Reusing lifters

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73duster513

73duster513

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Ok question while transporting my 360 with no heads on it my ratchet strap broke going around a bend and engine rolled over and all the lifters came out on one side of the engine and scattered in the bed of the truck (lifters not damaged) can I reuse them even though I don't know what bore they came out of (hydraulic non roller lifters)
If using the same cam
 
73duster513 said:
Ok question while transporting my 360 with no heads on it my ratchet strap broke going around a bend and engine rolled over and all the lifters came out on one side of the engine and scattered in the bed of the truck (lifters not damaged) can I reuse them even though I don't know what bore they came out of (hydraulic non roller lifters)
If using the same cam
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Nope
Once the lifter develops a wear pattern with its cam lobe it must remain with that lobe.
Good luck finding any worth buying.
 
Are there still companies around that can reface them? With the poor quality of new HFT lifters these days, I'd be tempted to go that route.
 
Call Mike @ Jones Cams. He deals only Hylift-Johnson quality lifters. Availability may be tight at the moment, like so many other things..
 
Place here does them for a buck a piece but they usually deal with the big mushroom lifters of SAAB and Volvo. Import place. The Sioux and B&D valve grinder machines both had optional lifter grinder attachments. Disclamier: I have run (Ford) old lifters on a new cam and even old lifters on a used cam and I didnt have an issue in my dirt poor 'clean the couch for gas money' high school days.. Must have lucked out.
 
pishta said:
Place here does them for a buck a piece but they usually deal with the big mushroom lifters of SAAB and Volvo. Import place. The Sioux and B&D valve grinder machines both had optional lifter grinder attachments. Disclamier: I have run (Ford) old lifters on a new cam and even old lifters on a used cam and I didnt have an issue in my dirt poor 'clean the couch for gas money' high school days.. Must have lucked out.
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Most of us have probably reused the wrong match of lifters "back in day"
I believe the quality of the parts were much better back then and I dont know about you but my luck has certainly waned since then too.
 
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Riding around in the back of a truck with the intake off i'd be a little more concerned with all the dirt blowing around back there.
 
Most likely, as long as they all have a good wear pattern, they'll sling back in and run fine. What I would do in that instance is lube them up good with some ZDDP camshaft lube and break them in kinda like new. High idle for a few minutes. They'll probably be fine.
 
512Stroker said:
Most of have probably reused the wrong match of lifters "back in day"
I believe the quality of the parts were much better back then and I dont know about you but my luck has certainly waned since then too.
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Many times. lol
old cam, old hydraulic lifters who cares run it.
 
nope , need new one if got johnson high lift hyd lifters new in the cases . ran a leak down test on them . they all leak down after should off , ended up getting some though summit . i'll sell use some of my leak down tested one if your low bucking this engine .
 
I’ve used the same cam in 3 different engines since 1976, lifters went where ever. At one time we would stick em in order in a piece of cardboard then found it was a waste of time. This new **** could be a different story, I heard of one wiping still in the box. I have dozens and thinking of getting the tool for the valve grinding machine. 318 to 440 all the same.
 
Put them in and send it.. RRR and others beat me to it. I use to keep them separated to go back in the same hole but gave up on that one time when the box turned over and they got mixed up. Couldn't afford new so I ran um. No Problems. So since then I don't worry about same hole same lifter. I worry more about the condition of the lobe and lifter.
 
SGBARRACUDA said:
Put them in and send it.. RRR and others beat me to it. I use to keep them separated to go back in the same hole but gave up on that one time when the box turned over and they got mixed up. Couldn't afford new so I ran um. No Problems. So since then I don't worry about same hole same lifter. I worry more about the condition of the lobe and lifter.
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I too used to just mix and match lifters years ago and I do believe in the short term in mileage you can probably get away with it. Long term they will dish the lifters.
Op play it safe and have the lifters recrowned you will be better off in the long run.
 
pomonamissel said:
nope , need new one if got johnson high lift hyd lifters new in the cases . ran a leak down test on them . they all leak down after should off , ended up getting some though summit . i'll sell use some of my leak down tested one if your low bucking this engine .
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"ran a leak down test" Interesting what method did you use?
 
Did it many times in my younger days ! Didn’t know the difference then ! Never had a problem with it though ! Probably use some of that good VR1 oil !
 
The most important time in a flat tappet lifter's life is break in. Once broken in and a wear pattern is set in, they are good to do. While it's certainly true they all do wear to their individual lobes, I wouldn't hesitate to throw them all in lubed up with ZDDP and bust it off and let it run on high idle for a few minutes. I would inspect them all first. What you're looking for is evenness of wear and none dished. If they all look acceptable, you probably won't have an issue.
 
"probably ok" " I never had a problem, yet" " Just run em"
Lots of "good, cheap advice" for the person not doing it to their car. I just wonder how many people would say the same thing if they had to pay for any damage that might happen. Just a thought. Advice is always cheap.
 
MoparLeo said:
"probably ok" " I never had a problem, yet" " Just run em"
Lots of "good, cheap advice" for the person not doing it to their car. I just wonder how many people would say the same thing if they had to pay for any damage that might happen. Just a thought. Advice is always cheap.
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So is fear. I do what I preach. And yes sometimes I have cost myself problems with a issue. I don’t hand out advice I know nothing of.
 
I used to do "cheap" rebuilds, If the lifter had a convex crown, I'd use it if it had a concave dish I'd pitch it. Never had a problem. Don't bother checking Chevy lifters, you'll never find a good one.
 
Guy on Ebay chucked his GM lifters in a 1" drill press and ran them down into a piece of 220 crocus cloth on a bean bag. Said they were recrowned, ready to go! I took some solids out of a slant and they looked like telescope mirrors. I tossed the anemic stocker cam but saved the lifters for a regrind if I ever get over to Costa Mesa R&D. Great machine shop vids from these guys.
 
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