Engine Lifter Removal - Windsor Jr. Iron heads

[GT1966]

I’ve got a new set of roller lifters for my Comp Cam in my 302. Is this a cruel joke? See photos. There is not enough clearance to pull 1i, 4e, 5e and 8i lifters from

their bores. Before I take my die grinder and remove some material from the underside of the head flange, has anyone else experienced this? What I thought would be a simple remove and replace has now become a major PITA....

 

[GT1966]

OK, well here’s my solution. Die-grinder and vacuum pulling away the grit / shavings. All lifters removed.

G

 

[Wayne Waldrep]

Where is the "I can't believe what I just read" emoji ????!!!

 

[RaggedGT]

You.... Ummmm.... Don’t have to grind the cylinder heads.... Guessing you know that now. Just in case, maybe a couple pics will help

 

[GT1966]

@RaggedGT ....You... umm, if you look closely at the photo of the mirror showing the casting of World Products heads, the pushrod hole through the head is only ~ 3/8” in diameter.... not large enough to pass a lifter through. @Wayne Waldrep ....I’d like to hear your solution; that’s what I thought these forums were about?

 

[Hoytster]

You pretty much have to do what you did, though most people take the heads off and clearance them off the car. I've never had a problem removing my lifters but I've heard of people with certain combos having issues removing the four corner lifters. IIRC, they were all aftermarket iron heads.

 

[RaggedGT]

@RaggedGT ....You... umm, if you look closely at the photo of the mirror showing the casting of World Products heads, the pushrod hole through the head is only ~ 3/8” in diameter.... not large enough to pass a lifter through. @Wayne Waldrep ....I’d like to hear your solution; that’s what I thought these forums were about?

My bad man, I have never had that issue, fingers crossed you figure it out

 

[GT1966]

@RaggedGT No sweat; I was able to remove enough material to pull all the lifters; I need to remove just a bit more to slip the exact same new roller lifters into the bores....crazy. Yeah, pulling the heads was the only option that I wanted to avoid. Fingers crossed.

 

[Wayne Waldrep]

Ummm....uhhh....these forums are for thoughts, comments, advice, etc. MY post was from shock that you ground metal over an open engine. If you feel good about then no big deal. I'd never do that. Roll with it.

 

[Mustang5L5]

Those look like the Ford Racing R302 or R302H lifters. If you read the fine print, they are slightly longer than the factory replacements.

Hit or miss on what heads allow enough clearance to remove with heads on. My TFS170s allowed enough room to pull them. Other heads, as you have found, won’t.

 

[revhead347]

How was that less work than pulling the heads?

Kurt

 

[GT1966]

Well, having taped-off the heads and valley while running my shop vacuum catching the particles off the die grinder, things are quite clean with respect to the fallout. While removing the heads to install the new lifters would be my first choice on an bare engine, the 16 header bolts and their safety wires was what put me onto this process. Each notch took 10-15 minutes with the die grinder.