144 lifter hydraulic lifters solved and question

falcon_master

Well-known member
Hey everyone. I remember many arguments on the forum over whether 144s ever got hydraulic lifters. I can finally happily say at least some 64s did. I removed my valve cover abut after running the engine and sure enough I was able to “collapse” the lifter and make the pushrod loose to the rocker.

Now for my questions.
1. Is a generator ok for stock charging applications I’ve noticed when idling the headlights are quite noticeably dimmer and brighten a lot when I rev engine up

2. A noticeable amount of blow by out of oil filler cap but compression is good so I’ll assume it’s alright

3 tranny grinds a bit from 1st to 2nd. Seems like a shifter issue as if I’m very careful and take time to make sure the shifter slides forward towards the dash and then try to shit it doesn’t happen. I think shifter needs lubricant but even when I do that it takes 3 seconds of pushing on 2nd gear for it to finally slip into gear.

Thanks everyone I just wanna get that fixed so I can take it out on my birthday tomorrow but wanted to know if I needed parts for my birthday not other stuff :LOL:
 
All generators and alternators make power based off rotational rpm so more rpm more power its a common setup for the light to dim at idle, i have a power gen unit that is designed to full field all the time and the lights also dim when it idles for a while, someone correct me if im wrong but i believe that the original generators had a RPM limiter, basically they wouldnt turn on or charge until a certain RPM threshold was reached, but if you havent changed or added anything electrical in the car then it should be fine as long as its in good condition. NOTE that the original gen unit is only designed to produce 30 amps at hwy rpm meaning that its like producing not much more than 10-15 amps at idle if even, which if the lights are on are taking a vast majority of that power. Upgrading to a newer alternator or a powergen unit like mine would be the best, but can become expensive.

Secondly, excessive blow by could still be bad rings and the oil in the cylinders could be giving a false positive. The best way to tell if its ring blow by is to wait a month or better if possible without driving it and then test the pressure at start up and see if its any different. This ususally super hard to try and verify because oil will get to the clyinder so fast that you can usually only do 1 cylinder each time. Someone might have a better test for it than i do, my car also has blow by and i think its mostly because these units just dump into atmosphere that it seems super bad but if they had a PCV system instead it would barely ever happen.

Third, If its specifically during the shift between 1-2 it could be shifter related especially if it is sporadic for when it happens, check the shifter linkage bushings and the ones on the column, my column shifter pin was wearing so bad into the shifter column that there was a good inch or more of play in the shifter but i never had grinding problem when shifting. If it happen rather consistently or all the time then my guess is that the synchro for 2nd is going out switching to a fully synchro trans like a 3.03 or trying to find a better condition 2nd gear synchro would be the fix for that. In either case id continue to drive it, getting good at rev matching would make the shifting much better, to the point where you barely use the synchros at all, or the clutch for that matter.
 
1) Generators on cars, typically do not charge at idle speed.
Alternators typically do charge at idle speed. Both have more output as engine speed is increased.
Charging at idle and reliability are the main reasons automakers switched to alternators.

2) Does this engine have a PCV valve and is it working properly?

3) Did you try double clutching on the 1-2 upshift?
 
On your shifting issue, there could be wear in the upper engagement of the shift tube inside the column and the shifter.

I gutted the shifter assembly out of my '62 column to go to a floor shift. The shift tube on mine was basically destroyed where the shifter engages to the tube. Don't know how you could check this without tearing down your column.

Maybe put it in neutral, zip tie the shifter tabs at the bottom of the column together, and check the shifter arm for excessive play.

The shifter tabs on the bottom of the column could be gunked up and both are moving when trying to shift.
 
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