hydraulic or solid cam

[tdlund]

Hi, I'm real green to the forum. I love all the info on here. How do I tell what if I have a hydraulic or solid cam in my 170? I know that it's a late build 170 with a 5/16 drive distributor.

 

[69stang_250]

Has the engine been torn into before? If so there is a chance that the cam was changed; However, if the rocker arms are adjustable, this is a sign that you have a solid cam. What year is the engine? I think it was 63? 64? They went to hyd cam in them, but I may be wrong.

 

[SuperKONR]

I've seen a lot of stock hydraulic cammed engines with adjustable lifters from the factory. Ford was using whatever they had available, sometimes using old stock on newer engines. So that's not really a good way to tell. If you remove the rocker cover and look down the pushrods you should be able to get a look at the top of the lifter and tell if it's solid or hydraulic. Solid lifters use a circlip, hydraulic use a wire clip.

 

[Econoline]

Well the big thing you have going for you is that it has the 5/16 drive. My 170 w/ the 1/4 drive prompted me to upgrade while I was at making the van safe and reliable. You can upgrade the ignition, replace the head and carb. Your still stuck with limited transmission options but in the grand scheme of things. How many main bearings does it have? Did they offer 7 main bearing 170's?

 

[tdlund]

okay, so I take the valve cover off and look down the pushrod openings to see what is there?

The previous owner said that the motor had been rebuilt.

Also it already had a T5 in it when I bought it.

 

[chad]

Might's well look at the casting numbers & ID (if only) the block. They are right behinf the 'down tube' on the ex. manifold. Same side you could do a freeze plug count.
Disregard if this step has been completed.

Hope I'm not too late (at 4 posts) to say:

W E L C O M E !!!

I think 21 more posts & U can put up pic!