340 Oil Priming Question First Start

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So guys what is the difference between the shaft with 2 holes per rocker and one? Could this be my oiling issue?


I’d rather have one hole. That’s all it needs to live the rocker at the shaft. Just banana groove it.

I’m not a big fan of adding oil leaks at the rockers. For what you are doing you’ll get all the oil you need for the rockers and valve stems and all that with the oil flying around in the rocker boxes.

If you had 340 pounds of spring load on the seat and you were trying to make power at 8500 then yeah, more oil on the springs and such would matter.
 
I’d rather have one hole. That’s all it needs to live the rocker at the shaft. Just banana groove it.

I’m not a big fan of adding oil leaks at the rockers. For what you are doing you’ll get all the oil you need for the rockers and valve stems and all that with the oil flying around in the rocker boxes.

If you had 340 pounds of spring load on the seat and you were trying to make power at 8500 then yeah, more oil on the springs and such would matter.
Ok fair enough. I get you and understand. Thank you.

Last question for a while then….

How do I definitively determine if I have sold or hydraulic lifters without pulling the intak off?
 
Pushrod length will tell you. A solid lifter takes a longer pushrod and the hydraulic takes a shorter pushrod because the seat is higher on the hydraulic.

IIRC the solid lifter pushrod is roughly 7.500 inches and the hydraulic is a couple of hundred thou shorter
 
Pushrod length will tell you. A solid lifter takes a longer pushrod and the hydraulic takes a shorter pushrod because the seat is higher on the hydraulic.

IIRC the solid lifter pushrod is roughly 7.500 inches and the hydraulic is a couple of hundred thou shorter
Thanks Ill measure them. Just ordered a bore hone for the rockers.
 
Most of the aftermarket rockers have a groove around the inside. This negates the need for a banana groove. I wouldn’t condemn your rockers. If the shafts are pretty worn, maybe new shafts. None of this equates to you oil question. Don’t want to scare you, but having a rocker seize to a shaft can be BAD. The galling can progress exponentially. Now that is a hard stainless rocker on a hard shaft. Also on the next generation the bushed the rocker. Funny, that shaft was and has never been orientated correctly. That rocker is welded to the shaft, so it hasn’t moved. Aftermarket rockers have a groove like a main bearing groove. So the location of the oil hole doesn’t matter.

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Hydraulic lifters will have a retaining clip in the top of em. Pretty easy to identify. Solids will not. You can peek down with a flashlight and see it through a pushrod hole even with the intake on. Another way to tell is take a pushrod and seat it in the lifter and push down on it. You’ll get some spongy movement. If the engine has just run or been primed this is a harder way to identify them as the lifters will be pumped up. Below is a hydraulic lifter.
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Yes sir. A lot of solid lifters have the wire retainer or snap ring. Those are higher end oil metering solid lifters. So be careful when you're verifying.
 
Yes sir. A lot of solid lifters have the wire retainer or snap ring. Those are higher end oil metering solid lifters. So be careful when you're verifying.
I ordered an 8” caliper to measure the pushrod. I hope that will help me identify what I have.
 
Great thanks.

According to my trusty 1979 Isky catalog, the hydraulic lifter pushrod is 7.265 and the solid lifter pushrods should measure 7.531 so I was close when I said 7.500. What's .031 on the internet??? LOL

You should be able to measure what you have and figure what you have.

That's basically a 1/4 inch difference.
 
For what it’s worth. I tried to extract one of the lifters but couldn’t get it through the opening. I can try tomorrow another one if these pictures still aren’t helpful in identifying if its a solid or hydraulic type.

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Yes sir! It certainly appears to be a solid lifter! Nice work!
 
There are teo holes in the lifter. One obviously dribbles oil down the rocker arm.

Question: Does the other hole seep oil out the screw of the rocker ball?

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Guys! I am in trouble. My first lifter was easy to put back in through the head. The geometry was straight forward. HOWEVER I can not for the life of me get the other lifter that I extracted back into place. I’ve tried for two days and can’t seem ti get the angle right to have it slip in.

I have a bore camera on it. I am using a pushrod and a long split forceps. I’ve tried a lot and it’s being a real PITA.

Any suggestions?

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Guys! I am in trouble. My first lifter was easy to put back in through the head. The geometry was straight forward. HOWEVER I can not for the life of me get the other lifter that I extracted back into place. I’ve tried for two days and can’t seem ti get the angle right to have it slip in.

I have a bore camera on it. I am using a pushrod and a long split forceps. I’ve tried a lot and it’s being a real PITA.

Any suggestions?

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That's gotta be pretty frustrating. I'd maybe try a thin telescoping magnet through the pushrod hole. Then raise the lifter up and into the bore straight down guiding it with your forceps as needed. If you don't have a thin enough telescoping magnet, maybe epoxy a small neodymium magnet to the end of a spare pushrod and use that.
 
Yeah been doing that. I’ll keep trying. It’s partly luck….and well if I didn’t have bad luck Id have no luck at all. Lol

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