dibbons
Well-Known Member
This procedure is new to me:
Grind Lifters to Better Oil Cam Lobes?
- Thread starter dibbons
- Start date
-
4spdragtop
Well-Known Member
I’ve seen a few methods like that. The Delta guy in the video seems to want to keep his way a secret but he is only charging a dollar a lifter so it isn’t like they are getting rich from it. I have seen flat spots ground into the sides and even a groove like it was made with a 1/16” cutting disc on an angle grinder.
I’d think that as long as there aren’t any edges that would prevent the lifter from spinning in the bores, this would allow oil to push past the gap and spray on the cam lobes at low RPMs.
I’d think that as long as there aren’t any edges that would prevent the lifter from spinning in the bores, this would allow oil to push past the gap and spray on the cam lobes at low RPMs.
Last edited:
I don't endorse that. I used some Crower Camsaver lifters which have a similar groove cut down the side for direct oiling of the camshaft lobes. Mine were fine cold, but very noisy when warm. All 16 of them. They bled down too much and too quickly. We shouldn't have to pay extra for a lifter that will possibly bleed down and rattle. I'm not doing it again. The Crowers were like $180. Since then, I've seen on forums and the net in general where what happened in my case is pretty common with those.
All we need are lifters made from good material to start with and machined correctly. When you assemble the engine, if the lifters rotate in their bores as the engine is turned, you're golden. In my Ford 400 in my truck now in it's third incarnation I sent the current lifters in it to Sean @NC Engine Builder and he refaced them for me. Brand new lifters. Yeah, it makes no sense, but it's cheaper than a roller cam and cheaper than another engine teardown.
All this "extra" crap like DLC, direct lube and whatnot to me, is a band aid for crappy metallurgy and crappy machine work. I think it's more crappy finishing machine work than anything. It's boosheet. We shouldn't have to pay extra to get something to work that "already should" work to begin with. IMO, even the cheapest lifter out there will work successfully if you assure they have correctly finished faces and they all rotate in their bores like they are supposed to and the correct break in procedure for a flat tappet camshaft is followed. All the rest of it in my opinion is fluff boosheet to take your money when the lifters should be right to start with.
I like Delta Cams. I've talked with that guy before. I think he's pretty sharp. Having said that, he needs someone better at conveying his video message because he sounds like he's about the dullest knife in the drawer in that video and he's not. He knows what he's doing. Even so, I still won't endorse it even if it was free, because now you have 16 "pretty big" oil leaks on something that should already work as designed.
That's my take.
All we need are lifters made from good material to start with and machined correctly. When you assemble the engine, if the lifters rotate in their bores as the engine is turned, you're golden. In my Ford 400 in my truck now in it's third incarnation I sent the current lifters in it to Sean @NC Engine Builder and he refaced them for me. Brand new lifters. Yeah, it makes no sense, but it's cheaper than a roller cam and cheaper than another engine teardown.
All this "extra" crap like DLC, direct lube and whatnot to me, is a band aid for crappy metallurgy and crappy machine work. I think it's more crappy finishing machine work than anything. It's boosheet. We shouldn't have to pay extra to get something to work that "already should" work to begin with. IMO, even the cheapest lifter out there will work successfully if you assure they have correctly finished faces and they all rotate in their bores like they are supposed to and the correct break in procedure for a flat tappet camshaft is followed. All the rest of it in my opinion is fluff boosheet to take your money when the lifters should be right to start with.
I like Delta Cams. I've talked with that guy before. I think he's pretty sharp. Having said that, he needs someone better at conveying his video message because he sounds like he's about the dullest knife in the drawer in that video and he's not. He knows what he's doing. Even so, I still won't endorse it even if it was free, because now you have 16 "pretty big" oil leaks on something that should already work as designed.
That's my take.
I do not believe grooving the lifters does much.....but I have been doing it for over 30 years because it is good 'insurance'. The bottom pic in post #3 looks like mine. The grooves are made with a Dremel with a 0.025" wide cut off wheel.
MOPAROFFICIAL
If it has tits, it's a liabilititty.
Debur, check face convex, make sure the plunger moves good and run them.
Disassemble if you think you need to.
Im not cutting **** or refacing, im sending **** back for new ones...which in the past have been free when you tell them 2 are **** and dinged up.
Make sure they spin.. and makes sure to get the rpm up and have plenty of lube on them. Its not magic.
Disassemble if you think you need to.
Im not cutting **** or refacing, im sending **** back for new ones...which in the past have been free when you tell them 2 are **** and dinged up.
Make sure they spin.. and makes sure to get the rpm up and have plenty of lube on them. Its not magic.
MOPAROFFICIAL
If it has tits, it's a liabilititty.
Yep.
Solid lifters have no goove or band and yet.. they're fine.
Face finish, lifter bores, spring, break-in procedure .
S'what I'm sayin!
I've not had a dumbell lifter failure yet and I've used several sets through the years. So simple. They shouldda never stopped usin um.
I think it depends on how it's added. The .025" EDM hole? Fine. But the huge gash down the side like a well used prom queen? No thanks.
MOPAROFFICIAL
If it has tits, it's a liabilititty.
If they didn't expose the dumbell 'handle' so to speak and bleed off a sht ton of oil psi..they probably would have kept them.
NC Engine Builder
Grumpy Old Man
- Joined
- Oct 10, 2008
- Messages
- 7,506
- Reaction score
- 13,552
Anyone who has ever primed a SBM with the intake off knows the problem is NOT lubrication related. All this edm stuff, and nonsense about grooving lifters or lifter bores does nothing but increase windage, and windage helps aerate your oil, and that's counter productive to good lubrication.
That's an impossibility on a slant 6. lol
I'll refresh this comment from years ago, FYI post #25 Another Blueprint Engine Delay didn't watch the video. Crap is crap.
RRR,
I have been doing the mod in post #3 for at least 30 yrs. I have built LOTS of engines during that time & not one has had a lifter/lobe failure. I do not know where you get the 'huge gash' from. I use a 0.025" wide wheel & go about 0.015" deep.
I have been doing the mod in post #3 for at least 30 yrs. I have built LOTS of engines during that time & not one has had a lifter/lobe failure. I do not know where you get the 'huge gash' from. I use a 0.025" wide wheel & go about 0.015" deep.
Well, yours wasn't what I was referring to. It was the ground FLAT that the guy in the video is doing and also how the Crower lifters are made. I think that's WAY too wide.
The only issue I’ve found with the dumbells is IF you have enough lift and IF the oil isn’t blocked off to the lifters in some way you can uncover the oil gallery and get low idle oil pressure.
IIRC that’s around .550 NET lift and that also depends on the block, as the oil gallery’s don’t always break through the lifter bore in the exact same location.
4spdragtop
Well-Known Member
I regret not keeping old lifters and cam when Dad n I redid topend on the 273.. 
Well, like I said, that's an impossibility with the slant 6. I could run a .750 lift flat tappet and never uncover an oil gallery. Cause there are none. LOL
-
Similar threads
