It is my understanding that refacing lifters is a very common practice,
as my machinist assured me. However, after experiencing the near
catastrophic of a freshly rebuilt engine, I am certainly biased against
the refacing route. Many refacers do not reharden the lifters, as mine
were not (the hardening was tested after the failure and still intact),
so there is some inherent risk (though small it may be) in reusing old
lifters. But then again there is also risk in regrinding old cams.
And for that matter, new cams and lifters have been known to fail on
break in from time to time.
Christopher
TIGEROOTES(at)aol.com writes:
>Christopher,
> Jerry Bodwell at Delta Camshaft in Tacoma, WA has refaced many sets
>of
>Rootes lifters for Pacific Tiger Club members over the years, and I
>haven't
>heard of a failure yet. Naturally, it depends on the amount of wear on
>the
>old lifter, and I doubt he would trust any whose faces are "chunking".
>He
>has around 30 tested profiles for Sunbeam, and a camshaft regrind costs
>$45.00. In SCCA Road racing, we determined Rootes valve springs are
>far too
>soft for high rpm use, as the lifters tend to bounce on the camshaft,
>causing
>the chunking so often seen.
> I really wonder about using the Ford lifter. Someday I will get
>around
>to measuring the differences. The lifter bores could be enlarged or
>bushed
>smaller as well, to accommodate any similar, and perhaps lighter lifter.
>Jim
>From: TIGEROOTES(at)aol.com
>Subject: Lifters
>Date: Fri, 6 Aug 1999 19:41:37 EDT
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