How do I Disassemble T/A roller lifters

Discussion in 'Race 400/430/455' started by wildcat4, Mar 23, 2019.

  1. wildcat4

    wildcat4 Well-Known Member

    image.jpg I have hydraulic roller lifters that have slowly gotten way too noisy.
    I ran them for a year with no troubles but now in a new engine they seemed fine for about 1/2 hr. Each time I ran it after that they have gotten louder. I checked and rechecked and tried tightening the lash which made no difference then tried loosening up the lash still no difference. I have never taken them apart to clean them so my question is “ how do you remove the tie bar?”
    Press it out ? Then can it be put back together?
    Thanks for the help
    Rob
     
  2. Julian

    Julian Well-Known Member

    How's your valve train geometry?
     
  3. LARRY70GS

    LARRY70GS a.k.a. "THE WIZARD" Staff Member

    My TA Morels were noisy as well. Never affected performance as far as I could tell, but they were noisy when the motor was hot. I swapped in a set of Johnson roller lifters I got from Jim Weise. They are way quieter. Not sure you can disassemble the tie bar and put it back together.

    http://v8buick.com/index.php?threads/johnson-roller-lifters.322436/

    JohnsonRollerLifter.JPG
     
    Last edited: Mar 24, 2019
  4. wildcat4

    wildcat4 Well-Known Member

    Ok thanks
     
  5. Jim Weise

    Jim Weise EFI/DIS 482

    The Tie bar retainer rivets must be removed and replaced to take apart the Morel lifters.

    Do yourself a favor and buy a new set of Johnsons from TA.. you will also have to get new pushrods, the pushrod cup is in a different spot..

    JW
     
    wildcat4 and 1973gs like this.
  6. alvareracing

    alvareracing Platinum Level Contributor

    Rob, I have been there and done that. Before the Johnson's were available I had no other choice. Drilled the rivets out, cut a side hole window on the lifter body to access the retainer. Called the Morrel sales rep and he got all cocky with us "why are you doing this"? you don't need to blah blah blah. needless to say they had crap in them, plus we found after measuring the plunger, and the inside of the body. Found 2 lifters with excessive clearances like .007. The sales rep would not sell us any new parts, so my machinist Robert Fulco made the new plungers and new rivets that are now serviceable. Tons of work, not worth it. Buy the Johnsons. Here are a couple of pics of one on the Bridgeport with the button drilled off and other pic since we didn't trust them anymore, we heated oil to 240* and drop the lifters in and after about 15 minutes took them out and mic them again to see if they would change tolerances. (which they didn't) thank God. All this work and I still ended up with a inferior piece. Wish I had gone to a solid lifter and been done. All this started when I was measuring the lifter bodies against the lifter bores, so that I could move each lifter to a bore. Trying to keep 1.5 to 1.7 thousands clearance, which we did succeed after 48 lifters purchased. I kept asking Jim if we could purchase or make us over size lifters and let me hone my bores to achieve the clearance we wanted.
    Fernando
     

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  7. TORQUED455

    TORQUED455 Well-Known Member

    ^^^Yikes!
     
  8. wildcat4

    wildcat4 Well-Known Member

    Man oh man yikes is right. Thanks for the input. I will end up taking Your and Jims advice
     
  9. alvareracing

    alvareracing Platinum Level Contributor

    Hopefully they (Johnson) got smart and are made with screw on buttons so you could un-tie them and move the lifters around to achieve your clearance or just to service them. We have other lifters in the shop that can do that but darn I can't remember who makes those.
     
  10. LARRY70GS

    LARRY70GS a.k.a. "THE WIZARD" Staff Member

    Nope, but I had no problem with them at all, and they were quiet immediately and have stayed that way. The only ticking I hear from the driver’s seat is the MT headers.:)
     
  11. Briz

    Briz Founders Club Member

    Regal is so damn loud ya could not hear them lifter if the were tap dancing in there.
     
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  12. wildcat4

    wildcat4 Well-Known Member

    Well don’t feel too bad, I forget more by 6am than most people do all day
     
    dan gaither likes this.
  13. TORQUED455

    TORQUED455 Well-Known Member

    M/T headers and clattering crappy lifters have to make for an interesting sound!
     
  14. LARRY70GS

    LARRY70GS a.k.a. "THE WIZARD" Staff Member

    Honestly, my Morel lifters were not that terrible. I couldn't hear it from the drivers seat, but with the hood open, the engine sounded like a sewing machine. I changed them after talking to JW and asking him what he would do if it was his engine. The Johnsons are worth the extra money IMO.
     
    Mark Demko likes this.
  15. TORQUED455

    TORQUED455 Well-Known Member

    Seems like some Buick engines, moreso than any other brand, sound more like Massey-Ferguson's than muscle machines. I had one with a fast-ramp flat tappet cam and “thin” headers and it sounded like a Singer Sewing Machine at idle.
     
  16. Mark Demko

    Mark Demko Well-Known Member

    Im replacing my Morels with Johnsons in my 350
    Im experiencing the same issues with my Morels. Johnson roller lifter.jpg
     
    wildcat4 likes this.
  17. wildcat4

    wildcat4 Well-Known Member

    Thanks for the tip, I will be doing the same.
     
    Mark Demko likes this.
  18. Mark Demko

    Mark Demko Well-Known Member

    It sucks to have to spend 600 plus dollars again, but its worth it!
    I installed my Johnsons Sunday, ran the pump with my drill, and the oil was oozing out the pushrod cup seat, which the Morels never did, Im confident in seeing that:D, I haven't run it yet as I found wear on my roller rocker shafts (they're 20 plus years old) so Im waiting on new shafts and 32 roller bearings from TA.
     
    wildcat4 likes this.
  19. Mark Demko

    Mark Demko Well-Known Member


    These are the Morels

    These are the Johnsons
     
    Julian likes this.
  20. HotRodRivi

    HotRodRivi Tomahawks sighted overseas

    small change in pitch. How did you get the sound attached to the movie
     

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