I'm far from a 455 expert, but factory Nailhead lifters are flat on the bottom - unusual for a modern engine. My guess is that the BBBs use convex-bottomed lifters. If a BBB person doesn't jump in soon, I would repost your question on the Bench - more BBB guys will hang out there.
Alright. My reason for asking is so I can jus buy 455 solid lifters and so on and so forth for my 425
Russell Martin is a good one to talk to about this. C.A.R. or nailheadbuick.com might have the tech info. I have spoken with Comp cams, and on their cams they claim to grind a bit of taper on all cams now, along with some crown on the lifters. The brand of cam you use or how it's ground might influence your decision. The other concerns are overall length with respect to the pushrod cup because of a non-adjustable valvetrain, and keeping the oil band from being exposed above or below the lifter bores.
yes 455 are the ones you would use on hyd lifters. but on a solid lifter the small block chevy would be the ones you need.
Alrighty. Thanks guys. I'll look more into it. Russell is a cool guy and has helped me a lot but every time I try to talk to him about this more complicated stuff i feel a vibe that he thinks I'm stealing classified information from him. But I still ask him I guess. Thanks again everyone!
You want the pre 1970 lifters that are used with head oiling rocker arms. They fit the 215, 300, 340, 350, 364, 400, 401, 425 and 430. The 70 and later 350 and 455 used pushrod oiling from the lifter for the rockers. Cheryl
Oops, yep...oiling rockers through the block vs. changing to pushrod oiling definitely matters. Sorry for the mislead.
Why don't you just deal with Carmen Faso at J&C Parts??? MANY get their parts from him at a higher cost to the individual as your going through a middle man. He knows EXACTLY what you need if your engine is mostly stock & can even help when not, along with the pushrods nec. He did this for BigPig455 for his '65 GS Skylark with NO associated problems. Trouble is he doesn't do the Internet, you need to call him @716-693-4090 Just my thoughts.
Carmen is the way to go. He is also very helpful (like Tom), but just likes the "old ways" of communicating. His prices are good too! Cheryl
x2 (3?) on Carmen - Tommy's right. I bought my solids from him at a reasonable price, and they worked out great. He had a pretty specific sized/configuration pushrod in stock too, he knows his audience. I'll spare you the whole story again, but the solids had a significant ET effect. My "stocker" 401 is now running door to door with my 73 Stage 1. Just saying.
I was jus going to get my brand new 425 cam ground for solid lifters and use 1959 rocker arms and adjustable push rods from Russ. Good idea ? So the pre 1970 solid lifters would have oiling holes like stock 425 lifters so I wouldn't have any oiling problems?
I used Chevy lifters - I think 70's LT-1's? They had oiling holes for the pushrods, but I used solid pushrods so no oil made it up top. Tom - who had over-oiling top end problems from hollow pushrods - GSGTX? The whole set up worked fine on my stock hydraulic 401 cam, hasn't wiped it out yet....
Sorry for OT and highjack, but what does the solid lifters do, that give you more power? Faster, longer and higher lift? Does it give the cam and valvetrain shorter life? Can it be used with an upgrade cam for even more performance? Houmark
I'd ask someone smarter than me to chime in here. but I think the main benefit is the lifter/pushrod combination make the same power, just quicker - no flex or compression. The only thing I did with the valve train that offered additional HP was increased lift through the roller rocker ratio, which kind of amplified the cam profile. Knowing that, a good 2.5 inch exhaust, larger carb and optimized intake manifold were there and ready to pass the additional air..As Tommy is fond of saying, and engine is nothing more than an air pump, and only as effective as it's most restrictive point. I think it has to be looked at as a package....CFM restriction, ignition timing, A/F ratio and intake airflow are where I concentrated, but I haven't blueprinted compression or really maxed airflow with a more aggressive cam, headers and headwork.....and I'm running a very mild 3.23 gear. All that said, I cant say enough about chassis tuning. Truth is, I rarely see any street cars at the drags that are set up to put the power they make to the ground. If you've got a stock but good running 401 and you haven't done any suspension mods, your leaving 10ths on the table already.... Now THERE'S a hijack.......
you can use the later 455 lifters on the nailhead with no problem, but you cant use the pre 1970 lifters on the 455.
if your going use a real solid lifter cam they have faster ramps, you will need a lot more valve spring pressure and on stock rocker arms they might start breaking. not sure if 1959 were still steel or if they went to aluminum. even the pushrods might be a problem
Well, one problem:-- In order to use TA 1405, TA 1410 or TA 1415 lifters (70+) in pre 1970 engines a few simple changes are necessary. If you would like to retain the earlier style rocker assembly; TA offers Hybrid adjustable pushrods that incorporate the smaller radius tip at the lifter and the larger radius tip at the rocker. Cheryl
if you read the rest of it. in 2007 they consolidated the lifters to fit both series with the early 3/8 ball and the later 5/16 ball pushrods. oil hole does not matter, I went through this all years ago with ta putting a cam in a stock nailhead and used the 70+ lifters.
