<VV> More Stubborn Lifter Woes

[larry at forman.net]

OK, here are the best tips I have found so far with this issue:
1. Steve Goodman suggested using a heater control wire or piano wire with a kink in it (maybe using a torch?) and cut off so that it has a small hook inserted into the center of the lifter.  You can really pull with one of those, although I liked the tooth pick idea also.
2. Then use the BEST super penetrating solvent you can find.  I really like Seafoam Deep Creep as it seems to work better than anything else.  Not cheap at about $8 for a can, but really worth it.
3. Keep pulling and pushing the lifter to scrape a little more of the crud off each time.  You use the super penetrating solvent, wait, push and pull, move it back in and repeat.
4. Note that most magnets, even the rare earth ones are less weak than an electromagnet over driven with current.  I have had good luck with using a red colored plastic enclosed electromagnet, normally powered with a small 9-volt battery, but connected to a 12 volt car battery for extra current.  Still, the piano wire approach worked best with the solvent.
5. Dropping the pan and using a screwdriver from below helped in seriously frozen lifter situations.
6. Note, that with time, these will eventually work.  Keep the faith!

Larry 

On Apr 6, 2008, Alohaz at ca.rr.com wrote: 
Well, I tried every suggestion that came my way (thank you all, they were
very smart suggestions).  Alas, none worked, so I finally decided to drop
the pan and push the lifter out from the inside.  Yeah, right!  Even with
the pan off, this lifter was not coming out.  Granted, it is almost
impossible to get anything to grip the lifter to encourage it on its short
journey (even needlenose vicegrips couldn't hang on), and I still have the
original style lifters, so there is no outer lip to push on with a small
screwdriver.  Ultimately, I admitted defeat and buttoned everything back up,
figuring I will try a clean batch of oil with a quart or so of  ATF added
for good measure and hope for the best.  If that doesn't work, Seth
suggested cleaning the bore with some Chemtool or Gumout to soften up/clean
off any ancient deposits.  This makes a lot of sense (I didn't see Seth's
email until after I put everything back together), especially given how the
lifter would seize up in the bore whenever I would get it past its normal
length of travel.

 

So, if anyone has any other suggestions I should try if the oil/ATF doesn't
work (I was able to confirm that the inner spring in the lifter is still
good, as the inner piston was clearly spring loaded), please pass them
along.  I will pick up one of the lifter pullers in the meantime (although
it looks as though I will have to remove the left log in order to have the
straight line clearance to use such a tool).


Thanks again,

Steve Brennan

1962 Spyder Coupe

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