All depends. Both my 1835 and 2180 lasted 19 years before needing attention. The 2180 had 19,000 miles on it. Crank, rods, line bore and thrust, oil pump and cam were like new. Lifter bores and valve guides were shot. P&Ls would of been ok except for rust damage to two cylinders. Lifters had normal wear but looked like they were in for 80,000 miles. This engine was built with almost all new parts, DeMello race crank, case, Webber cam (VZ 30 style)and lifters, Melling oil pump, GB pressure relief cover, Dean Lowry heads, Rimco race rods, Cima Mahle piston/liner set.
The 1835, known good rebuilt case, Rimco stock rods, Rimco 10/10 stock crank 8 dowel, used DDS lightened flywheel all balanced. Cima/Mahle pistons and liners, Melling oil pump, Gene Berg pump cover, Webber (VZ 15 style) cam and lifters, out of the box 041 heads with hd single springs and stock retainers. A stock retainer was the only failure taking out a valve. Next I used aluminium retainer but they started going bad right away changed to hd retainers and no more problems. The rings finally wore out. I have not taken this engine apart but I suspect because I only used HD single valve springs the lifters will be in better shape. I expect the lifter bores to need resleeving.
The 2180 has accumulated another 20,000 miles on it. Since lifter quality is iffy these days I had Web copy the Webber cam. The Web cam and lifters I used were a disapointment broken in with Bradd Penn racing oil they needed constant adjustment and the Bug Pack lash caps were a joke 2 set were warrantied out in less than 2 weeks I switched to swivel feet rockers and then the cam wear was evident. At 2000 miles I replaced the rings and used another Web cam and Udo Becker tool steel lifters. The lifters solved the cam/lifter wear but the rings never really seated and the last 4,000 miles there is excessive blowby and a lack of power. In a month or so I'll be switching to 90.5 pistons and liners and a smaller cam like a VZ 15 or VZ 14. I expect the valve guides to also need replacement.
With both engines I ran dual oil filters and an extra oil cooler.
These day Steve Tims at http://www.performancework-shop.com has the best deal on heads $600-$750 a set and he ports your intakes and will tweak port volume and head cc where needed.
Unless your using thick wall 92s I would build a 2276 or larger engine engine since it will not have to work as hard but a 1915 with a VZ 14 or 15 cam will pull very hard and be much cheaper to build. At one time attention to detail including getting your jetting correct made or broke how your engine lasted. These days poor quality parts also have to be taken into consideration. As always keeping the engine in tune and controlling your right foot also makes a big difference.
