Cheapo Solid Lifter Diy For Checking Ptv Clearance/questions

85_SS_302_Coupe

it sucks (I know) to be on the receiving end
15 Year Member
Nov 11, 2003
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Northern KY
Hey guys long time no see. Just have a question, hoping some of you can back up what I'm thinking here.

I'm about to drop some AFR's on the ol' 347 in the poop coupe and I'm about to measure for new pushrods. So, of course I need some solid lifters and I'm too cheap to buy them. I've been researching different way to convert an old hydraulic roller into a solid lifter for measuring purposes, and I've manged to convert 2 of my old ones into solid lifters that won't compress.

My concern is, on reassembling the lifters, there is a little C shaped clip/spring that holds the plunger and all the lifter guts inside, and that little sucker was a PITA to get back in and it looks like the overall length of the internals might be just ever so slightly longer. Correct me if I'm wrong here, but if this is true that would give me a false pushrod length, resulting in a slightly shorter pushrod than optimal. Correct?

Now, I'm gonna try to get my hands on some calipers and measure one of my ghetto lifters against one of the OEM lifters, but assuming they ARE different, and the resulting pushrod length IS just ever so slightly shorter, my questions are:

1) Is this really the end of the world? Is this something I can overcome with adjusting the rockers, assuming that the roller tip is still close to center of the valve stem?

2) If it's not ok, couldn't I just take the difference between the two lifter measurements and add that to the pushrod measurement and get the optimal pushrod length?

Hope this all makes sense :lol:

@Noobz347 come read this, you're smart right?
 
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I just did that a month or so ago... I noticed the same thing when I flipped the insides of the lifter.... it took all the space out where the retainer ring goes.. so I just filed down that part in the inside (the plunger thing that you flip upside down) by just tapping it against the grinder a couple times, and keep test fitting until I got that space/gap where the retainer ring to look about the same a a unmodified lifter... looked and felt the same, and the retainer ring went in just a easy....
 
I just did that a month or so ago... I noticed the same thing when I flipped the insides of the lifter.... it took all the space out where the retainer ring goes.. so I just filed down that part in the inside (the plunger thing that you flip upside down) by just tapping it against the grinder a couple times, and keep test fitting until I got that space/gap where the retainer ring to look about the same a a unmodified lifter... looked and felt the same, and the retainer ring went in just a easy....

That's a good idea. I have a bunch of old lifers so I'll probably do that.