Lets talk lifters

They work, but they do not give you the full effect of the cam... So if you use them like most did so they could have a huge cam that would hurt low end idle and vacuum, but make it work ok, but that cam won't work the same as the motor without them. (like the post above)
Something interesting on this is have you ever run solid rollers on a hyd roller cam... the solid roller makes the motor come alive...

Id lose the rhoads idea and get a roller, the perf you will gain from a roller over a flat are HUGE not to mention break in issue is all gone