I've got a 99 NT with the evo engine. I'm thinking that I need more power so I'm planning a power upgrade and just wanted to get some opinions.Like most I'm on a budget so I'm gonna buy the parts when and where I can over the summer and have a buddy/motorcycle mechanic do the work for me($20 an hour...cash....not bad). I've got the k&n filter and a hooker 2-1 exhaust. I'm thnking about the ev27 cam, torrington bearing, adjustable rods(need advice), new lifters(need advice), a dyna2000 or Cran hi-4 ignition, plane the heads to increase compression, and a port and polish. As I'm just starting to put together a parts list I'm sure there are things I missing so if you got suggestions i'm listening. Thanks

 

Sounds to me Eddie,like you have a pretty good plan already in place.Have fun and Good Luck

 

What are some brands of lifters and adjustable pushrods that anyone can recommend?

 

18523-86B HD lifters are popular with many on other forums, you can get them from discountbiker.com for about 22 bucks each. I have the Crane Hi-4 but if I had to do over I would have the daytona-twintec from JIREH - it is similar, but cheaper and allows programming of the advance curve. The shop that did the top end on our evo used RevTec Chromemoly adjustable pushrods, but I don't know how they compare to other brands.

 

This is my opinion and I'm sure some people will disagree but I wouldn't buy the adjustable pushrods. They are not needed with a bolt in cam (EV27 is a bolt in). The only advantage of installing them is if you want to change the cam at a later date you won't have to pull the rocker boxes, which is no big deal and takes like 20 minutes anyway. Bolt in cams use the same base circle as the stock cam so if your hydraulic lifters werekeeping the valves adjusted before they will work just fine with any bolt in cam.
I put an EV46 cam in mine and kept stock pushrods. But I did install Andrews springs since I now canrev to 6500 with DYNA ignition and don't want to chance valve float.
As far as lifters I found a shop in New York on Ebay thatsells andrews cams as a package with new lifters, that is what I did.

 

I went with the screaming eagle pushrods and the Jims hydralic lifters, I also went with the EV27. No complaints.

 

Supposedly those 18523-86B lifters are an upgrade, but I personally would not trust Harley lifters. Even the guys that recommend them say they should be changed every 40,000 miles or so. Doesn't sound like much of an upgrade to me. Lifters should last for the life of the engine. I'd use aftermarket. I finally put Crane in mine, though I don't have enough miles on them to say for sure they'll last longer than OEM.
As for pushrods, OEM are fine, but the EZ installs are nice if you have any lifter or cam problems down the road. I haven't heard of any problems in particular with any name brand pushrod like Screamin' Eagle, Crane, Andrews, etc.