new lifters while head is off?

[64 200 ranchero]

im going to change the head gasket on my 200 soon and wanted to here some thoughts on if i should change my lifters. some people told me that its not a good idea because the cam and the lifters have the same wear and if i installed new lifters, it would cause the cam to wear faster or somthin like that however, i can tell that the lifters are dirty or worn because when i start the engine, i can hear the lifters ticking for a few seconds then it go's away

 

[wsa111]

Heck NO, installing new lifters on a matched lifter & camshaft are not advised.

However, you should remove your old lifters & inspect them for scuffing or abnormal wear. Also check & make sure all the lobes on the camshaft look normal.

The X factor is why are you getting lifter noise on initial startup??

Oil viscosity too heavy, oil pump problem or worn bearings, & varnished up lifters.

Need to see pictures of the inside of the engine to see if you change oil enough causing sludge.

Now is a great time to replace the camshaft if any of the above exist. Bill

 

[64 200 ranchero]

thats what i thought, i change the oil once about 2-3 months with 10/30w valvoline syntec, oil pressure is good, 30 at idle 40-45 at driving speed, ill check it out, ill try to get pics

 

[64 200 ranchero]

i might get this cam if the lifters are too far gone Product ID: CSC-264-HDP-08

264/274-108* Hydraulic Dual Pattern Cam

 

[CZLN6]

Howdy 64 200:

Why are you changing the head gasket? Is it an original head gasket? Has the head been off before? How many miles on the engine? when you did to tri-carb mod did you have a valve job done? Did you disassemble and clean the rocker arm shaft and the oil holes in each rocker? If the head was milled, did you re-establish the oil transfer slot in the head? Do you have a late model tapered staunchon bolt on the last mount? Or flat sided the bolt to allow oil to flow up to the the rocker shaft more easily?

Do you have adjustable rocker arms?

FYI to oil flow up from the oil pump through the last rocker arm stand bolt hole, up to the rocker arm shaft and on forward to each rocker. If you start up the engine with the valve cover off you will see oil oozing out of each rocker arm, back to front. The front rocker arm and push rod always are the last to get oil on start up. And are almost always the ones that show the most wear.

I'm not saying you don't have noisy lifters, but un-oiled rocker arms can be pretty noisy on start up til they get oil too. And It is a whole lot easier to remove, disassemble and clean the rocker arm shaft insides and the two hole in each rocker arm then it is to replace the cam and lifters.

Just some thoughts to help you on your journey.

Adios, David

 

[64 200 ranchero]

thanks for all the input, ill list some details about the engine. i installed my tripower head a year ago by myself, i might of kinked it by struggling to get it to line up while laying the head on it. it did have a head gasket leak about a week ago, it went away though. the head was compleatly rebuilt and milled to 48cc's, valve job and all, the rockers are nos adjustable thomas mag rockers which was given a new rocker shaft, last time i had it running without the valve cover, it looked like the rockers were working great. for some reason all of the rocker pedistals had the tapered bolts, i didnt think anything much of it so i reused them i didnt resize the oil hole after it was milled last time i had the head off, i cleaned the lifters because they were very grimy from the engine sitting for who knows how long. as for the engine i bought it and my c4 from a forum member for 300 bux, the member i bought it off, bought it off some guy who said it was recently rebuilt. i had the engine in my car running for about 2 1/2 years and i think it was sitting for about a year. when i had the head off, the cylinders were smooth, there was no crosshatch, but i pulled the water pump and the block looked new, so i dont know when it was rebuilt but i will rebuild it when i get a junker to drive to work in

 

[64 200 ranchero]

the car is still as fast or faster then when i raced it so i dont think the cam is bad, maybe the cam was installed with old lifters or something, i did find other old parts that were reinstalled on this so called rebuilt engine, but it is sill more than enough bang for my buck

 

[wsa111]

i might get this cam if the lifters are too far gone Product ID: CSC-264-HDP-08

264/274-108* Hydraulic Dual Pattern Cam

Unless you have a converter with 4000 rpm stall, you might consider a 110 or 112 L/C, depends on your converter. Bill

 

[64 200 ranchero]

its a stock converter, im still not too good with cams, im looking for low to mid range power, i dont plan on pushing my engine past 5500 rpm, i race the 8'th mile so i want good accel but good on the street too, my current cam is perfect but if its worn then ill need a new one

 

[rbohm]

8) regarding replacing lifters, but not the cam. you can do it, but you absolutely need to treat it like you also installed a new cam at the same time. meaning you need to lube the bottoms of the lifters with a good cam specific lube, and you need to run the engine at 2000 rpm for 20 minutes, just like you would when breaking in a new cam, and not let the engine idle during that time. and even with those precautions, it is still possible to wipe a cam lobe.

as to the cam you are looking at, i also agree that it is too little lobe separation angle. for what you want you need 110-112. 112 is the better choice for you, imo.

as to your current lifters, with age all hydraulic lifters wear, and tend to take longer to pump up on initial start up, and fords are notorious for this. i personally would not mess with the lifters unless you are changing cams, except to run some marvel mystery oil through the engine at your next oil change. sometime a dirty lifter will tap until the dirt is pushed out with oil pressure, and sometimes the mystery oil will lcean things up enough that the tapping goes away. its worth a try.

 

[MPGmustang]

I'll argue the 264/274 durations, they are best for those that want to keep the stock exhaust manifold, or who drag race with headers. if this is a weekend type or daily driver, I caution against dual grinds. but this is my opinion, I don't have any experience with single grinds so I might jsut be unhapy with my cam.

you will want 112 lobe center or a different torque converter. and if a daily driver go no higher than a 264 cam...

 

[64 200 ranchero]

i did run mystery oil when i had my old 170, i think it works well, but what if i just take the lifters apart and clean them out?

 

[bubba22349]

That would work to get any crud or gum / varnish out. Keep them in the order as they are removed check the face (base) for amount of wear too.

 

[64 200 ranchero]

i think ill just do that

 

[bubba22349]

I have also used a new lifter or lifters on a used cam a few times and cleaned lots of them watch out for the little sir clips they can fly away and get lost. Good luck with it

 

[64 200 ranchero]

here is a pic of one of my cam lobe, all of them looked the same, i didnt see any abnormal wear, what do you guys think? http://s1028.photobucket.com/albums/y34 ... nt=cam.jpg