[Aussie XAXB]

I installed a Lunati retro-fit roller cam and hydraulic lifters in a 1968 302 and after running about 15-20 minutes only the lifters on the right bank pumped up, the lifters on the left bank did not. I suspect maybe a plugged oil passage but the block was cleaned twice prior to reassembly.

Does anybody know if the hole in the side of the lifter for oil needs to be turned downward so that it is in the oil passage? Typical instructions say there is no particular way the lifter needs to be set in the bore.

I am trying removing them and pumping them up manually with no real success. I tried submerging them vertically in oil and pumping the piston cup with a pushrod. Anybody have any better methods?

Thanks,
Steve

[97Z28]

did you pump them up before you installed them? usually they tell you to drop them in clean oil and push the plunger down a couple times and let em sit over night to get oil in there so you dont take a chance on ruining something when you start the engine and the lifters are dry.

[Aussie XAXB]

That is the method I remember from back in the day, but I had read in several places that it is not necessary (Crane cams, other authorities) but recommend that you run the oil pump to prime the engine before starting. I did this.

As mentioned trying to pump them up manually now doesn't seem to be making any real progress. I see a bubble ever so slowly inch its way out of the oil hole if I lay the lifter level and have the hole on the top side and oil over it.

[97Z28]

yeah... sometimes they take a while to fill up.... i had to let mine soak overnight submerged in oil before they'd fill. i guess some of them are just easier to pump up then others.

[Aussie XAXB]

Maybe I will just go the way we always did it and let them soak overnight.

Steve