[Healeys] Lifter (cam followers) options

[Stephen Hutchings]

Yes, I guess I should have mentioned that all along I’ve been using oil with ZDDP, and specifically Valvoline VR1 since the lifter replacement.

> On Oct 9, 2025, at 1:14 PM, Karl Robertson <robertsonpdt at comcast.net> wrote:
> 
> Hello guys!
> First let me say that I am not a Healey guy, but don't count me out altogether!
> All my cars have Flat Tappet / Bucket engines, a Alfa Romeo Montreal, a Ferrari 308 and also a Jaguar XK120. The first 2 have V8 engines, and the Jaguar has a straight 6. But all of them share one thing in common. All have Lifters with Flat Tops.
> I have been using Valvoline VR1 with Zinc in it and even using a Zinc Additive (ZDDP). This is one ingredient missing from a lot of oils available today and an absolute must for Flat Tappet engines.
> Sorry to come in here late to the party, but I'm just throwing it out there to consider if you haven't already done so. Good luck!
>  
> Karl Robertson
> Michigan, USA.
>> On 10/09/2025 12:44 PM EDT Stephen Hutchings <s.hutchings at rogers.com <mailto:s.hutchings at rogers.com>> wrote:
>>  
>>  
>> When I had my cam ground during the restoration, the machine shop recommended that I have the original lifters resurfaced and hardened, rather than buy replacements.
>> This is going back a few years and there are now more options available. Some of those lifters pitted after 5, or 6 thousand miles, and some looked fine.
>> I decided that the ones that pitted were not hardened properly…an assumption I know!
>> I corresponded with Mike Salter who was having lifter problems of his own, and in the end I replaced the whole set with the modified ones from AH spares because I no longer trusted the re-hardened set- and also removed the inner valve springs.
>>  
>> After a few hundred miles the new lifters looked OK, but I’m about to check them again, this time after a couple of thousand miles.
>> I’ve been doing a lot of reading about bucket lifters, tubular push rods, etc. and it seems that some people are saying the current replacement lifters are wearing prematurely because they are not domed properly and aren’t rotating.
>> Just to add to the confusion, when I removed the set that were pitting, I could see by the pattern on the wear surface that indeed some didn’t seem to be rotating, but had no visible wear, whereas the worn ones seemed to be rotating.
>> What I’m throwing out to the list is - I wonder if anyone has experience with the tubular pushrod/ bucket lifter combination…or any other alternatives.
>> I don’t know what I’m going to find after a couple of thousand mikes, but I’d like to be ready with a strategy if there’s a problem.
>> And Mike, if you’re monitoring the list, what kind of lifters did you use in the end?
>>  
>> Thanks,
>> Stephen, BJ8
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