From what I have seen no.

 

It sounds like an LS to me lol. But yes they are louder than stock.

 

It might be ghetto, but its proven to work when looking at the oil drain back aspect of the engine. However, there have been reported failures in the drilled trays, and no matter how many holes you drill- you will never drain back as well as no tray

There is also a physics and material science facet here. We know GM did a lot of work to qualify the trays, and the trays are certified to be used in engines up to 7000rpm OE. There is some margin there, and as enthusiasts we use that margin lol. Start removing material and you start changing the harmonics and natural frequency of the plastic, and you also undoubtedly reduce the strength. Anyone arguing otherwise is ignorant. So, the point I am trying to make is- it might be fine at normal engine speeds, but get into the high frequency of 7-7500rpm and you can start loosing control of the lifter. Doesn't take long for that to lead to an engine failure

Link bars, superior to trays. For the everything

EDIT: I did NOT drill trays on my "old" 408. My assumption/ speculation as to what happened is: biiiiiiiiig rubber, aggressive alignment, big brakes and a really aggressive driver on a curvy road lead to the Melling HV pump emptying the pan, pumping the top of the motor full of oil and by the time it all came down to the pan again (after shutting the car off due to low OP warning) it was too late. I plan to make more power and do dry sump about it this time around

 

So I finally have a followup over a year later.

I did NOT have spun rod bearing on my "what's creating the metal in my oil" bingo card, but here we are. Made absolutely NO noise, and before I parked the truck it was still pulling the front passenger tire off the ground on hard roll launches prior to parking it. Only symptom was noisy lifters and low pressure. I won the bad luck contest with the best luck I suppose.

I'm fighting the urge to stroke the sheeeite out of it instead of just replacing the crank and #1 rod.





And lastly, because we all need something to smile about, jacked crank or not, my new shop homie I found in the yard tonight......I might have discovered her by accidentally mulching her family with the Lazer X....

 

Re-release it into the wild or raise it as family lol

Also stroke it

 

4” stoker gets my vote.😎

 

4" stroke everything <3