The Rodding Roundtable
Motorhead Message Central => Rodder's Roundtable => Topic started by: slocrow on April 29, 2014, 10:22:09 AM
With assembly of a new rebuild that's dry, how would you go about setting the lifters (Comp cam, flat tappet) for start up? I may be too old school! It's a 30 over 396 w/Edelbrock Alum oval heads, if that matters.
Thanks, Frank
There is probably more information than you actually need here, but it is very thorough. You might have to register to see it.
http://forum.grumpysperformance.com/viewtopic.php?f=52&t=196
New heads and cam for the cpe?
Thanks Lynn for the site but you are correct, you do have to join to read, though I did manage to capture some and read it through. It's pretty much what I had thought but I'm in a quandary with my brother as how it should be done as we have differing opinions on the subject.
No Jack, it's not my engine but the brothers which he's finally getting too after many long years. This morning he related to me that he had consulted with several sources through the internet and had followed direction on how to set the dry lifters on a dry engine. Of course after loosening and cleaning the lifters up from sitting many years and getting them to move internally properly, he explained that the spring is enough to keep the lifter "up" and that he tightened them some to set or something like that. Of course I went "nuts" and said he was going to hang the valves open during break-in, to which I was rebuffed. I truly have no idea what he meant as I always believed you set them after they pumped up, started to clatter and then tightened down a ½ turn, some will say a ¼ turn.
I thought I'd come here to ask and see if I was delirious or something or if anything had changed that I'm not aware of in the last years or so.
Frank
I set them dry with a .100 feeler gauge, bottoming out the lifter cup in the process. That is usually fine fir a street engine with no further adjustment. It won't work if there is oil in the lifters.
My method is to fill them with oil and then set them so that the push will just spin. Good to go for cam break in. Don't forget break in lube and high zinc oil. You can add the Lucas stuff to the oil of choice or go with 30W Brad Penn break in oil.