Rhoads Lifters On Solid Lifter Cam

Rhoads Lifters On Solid Lifter Cam - Setting Valve Lash

Mopar73340 said
It’s Jacks product so I would follow his instructions if you explained what your trying to accomplish. I have a almost new set of Rhodes lifters sitting on the shelf as I tried them in a magnum engine I put together a few years back. The magnum naturally has a tick to it with the adjustable valve train but the Rhodes lifters make quite a racket. More racket than I want to listen to anyway so I went back to the standard roller lifters.

Wise counsel, Mopar73340! Appreciate the info. I did ask Jack about lash setting. How to best accomplish it and recommended lash setting for what I am doing. He would only say that lash needed to be within the design parameters of the V-Max lifter and suggested not exceeding 0.035" if running these on the street, although circle track guys run them on solid lifter cams at 0.040". These are usually classes that require a certain minimum manifold vacuum at idle...... Allows them to run a hotter cam and still pass spec. Limit on total lash is dependent upon how far the spring loaded plunger will depress whilst allowing for a small amount of 'cush' between bottom and top of plunger travel for safety when running. (You don't want it to bottom out nor top out whilst running.)

Jack indicated that within those overall parameters, each engine will have a setting that works best and this will require a bit of experimentation. The greater the lash setting, the greater the difference in diminished duration and lift at lower engine speeds. And the greater the lash setting, the noisier the Rhoads lifter will be once engine is at operating temperature. And conversely, the opposite is true when lash setting is reduced (tighter).

We did not discuss the effects of oil weight, as Rhoads installation instructions on their website suggest that weight of oil and whether a high pressure oil pump are used do not affect bleed down rate. Or put another way...... Bleed down rate is more a function of time (dependent upon RPM) versus lash setting. However, it has been my experience with other fast bleed down type lifters that weight of oil, oil pressure and operating temps do factor into bleed down rate (and noise) and will be a part of the equation.

Hope this makes sense,

Harry