<VV> Crappy Clevite lifters

[corvairs at pacifier.com]

Smitty - Hi! I won't ask which vendor but are you certain they are
"Clevite" lifters? Were they actually in a Clevite box? As far as I know
Clevite doesn't make lifters or even market any under their own name.

Of course it is possible that Clevite is re-boxing another manufacturers
lifters, but I'm just saying I haven't seen any.

Lon
www.corvairunderground.com
800-825-8247



>> > -- Original Message -----
>> " ................ Crappy Clevite lifters that ate
>> the valveguides out of a brand new rebuilt engine............. "
>>  ==========================
>> Dan T  Says;   Rell me the story
> *********************
> Smitty Says;   Dan, all the oil that gets to the valve springs and guides
> is
> controlled by the lifter design.  Specifically the inertia valve or
> flutter
> valve at the pushrod end of the lifter.  Over the years I had noted the
> large difference between different lifter oil deliverys.  I became aware
> that the lifters available to us were more and more, small block Chevy
> lifters, which have a problem directly opposed to ours.  They, with
> virtually vertical valve stems, suck a lot of oil past the guides, if much
> oil gets on them.  We with horizontal valve stems have very little problem
> with oil on the stems.  So the lifters you can get for the most part are
> very restrictive  of the oil they feed up the pushrod tube.
> When I bought lifters for my engine build, I bought them from a well known
> Corvair vendor.  Stupidly I assumed that they wouldn't sell anything that
> wasn't adaquate for our engines.  I am an advocate of cold valve
> adjustment
> and put the rocker covers on as soon as that is done.  Consequenty I never
> saw the oil delivery to the springs.  About 500 miles later the engine
> developed misfireing which proved to be wiped out guides.  I mean BAD.  It
> was then I found that the lifters were delivering so little oil that they
> were barely wetting the rocker balls.  Literally none was getting to the
> springs.  I immediately said to myself, what have I done wrong.  I won't
> go
> into the weeks of research following this when I drilled into the oil
> galleries at points the length of the block to take pressure readings, and
> swapped various types lifters in and out.  Tore down dozens of lifters to
> understand the logic of their designs.  Finally realized I had done
> nothing
> wrong.  It was the lifters.  I had alternative paths I could have taken
> but
> I obtained a set of GM original lifters from a junk engine and had them
> refaced on the cam surface.  That is what I am running now.  I have used
> "the Source" lifters and am somewhat satisfied with their delivery.
> Running them in my race car.  Otherwise you are on your own.  Just make
> sure
> that when your engine is running that the little firehose squirt from the
> side hole in the pushrod is wetting the valve spring as it goes round and
> round.
> Final note here.  I am not normally much of an "in your face" kind of guy
> so
> when I approched the vendor about the problem it was with an attitude of
> sharing what I had learned.  Hoping to prevent some one else from
> experienceing the problem.  his immediate answer was, None of my other
> customers are complaining.   Is that true guys?  Are you not having
> problems
> or are you just not complaining?  Were my lifters part of a defective run,
> or they all like that?  Damn sure won't get any help from the vendor.  He
> made it plain he doesn't have a problem.
>
>  _______________________________________________
> This message was sent by the VirtualVairs mailing list, all copyrights are
> the property
> of the writer, please attribute properly. For help,
> mailto:vv-help at corvair.org
> This list sponsored by the Corvair Society of America,
> http://www.corvair.org/
> Post messages to: VirtualVairs at corvair.org
> Change your options:
> http://www.vv.corvair.org/mailman/options/virtualvairs
>  _______________________________________________
>
>