How should I prime lifters before installation?

[WH23G3G]

What do I need to do to the lifters before I install them in my 400? I've got a new Speed Pro cam and it came with lifters. One mechanic told me to soak them overnight in a bucket of oil. The book I'm following says to squirt oil through the bleed hole, oil the lifter bore, and dab some moly grease on the foot. What's the best way to do prime these lifters before I install them?

[maxwellwedge]

You can do all of the above. Use a top quality break-in oil in the engine as well.

[firefighter3931]

I like to coat the lifter faces with moly lube....not the sides, just the face surface. Afterwards i just put them in dry and torque down the rocker assembly and dump oil on top of them. Then i prime the engine with the priming rod and rotate it over until i see oil coming out of the rocker arms....then you're ready for the initial fire-up.

As Jim stated a proper breakin oil and EP additive is essential for cam survival. Once running the engine must be kept at 2000+ rpm for the first 20-25 minutes to properly break in the cam/lifters.



Ron

[WH23G3G]

What's a quality oil and additive? I've used Valvoline 10W-40 Conventional to lube everything when assembling the engine and Redline Synthetic Lube for the bearings. After everything was together I just dumped in some cheap 10W-30 to flush any contaminants that may have entered while building the block and I drained it out. What oil should use to initially start it up? One mechanic told me to use diesel 15W-40 because it has something in it that newer thin oils don't anymore. What kind of additive do I need? My cam instructions say to break in the cam at 1800-2000RPM for 20 minutes. Does it have to be at 2000RPM as soon as it fires up? What if I have to adjust the engine a little when it fires up?

[firefighter3931]

Rotella 15/40 diesel oil is fine along with a bottle of ZZDP+ additive. Use a Napa Gold oil filter. I like 2000 rpm for 20 minutes....as soon as the engine fires bump the idle up to 2000 and set the timing to 30* BTDC.



Ron

[Purple440]

Why set the timing to 30*?

[firefighter3931]

Why set the timing to 30*?

To prevent overheating and keep the engine cool. 

[b5blue]

Prior to start up you should prime the whole system, use a rod in the oil pump drive and run a drill on it circulate oil.Slowly rotate the motor to cycle oil to the crank and fill all parts of the system, oil will run over the lifters and flow to the rocker shafts filling them to. If you fill the lifters prior to start up you run the risk of them being over-pumped up on start up!

[maxwellwedge]

I like to coat the lifter faces with moly lube....not the sides, just the face surface. Afterwards i just put them in dry and torque down the rocker assembly and dump oil on top of them. Then i prime the engine with the priming rod and rotate it over until i see oil coming out of the rocker arms....then you're ready for the initial fire-up.

As Jim stated a proper breakin oil and EP additive is essential for cam survival. Once running the engine must be kept at 2000+ rpm for the first 20-25 minutes to properly break in the cam/lifters.



Ron

Hey Ron - Do you remember Racer Brown's break-in procedure that was in the Hustle Stuff catalog? That was some serious stuff!

[b5blue]

Hey how did I miss Ron's post! Sorry to repeat that!! 

[firefighter3931]

Hey Ron - Do you remember Racer Brown's break-in procedure that was in the Hustle Stuff catalog? That was some serious stuff!

Jim, i have never seen a Hustle Stuff Catalog.  I remember when Direct Connection started up in the Late 70's and I purchased a set of the "first run" Stage 4 iron heads from the dealer. I was just a high school kid at the time....but man those heads looked cool....or so i thought. 


Ron

[firefighter3931]

Hey how did I miss Ron's post! Sorry to repeat that!! 

No worries Neal....it's all good man 


Ron

[maxwellwedge]

Hey Ron - Do you remember Racer Brown's break-in procedure that was in the Hustle Stuff catalog? That was some serious stuff!

Jim, i have never seen a Hustle Stuff Catalog.  I remember when Direct Connection started up in the Late 70's and I purchased a set of the "first run" Stage 4 iron heads from the dealer. I was just a high school kid at the time....but man those heads looked cool....or so i thought. 


Ron

I will try and find one and post it. It was like 3 or 4 pages. Paint a stripe on the lifter, cut viewing holes in the valve covers to watch the lifter rotate etc  etc.   It was wild, fanatical but cool stuff.

[firefighter3931]

Hey Ron - Do you remember Racer Brown's break-in procedure that was in the Hustle Stuff catalog? That was some serious stuff!

Jim, i have never seen a Hustle Stuff Catalog.  I remember when Direct Connection started up in the Late 70's and I purchased a set of the "first run" Stage 4 iron heads from the dealer. I was just a high school kid at the time....but man those heads looked cool....or so i thought. 


Ron

I will try and find one and post it. It was like 3 or 4 pages. Paint a stripe on the lifter, cut viewing holes in the valve covers to watch the lifter rotate etc  etc.   It was wild, fanatical but cool stuff.

I'd luv to see it....post the article if you get a chance 

Holy Crap....punching holes in the VC's to watch for lifter rotation....seems a little bit over the top don't ya think ? 

FWIW, i just use a sharpie and mark the lifters and rotate the engine over by hand to look for rotation....it's allways worked fine for me. Pretty easy to see rotation (or not) with the intake manifold removed. 



Ron

[resq302]

How cool would that be to have a see through valve cover?  Just think, fire up your engine at a car show and have a crowd staring literally into your engine seeing all of the moving parts.