Thanks Paul. Here's where I'm at. The 340 is a stock 9.5 comp ratio motor with a solid bottom end. Good compression, no smoke or blow by. 3.73 rear end M-20 four speed. I'm just doing the cam swap for a little extra punch. This is not a drag car but soon to be a daily driver. So, cam, lifters, timing set, and four barrel, done. So, which cam do you suggest? Not looking for anything exotic. Something at Summit that I can pick up the phone and order at a reasonable price. It's been great getting all this feed back. I love this site! OJ
Just for an FYI for those looking on. Called Tim at TA and they carry cam cores in stock for the 215/300/340. Because of the low demand, those cams are ground per order with a 2 week turn around. Looked at Isky, Crower and Howards and for what you are doing the Isky 133127 (Summit #621270) looks good. Credit to you and Madman. The tight 109 LSA will give you plenty of low and midrange torque and the 2 degrees of overlap will still give a good idle with a little lope so you know it is a performance cam. If you truly end up with a 9.5:1 static compression ratio, the Dynamic compression ratio will be around 7.8:1 which is about perfect for pump gas. Just be sure the compression ratio doesn't end up higher than 9.5:1. Paul
OK. Got the cam picked out. Now will Crower lifters #66050 work with my stock push rods? Anyone? Still looking for a 340 4 barrel intake as well.
Are you going with the Isky 133127 (Summit #621270) cam? What about springs and retainers? the complete Isky cam, lifter, springs and retainer kit is part# 625270 http://www.flatlanderracing.com/iskycamsbuick.html The Crower lifters #66050 are designed to work with stock push rods but because of variations due to the engine rebuild it is always best to measure the pushrod length after engine assembly and get the right length for the proper lifter preload. Paul
I dont think the Crower lifters will work. Remember what I said about someone selling the wrong lifters without knowing better... I think Crower is doing just thatou: Info about those lifters is thin, but they list the same part number for '70-up Buick V8suzzled: That wont work and they should know better. You have to run lifters that have no oil-feed hole in the cup. '56-'69 Buicks have solid pushrods and feed oil to the rocker-arms through holes in the heads/block. '70-up Buicks feed the rockers through lifter holes/hollow pushrods, more like a SBC. The two dont interchange:Smarty: To be on the safe side just go with T/A in the vender section p/n- TA_1406. The price isnt bad and they do know better:TU:
I really dont know what would happen if you used the wrong lifterso No: Never wanted to find out either. Probibly do some ugly things to your oil pressure if I had to guess. All I know is every Buick engine builder I know of says just dont do it. I figure if the new style lifters would work in old style engines, they would have stopped selling the old lifters 43 years ago:TU:
OK. I checked out the old lifters that were in the 300 block (340 should be the same). No oil feed hole on the pushrod seat. Push rods have a dimple on both ends but appear to be solid. So I guess the best thing to do is before I order these lifters, make sure there is no oil feed hole on the push rod seat. And to think I used to walk into a speed shop and just order a 3/4 race cam kit! Thanks. ---------- Post added at 06:56 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:37 PM ---------- PS. Just talked to tech support at Crower. The 66050 lifter that I'm looking at DOES have an oil feed hole in the pushrod seat. They claim it will still work BUT, and I quote " I really don't know much about Buicks". Does that inspire confidence or what! Back to square one.
I would think that using the lifters with the oil hole would just provide another place for oil to hemorrhage possibly lowering oil pressure a bit. Why not just get the right lifters?
Hay Sean, Jims question got me thinking... What would happen if you used the wrong lifters? I know you cant, but Id like to know why. Have you ever heard of someone doing it, and what problems it caused? It could be worth a foot-note in your book:Smarty:
you will lose oil pressure if you run the later style lifters. the rockers get oil from holes in the block deck surface thru the head and rocker pedestal. if you don't block off those holes in the deck it will be feeding from there and from the lifters. best bet is to just get the correct lifters.
The bottom line in this whole discussion is that the TA1406 lifter is the correct application and they even cost less then the Crower 66050's. Amen. Thank you all for your help. OJ
