Street Block Solid Lifter Success ?

[70rcode]

Anyone having solid lifter flat tappet good street life running aroud 130 lbs seat and 365 lbs on nose & willing to share setup description as cam & lifter Brand, special metal treatment if any , break-in method oil type.....Any information greatly appreciated...tom.

 

[Ski 61701]

Good luck... its a lot of work to set these up anymore due to quality of parts. All I can say is triple check all parts for burrs and excess casting flash especially on sides of cam lobes. I would have the cam nitrided. when you install it make sure it spins freely in the block. I would oil through lifters, but take apart and clean clean clean. reassemble and start at back or front get a sharpie and put a mark on lifter top and use wd 40 at this point for lube, and spin cam over, what you are looking for is to see lifter spin in its bore. Do this for all lifters. once you see them rotate set them aside for final clean and installation. use a good cam break in grease to grease lobes, only use oil for lifter sides. Get yourself a nylon cam button and put it on, you are trying to minimize cam walk. First cyl the lobes are really close and if there is casting flash on sides of lobes you could have 1 lobe hit 2 lifters. This happened to me twice now, and I had to send cam back to get remachined.
Its very time consuming, but hoping that cam does not go flat. I use valvoline vr1 10w30 for oil. Everyone has their manufacturer preferences, so its up to you on who you pick, anymore its a serious crapshoot on quality from anyone.

 

[rumblefish360]

Anyone having solid lifter flat tappet good street life running aroud 130 lbs seat and 365 lbs on nose & willing to share

Done all the time.

setup description as cam & lifter Brand, special metal treatment if any ,
break-in method
oil type.....
Any information greatly appreciated...tom.

Cam; Hughes engines, Competition Cams, MP’s famous Purple shafts.
Lifters; Used those with the package, standard solid lifters.
Special treatment to parts? None
Break in method; The same ones given for decades. Lube cam up with break in lube, prelude the engine, (oil prime on drill, rotate engine two full turns slowly to get oil everywhere and up to the rocker shafts) set ignition up to start immediately! Vary rpm for 20 minutes between 2K - 25k.
Oil? Brad Penn break in oil. When it’s not available, Comp Cams & Crane break in additive was used without issue.

Make sure your pushrods are the correct length and installed correctly! Sounds stupid I know.... And lash a tad right since when the engine heats up, the lash will get larger.

I run break in oil after the cam break in period and change it out after 500 easy miles while I tune the carb and distributor and again since it maybe contaminated with fuel and some of the last of the break in metal. Then regular oil or synth as you see fit. Add a bottle of additive to protect the rubbing cam parts. Roller cam ez engines I have get synth.

 

[Road Rat]

You might consider spending the extra dollars and getting tool steel lifters. Less break in problems.

 

[70rcode]

Thanks guys for the great check info. Are the non-coated Trend tool steel lifers with edm hole top class units or another brand better from your experiences ? Does anyone slighty chamfer the lifter face perimeter edge ? ......thx.......tom.

 

[Road Rat]

I have the Trend Elite tool steel lifters, the non EDM version. Ray Barton put them in when he built my engine. He swears by them and he builds a lot of engines. He says you can even change the cam and reuse the lifters.

 

[rumblefish360]

There is no reason you should ever have to have the lifter edge chamfered.
(Additional note to my post above... moly/break in lube on the pushrod ends. Bottom of lifter of course, rocker tip if not a roller rocker)

 

[oldkimmer]

I have the Trend Elite tool steel lifters, the non EDM version. Ray Barton put them in when he built my engine. He swears by them and he builds a lot of engines. He says you can even change the cam and reuse the lifters.

Do u have a link to these lifters? Was the cam nitrited or? Thanks. Kim

 

[Road Rat]

Do u have a link to these lifters? Was the cam nitrited or? Thanks. Kim

RB903CH-1 on the lifters, the cam is a Bullet, I don’t believe it’s nitrites. I think the RB on the lifters refers to Ray Barton special order, but I don’t believe they are any different from the stock Trend Elites.

 

[threewood]

I'm running a Hughes STL 3842 cam with edm lifters. Broke in outer spring only on Gibbs Driven Break-in oil. Oil used after has been Gibbs 10w30 HR and Valvoline VR1 10w30. Running good.

 

[oldkimmer]

RB903CH-1 on the lifters, the cam is a Bullet, I don’t believe it’s nitrites. I think the RB on the lifters refers to Ray Barton special order, but I don’t believe they are any different from the stock Trend Elites.

Thank u very much. Kim

 

[biomedtechguy]

set ignition up to start immediately! Vary rpm for 20 minutes between 2K - 25k.

That example must be very sturdy...
Lol. Must be a short stroke R block

 

[Ski 61701]

There is no reason you should ever have to have the lifter edge chamfered.
(Additional note to my post above... moly/break in lube on the pushrod ends. Bottom of lifter of course, rocker tip if
a roller rocker)

This is where I have run into problems with lifters, the bottom edge have nicks in them on a couple of builds I've done. Enough to feel it when I ran my finger around the bottom. Also I have taken lifters apart, only to find brand new ones to have some sort of residual dried machine oil?? in the bottom. I probably wouldn't mind , but dont want to chance clogging an edm hole. Or cam by some weird chance grabbing a nick and wearing funny. After reading so many failures on cams going flat, I just go that extra mile on this stuff. Lifters came from a big name company not the local fast food parts stores

 

[Ski 61701]

Thanks guys for the great check info. Are the non-coated Trend tool steel lifers with edm hole top class units or another brand better from your experiences ? Does anyone slighty chamfer the lifter face perimeter edge ? ......thx.......tom.

I dont chamfer the edge, its if there is a small nick, just carefully smooth it out.

 

[rumblefish360]

This is where I have run into problems with lifters, the bottom edge have nicks in them on a couple of builds I've done. Enough to feel it when I ran my finger around the bottom. Also I have taken lifters apart, only to find brand new ones to have some sort of residual dried machine oil?? in the bottom. I probably wouldn't mind , but dont want to chance clogging an edm hole. Or cam by some weird chance grabbing a nick and wearing funny. After reading so many failures on cams going flat, I just go that extra mile on this stuff. Lifters came from a big name company not the local fast food parts stores

The residual oil is called Cosmoline. Wash with mineral spirts. The EDM hole is under a lot of pressure and shouldn’t ever clog. You’ve taken lifters apart? How did that solid lifter come apart?

That example must be very sturdy...
Lol. Must be a short stroke R block

I truly have no clue what your talking about.
Are you sure you have the right guy?

 

[Ski 61701]

The residual oil is called Cosmoline. Wash with mineral spirts. The EDM hole is under a lot of pressure and shouldn’t ever clog. You’ve taken lifters apart? How did that solid lifter come apart?

Real simple, remove snap ring and disassemble remove the puck clean out residual muck. The ones I've taken apart have had a some sort of dried oil. Definitely not cosomoline. My guess its when they make the lifter housing itself whatever rinse they use to clean is what is left inside. Put puck back in and put back together.
I truly have no clue what your talking about.
Are you sure you have the right guy?

 

[rumblefish360]

You quoted me without a reply....

 

[Ski 61701]

You quoted me without a reply....

not sure what happened, open my post above yours and in the text box is my reply.
The lifters I am referring to are Comp #2901. You can take out the puck that pushrod sits in, and there is a galley like regular hydraulic lifter.
I've used these twice and both times I have seen nicks on bottom edge of lifters. Almost as if someone was tossing them in from 15ft away.
So needless to say I'm not using that brand anymore.

 

[70rcode]

Am planning to use Crane 661381 Cam (Cam is avail with Nitrided process at $150 extra..Anyone vouch with personal experience Crane Nitrided Cam ) with Trend uncoated tool steel lifter..Edm hole or No ? What's you'alls experience on the similar combo ? Are any better quality Lifters out there ? ..I can check Lash daily, Weekly or whatever interval you recommend...Just looking for your similar solid Lifter recent experiences to guide my anticipated no hassle build & trying to realistically avoid the Roller cam setup deal while Avoiding a flat tapped wipe out.on my very limited street (estimated 1300 rpm idle) Occasional strip usage...Thx for helpful responses, .....tom.

 

[BSB67]

What a sad reflection on todays products. Instead of simply making good quality cams and lifters, we make tool steel lifters, add a coating to them, put in EDM holes, and nitride the cam.