New lifter's and rocker arm adjusters finally going in!!!

[69wannabe]

I purchased a new set of lifter's earlier this month and ordered a new set of rocker arm adjuster's and lock nut's that arrived saturday. Would have started on it this weekend but the weather was nice so I decided to drive it instead of work on it. Drove it sunday around the neighborhood since we finally got some nice weather for a change. Been planning on swapping the lifter's for awhile but it has been running fine so kinda put it off. The valve train has been noisy every since I built the engine but it seemed to run out fine but reading on here the comp cam lifters seem to be not so good so I am trying a set of the scorpion lifters and installing a new set of comp cam rocker arm adjusters and lock nuts. As far as I know the scorpion lifters are made by johnson lifter's and they use johnson's part number 4314. I started on it tonite when I got home from work about 7 ish. Got the carb, intake,fan, and spark plugs out within the first hour and pulled the valve covers and started swapping the lifters and adjusters one at a time. The lifters are supposed to be pre loaded to 40 to 50 on a dial gauge so I checked and just between 3/4 and 1 full turn is about 45 so that is where i'm setting them. Got the driver side completely done and will start on the passenger side tomorrow hopefully if nothing else keep's me from working on it. Very curious to see if it is better. I am hoping so anyway!!

[green69rt]

 

[fy469rtse]

Mitch,
Bored ? ,  ok I'm in , what was wrong with the old lifters ?

[500Jon]

Hi Guys,

Done this set up recently too... 440ci +30 trw's, SP rods, 67 Hipo motor.
Steel roller rockers and Lunatti cam/lifters.
Set one side up with 1/2 turn and was wonderful, left-hand (drivers).
Didn't work at all on the other side???
Really noisy and lumpy tick-over.
Ended up with 'one full turn' on the right-hand side to stop the rattly sound...

Chevvie guys on Youtube siad only 1/4 turn for extra power???
They are in league with the Devil methinks???

[69wannabe]

Mitch,
Bored ? ,  ok I'm in , what was wrong with the old lifters ?

Sometimes they would leak down and when I would start it cold it would let the pushrod drop out from under the adjuster. I would have to figure out which cylinder was skipping, pull the valve cover and put the pushrod back under the adjuster and re-adjust it. Have had to do this twice lately and they are noisy at certain rpm's. Got all the new lifter's in tonite and got them all adjusted and started cleaning up the intake and heads where the valley pan goes but didn't get alot done. Had a ford ranger I had to finish up so I didn't get to do much on the charger today.

[fy469rtse]

Oh , that's an issue, yes I would have been pissed at that,
Who's lifters were they,
I can see why you changed them , hope alls good now

[69wannabe]

They were comp cam high energy lifters. When I ordered the cam I ordered matching lifters but have not been happy with them since I got the car running. Didn't get to work on it today, had a long day at work. Went in at 7 am and got home a little after 10 pm. Had a long drive to get to the place I had to work at then was there quite awhile doing repair's on their hyster then on the long drive back had a blow out on the interstate!! Not one of my better days!!!

[Yatzee]

I've always thought that when new lifters are installed it's a good time to do the cam and timing set so
the "brains" of the engine are new and break in together. Could be wrong on this one but that's how
I would prefer it.

[69wannabe]

I've always thought that when new lifters are installed it's a good time to do the cam and timing set so
the "brains" of the engine are new and break in together. Could be wrong on this one but that's how
I would prefer it.

It's not necessary to replace the cam if you are putting new lifters on an old camshaft as long as it's a good camshaft. Besides the engine is fairly new with only a few thousand miles on it. I wouldn't recommend trying to use any used lifters in anything unless you have the cam and lifters together and you put the lifters back on the exact lobe they came off of. I have done this before with no problem on a 383 I rebuilt for a friend and he bought the cam and lifters from me and the cam was good and the lifters were kept in order the way they came out of the engine. Once a cam and lifter set is broken in the lifters mate to the lobe that they are on. You can break in new lifters on an old cam tho... Had some weak lifters on the wife's jeep engine 4.0 and put in a new set of lifters a couple of years back and it is still running fine(knock on wood) It had 120,000 miles when I swapped out the lifters and it has close to 150,000 on it now. ZDDP additive or an oil with the ZDDP in it is a must with flat tappet camshaft's!!!

[69wannabe]

Got the engine back together last thursday and it was late so I decided to let it set and let the silicone dry on the intake ends. Didn't mess with it over the weekend since the weather was crappy here and after the last three days of working 11 and 12 hrs each day I finally went out there and got it up and running again late this evening. It was noisy at first but the oil pressure was way up on 60 so I idled it up to like 1500 rpms and let it run a bit and after 5 mins or so it started smoothing out and the lifters finally built up and quietened down so I let it run another 15 mins and idled it down to normal. Let it idle for a few min's then shut it off and changed the oil and filter and started it back up and let it run a few more min's. All seem's well and it is ready for a test run the next nice day we have here. I'm interested to see if the valve train is any quieter since it was more noticeable when I was driving it.

[fy469rtse]

  good , lets hpoe for you it stays good ,