry can have a custom cam cut for what ever you want to build. I think pretty much all the guys on that site have much to offer.
Good luck.

 

The "No Break-in" of the roller is a big bonus for me plus the reduced friction is nice. Any recommendations on a roller rocker setup?