[awoodman]

I have a set of hydraulic roller lifters that came from the engine Im rebuilding for 400hp. Theyre the stock GM ones from a 1989 350 2 bolt main. Can I reuse these lifters? Am I correct to think that roller lifters have a significant gain in hp over flat tappet lifters? Either way, im going to go with hydraulic. If I could reuse them, I would, but I just thought id make sure.

[va4cqd]

roller lifters can be reused if they're still in good condition

[pearlman55]

if these are hyd.flat tappet lifters and the bottoms dont show any signs of abnormal wear,you can reuse them but ONLY on the same camshaft,and EACH lifter MUST go back onto the same lobe it came off of..If you are changing cams,buy NEW lifters.roller lifters and cams are different and can be moved around.

[Chevrolet4x4s]

check that the roller still rolls freely no rough spots check for excessive wear on the lifter body....and if there bad they make great keychains got one polished up and in my pocket now(If you want a photo let me know and I'll get one)
Shane

[SLR_65]

Originally Posted by pearlman55

if these are hyd.flat tappet lifters and the bottoms dont show any signs of abnormal wear,you can reuse them but ONLY on the same camshaft,and EACH lifter MUST go back onto the same lobe it came off of..If you are changing cams,buy NEW lifters.roller lifters and cams are different and can be moved around.

I agree with you whole heartedly - the cost of lifters as compared to the potential loss of the cam, etc. is pretty small.

But . . . in one of the Dave Vizard books I have around here he mentions that lifters in good condition can be re-used if properly prepped. I believe he basically surfaced them by rubbing them on some sand paper in a figure 8 pattern. I'll look for the book tomorrow and post back.

Again though, I wouldn't . . . it does make me curious as to how many of the guys (if any!) who race and go through lots of rebuilds a year do this though . . .

Steve

[Jmark]

Originally Posted by SLR_65

I agree with you whole heartedly - the cost of lifters as compared to the potential loss of the cam, etc. is pretty small.

But . . . in one of the Dave Vizard books I have around here he mentions that lifters in good condition can be re-used if properly prepped. I believe he basically surfaced them by rubbing them on some sand paper in a figure 8 pattern. I'll look for the book tomorrow and post back.

Again though, I wouldn't . . . it does make me curious as to how many of the guys (if any!) who race and go through lots of rebuilds a year do this though . . .

Steve

The original question was about ROLLER LIFTERS, not flat tappet lifters.

This is from the Crane.com web site.

Can used Roller Lifters be installed on a new camshaft?

YES. "Roller" lifters are the only ones that can be re-used. This design lifter has a wheel (supported by needle bearings) attached to the bottom of it. The lobe the roller lifter rides on does not have any taper. This is a very low friction design and does not require the lifter to mate to the cam. As long as the wheel shows no wear, and the needle bearings are in good condition, the "hydraulic roller" or "mechanical roller" lifter can be re-used.


Mark

[SLR_65]

Originally Posted by Jmark

The original question was about ROLLER LIFTERS, not flat tappet lifters.

Hi Mark,

True, but Pearlman55 commented on flat tappet lifters and their need to remain a matched set. I was replying to his comment and I quoted his comment so that it wouldn't get confused with the original roller lifter topic.

Sorry to get off topic, I guess Pearlman55 branched off and I just followed . . .

Take Care,

Steve

[Jmark]

Hi Steve, no problem. Just trying to keep the focus on the main question. Lots to learn about all this new stuff! LOL

So how's the weather in Nebraska? We considered moving to MCook a few years ago. Then I noticed the weather! LOL Decided to say here.

Mark

[SLR_65]

Hi Mark,

Again, sorry for wandering off topic . . . the older I get the more I seem to do that!

You're right, there's lots to learn! I used to wrench on cars quite a bit when I was younger but for the last 20+ years I just haven't had time. A couple years ago I bought an old '74 chevy C-10 and my boys and I have had some fun wrenching on it. My 19 year old son drove it alot when he was 16-18 and now for some reason it's just plain "tired"! So now I'm thinking it needs a rebuild so I've rekindled my old gear head ways.

The weather here has been excellent the last couple weeks - 60s in the evening and 80s during the day . . . prior to that it was high 80s during the night and 100 to 100+ during the day! Just plain nasty!

McCook isn't the end of the world, but you can see it from there! <grin> Actually it's quite a hike west of me and quite a different climate - I'm in southeastern Nebraska, just south of Lincoln. This area is more green rolling hills, out west is more sandhills and stuff.

Well, back to trying to read this entire board in one sitting! <grin>

Take Care,

Steve

[awoodman]

Will I even have any more power if I keep the old hydraulic roller lifters with a performance cam, versus buy a kit with a new cam, and hydraulic flat tappet lifters? I imagine that a new kit would be more wise, because my engine had 158000 miles on it, although the lifters are fine...

[Jmark]

Originally Posted by awoodman

Will I even have any more power if I keep the old hydraulic roller lifters with a performance cam, versus buy a kit with a new cam, and hydraulic flat tappet lifters? I imagine that a new kit would be more wise, because my engine had 158000 miles on it, although the lifters are fine...

Roller lifters, in and of themselves, will give you almost no hp gain, all things considered. Where they really pay off is on very agressive cam profiles. They allow much faster openings and closings. The lobe on an agressive roller cam is almost a rectangle! LOL A flat tappet lifter will end up scraping the edges of the lifter on the cam lobe if you tried to use it on an agressive roller camshaft.

If you are going to re-use your old roller lifters, you MUST run them on a roller cam.

Mark

[Notorious]

Originally Posted by SLR_65

I agree with you whole heartedly - the cost of lifters as compared to the potential loss of the cam, etc. is pretty small.

But . . . in one of the Dave Vizard books I have around here he mentions that lifters in good condition can be re-used if properly prepped. I believe he basically surfaced them by rubbing them on some sand paper in a figure 8 pattern. I'll look for the book tomorrow and post back.

Again though, I wouldn't . . . it does make me curious as to how many of the guys (if any!) who race and go through lots of rebuilds a year do this though . . .

Steve

While you need to know exactly what you're doing, flat tappet lifters can be reused under certain circumstances. I've done it many times with no issues. However, many stock lifters are not up to the task of a high performance cam for any number of reasons. In the case of roller lifters, it's a little more forgiving but you still need to make sure they're in good shape and up to the job. Generally, factory Chevy roller lifters are very good pieces. I used my original ones up to about 116K miles with no problems. For about the last 25K miles, they were used with a .525" lift cam and springs with about a 330# open pressure at that lift. In the last series of upgrades, I replaced them with an identical but low mileage factory set, just because I had them sitting around. This is not a real extreme engine but does see 6500 RPM.

[awoodman]

so what should I do for the most power? Reuse the lifters with an aftermarket high lift cam or just buy a hydraulic flat tappet and high lift cam set?

[DoubleVision]

Read Jmarks post again, but I will say it for him. Do NOT waste your time on a flat tappet camshaft. You will pay more for a roller cam, but you are getting what you paid for. I have a comp roller cam for sale that has less than 5000 miles on it that works in factory blocks that came with a roller camshaft. There are few oils left that you can get that have zinc and other anti wear additives, without these additives a flat tappet cam will go flat in short order and the powdered metal will kill the rest of the engine and you will be starting over again. If you are interested in the cam I have let me know it`s going for a good price and there is nothing wrong with it, it will give you explosive low end torque as well as better gas mileage.

[awoodman]

Is it a problem that I didn't mark the lifters and bores? Because I didnt know to do that when I removed them. Theyre in very nice shape visually and I would take each one apart and clean it thoroughlly and re-oil them and just use them on a nice hydraulic roller cam. What do you guys think?