i talked to a guy several weeks ago and just remembered. he said his machine shop told him that his lifter bores are loose. they were going to bore them and put ford lifters in them. i never hear of this before. is this something that is Ok to do? i have enough blocks around i wouldn't do it but would like your thoughts on it. the shop he is going to is a typical Chevy mostly shop. i tried to talk him into getting another opinion but he said he was going to do what they said was best.

 

well i talked to him today. he said that the engine runs great and they did put Ford lifters in two holes but not the others. he did say he had some (what he thought was) lifter noise. he got a set of adjustable rockers and the noise did not go away. i wonder if it is the ford lifters?

 

Years ago I used to race a 1948 "blown" MG-TC. I found that at around 6700 rpm the valves "floated." I wound up putting in Buick valve springs! The length and dia. were the same , but they were stronger.

This resulted in 9000rpm! That 1250cc engine would get the car up to 103mph! Seems that many parts ARE interchangeable!

Good Luck,

--Don

 

I discussed using a Ford .875 solid roller in my build because there are no .921 solid rollers for Olds out there with Travato. The wheel is the same on both and I would have to bush the bores for the .875s too.
OK cam profiles. You can do a little bit more aggressive lobes with a .875. In other words a faster ramp speed. The .875 lifter won't do anything for you on an .842 cam.

 

Before I did anything, I would be looking for the cause of those "loose" lifter bores.

I wonder if it is the same sound that those Ford lifters were supposed to stop?

Norm

 

i had ask him and he said the old cam had two lobes wore off and bent the pushrods also. as for why the cam went bad, i have no idea. i just never herd of someone doing this and did knot know it would work.

 

Nothing to do with "loose" lifters.

And you probably never will, because it doesn't make any sense.

Not many shops have the capability to do that operation. Those that do, would "bush" the bores back to the original .842" diameters and use Olds lifters.

It could work, if all lifter dimensions, other tan the diameter, were the same. I cannot speak to the Ford dimensions, as I only have Olds and Chev lifters in stock.

Norm

 

A collapsed lifter is much more likely to have bent the push rods and flattened the cam. The lifter collapses, and the pushrod slings around binding and bending. Then the bottom of the lifter mushrooms out from the binding.

 

Oldsmobile did use some 0.010" oversize lifters in one or two holes to keep from scrapping a block. They stamped the valley 010 near or on the lifter boss so we wouldn't overlook it, at least on engines new enough to be in warranty. I know, it sounds like a Ford deal, but, yes, at one time you could buy a ten-over lifter from Olds. Haven't seen one in years--make that decades!
DW

 

That would explain it.

Thanks for the input.

Norm

 

I believe the actual stamp was simply an "O" (that is, the letter Oh), signifying "Oversize."

I think they did this for pistons/cylinders as well.

 

I think Olds parts for Olds and Ford parts for Fords is best, but on second thought I have leg parts in my heart and it seems to work fine who knows. Andy