what brand of racing hyd lifters should I purchase?

[Rapid Robert]

circle track racing 360 SB. . howards hyd cam. I read something about having lifters nitrided? Your thoughts please & thank you for your time. RR EDIT someone prior had recommended the howards cam 712 901-12 cam its a lift rule cam but no lift rule on my track. I do currently have a howards 71804109 cam now should I unbox it/use it or get the above or another?

 

[Oldmanmopar]

The most important is get the lifter bore diameters measured. . Bushed and trued if necessary with a fixture. If the shop doesn't have a fixture and tooling. Don't let them do it.

 

[rbkt65]

i use EDM in my 440. they have a pin hole in the bottom to continually oil cam lobe. not cheap. almost 300 simoleons

 

[RustyRatRod]

Rhoads V-MAX with the super lube option.

 

[TT5.9mag]

It’s a race engine? I’d run just the normal Howard’s lifters. The lifter bores are important and so is the taper on the cam, as well as the shape of the bottom of the lifter, but honestly I’d just run the idle up to around 1600 and never let it idle low and send it.

 

[Bewy]

No EDM hole in hyd lifters....for obvious reasons.
You can groove the lifter using a Dremel for more oil to the lobe/lifter interface. Been doing it for 30 yrs...... If you do not want lobe/lifter failure, find some factory lifters & get them re-faced....

 

[Rapid Robert]

good info. Rusty

 

[Rapid Robert]

more excellent info, yes it is a race engine

 

[Bewy]

If your lifters have the paper clip circlip, you can replace these with a stronger c'clip. I use the type that have the eyelet holes for c'clip pliers. They are 16mm [ 5/8" ] from memory.

 

[rbkt65]

sorry, missed the hyd lifter part.

 

[Bewy]

To add to post #9. Circlips often have a sharp side & a rounded side. The sharp side goes up....

 

[Rapid Robert]

yes that jogs my memory about adding better clips

 

[Uncle Bob]

FWIW I had some lifters that were reluctant to spin so I used one of these burnishing balls on the bores and got them going

LBB-CR1 | .906

Use with our Lifter Bore Burnishing Tool to eliminate burrs caused by shot blasting. This .906" diameter lifter bore burnishing ball is sized for Chrysler.

goodson.com

 

[fishmens67]

Rhoads V-MAX with the super lube option.

I 2nd this.

 

[Woody500]

No EDM hole in hyd lifters....for obvious reasons.
You can groove the lifter using a Dremel for more oil to the lobe/lifter interface. Been doing it for 30 yrs...... If you do not want lobe/lifter failure, find some factory lifters & get them re-faced....

How big a groove in the lifter?

 

[Deltatech]

The most important is get the lifter bore diameters measured. . Bushed and trued if necessary with a fixture. If the shop doesn't have a fixture and tooling. Don't let them do it.

I slightly agree, I'd argue that making sure the lobe is fully under the bore may be just a tad more common of a problem with modern cams these days. It's something easy to forget to check and often gets missed.
I think it may contribute to what has caused the uptick in wiping lobes for the past few years.
A few Drag racers and my machinist in my area have started talking about having to machine the end of cams to realign the lobes under the bore after I pointed it out one day on a bad cam.
My machinist had started grooving all of his lifters and NONE of them had said anything at all about checking to see if the lobe is aligned with the lifter.
It was the first thing that came to my mind ,I don't see how they all missed it.

 

[Oldmanmopar]

The lobes need to be off center so they spin the lifter. A lot of the lifters you get today do not pump up and also seep their pressure after shutting down if they ever do pump up. Not having enough pressure on the lobe so it turns the lifter is also a cause of lobe failure, If it doesn't start spinning during break-in that lobe will wipe out in a short period of time.

The reason to break the cam in for that period of time at 2000 rpm and up is to get the lifters spinning. A lobe should never drag over the surface of the lifter.

When ever you first start an engine with a flat tappet cam. Always make sure the pushrods are spinning . If one is not spinning shut it down and check to see if that lifter is weak. If it is swap it out or pump it up.

One problem for lobe failure is the lifter bores. One bore not on the same parallel or offset as the rest and putting the top of the lobe taper to close to the center of the lifter which prevents it from being spun . Or a very loose bore where the lifter can drag on opposite edges of the bores and prevent it from spinning.

If you have a fresh build where the bores were not trued and they are wore out and causing these issues. Then the cheapest repair in the car is a roller cam. Otherwise your tearing it down and starting over. The crank has to come out to do the lifter bores with a truing fixture.

 

[Deltatech]

The lobes need to be off center so they spin the lifter. A lot of the lifters you get today do not pump up and also seep their pressure after shutting down if they ever do pump up. Not having enough pressure on the lobe so it turns the lifter is also a cause of lobe failure, If it doesn't start spinning during break-in that lobe will wipe out in a short period of time.

The reason to break the cam in for that period of time at 2000 rpm and up is to get the lifters spinning. A lobe should never drag over the surface of the lifter.

When ever you first start an engine with a flat tappet cam. Always make sure the pushrods are spinning . If one is not spinning shut it down and check to see if that lifter is weak. If it is swap it out or pump it up.

One problem for lobe failure is the lifter bores. One bore not on the same parallel or offset as the rest and putting the top of the lobe taper to close to the center of the lifter which prevents it from being spun . Or a very loose bore where the lifter can drag on opposite edges of the bores and prevent it from spinning.

If you have a fresh build where the bores were not trued and they are wore out and causing these issues. Then the cheapest repair in the car is a roller cam. Otherwise your tearing it down and starting over. The crank has to come out to do the lifter bores with a truing fixture.

I changed my comment from "centered: to "aligned under the bore", I'm not here to argue.
Older guys know what I meant but younguns may have been confused by it.

 

[92b]

circle track racing 360 SB. . howards hyd cam. I read something about having lifters nitrided? Your thoughts please & thank you for your time. RR EDIT someone prior had recommended the howards cam 712 901-12 cam its a lift rule cam but no lift rule on my track. I do currently have a howards 71804109 cam now should I unbox it/use it or get the above or another?

If you are open to getting another camshaft you should consider a solid lifter camshaft. Your rules permit solid flat tappet camshafts. No lift rule or vacuum rule. 7000 rpm limit. Is there some other reason you need to run hydraulic?

 

[Ottmundr]

i use EDM in my 440. they have a pin hole in the bottom to continually oil cam lobe. not cheap. almost 300 simoleons

Same, I got some 81 gram edm solids. It's a slick idea/technology.

 

[92b]

I haven't tried them yet but I'm hoping the DLC coated lifters will be a game changer.

 

[Bewy]

Woody,
The width is the width of the Dremel 1" cut off wheel, about 0.025-0.030" thick. Depth of cut is about the same, 025-030. Not critical.

 

[Demonracer]

The most important thing I found when using hydraulic lifters was to coat the snot out of the cam lobes and lifters when installing them. I never let mine sit for more than two days before firing it up and breaking in the cam.

 

[Newbomb Turk]

I haven't tried them yet but I'm hoping the DLC coated lifters will be a game changer.

Who is doing DLC Chrysler lifters or are you doing Chevy stuff.

I stumbled across a post on classracer.com about some DLC “like” coatings some of the Stock Eliminator guys are using. Some aerospace type of thing.

I think it’s called Rocketman Coatings or something like that.

I called the guy. Seems pretty sharp but the cost to do the cam and lifters was 660 bucks. If you are absolutely stuck running flat tappet cams that may be an option, but by the time you spend all that money you are close enough to do a roller cam and not have all the flat tappet issues.

 

[92b]

Who is doing DLC Chrysler lifters or are you doing Chevy stuff.

I stumbled across a post on classracer.com about some DLC “like” coatings some of the Stock Eliminator guys are using. Some aerospace type of thing.

I think it’s called Rocketman Coatings or something like that.

I called the guy. Seems pretty sharp but the cost to do the cam and lifters was 660 bucks. If you are absolutely stuck running flat tappet cams that may be an option, but by the time you spend all that money you are close enough to do a roller cam and not have all the flat tappet issues.

Comp is doing them. I don't know if the chrysler lifters are available yet. Last time I talked to the comp rep he said they are coming soon. I don't know when "soon" is though. From the initial testing on the chevy stuff which is available now they said this has helped to eliminate the failures that they have been having. Call it a band-aid or what ever but if it works it works. These are not the tool steel dlc lifters that are expensive. They are reasonably priced at around $125.00 a set for chevy. Naturally the chrysler lifters will be more. I have a customer bringing back a motor that had 2 lifters fail on breakin. The replacement cam and lifters comp is sending will have the dlc lifters. We'll see how that goes when they bring it back.