Maybe some customers get a full set of bad lifters and all of them make noise. If that's the case, people may think that it was normal. I had 1 or 2 at the beginning of the season and 5 or 6 bad ones 1100 miles later, and all on the right bank. I find it hard to believe that people think that only several making noise would be normal.
What exactly makes it a bad one? What fails? Mine (bought in early 2012) have been quiet as a mouse. Aside from one pin trying to walk it's way out. Approximately 5k miles on them.
Yep, that's my concern, ok for now, then awhile later they explode or something On my first fire up after the roller install, they were quiet, but #3 rod bearing spun, so that was that for that build. New build, noisey as crap, pressure is good, then all of a sudden, they get quiet Second ride of new build, noisey at start, drive toward the highway, all of a sudden, they get quiet Anywho, I cut the filter open that was on there since the new build start up, nothing but oil Im calling my bottom end good.
A pin trying to walk out Ok, that put the final nail in the coffin for the Morels for me, Im going Johnson!
Hmmmmm, don't know Jim, Im not familiar with the Johnsons, but when I get 'em I'll post a comparison pic
I believe that either the tolerances are bad or there's dirt inside, or a combination of both. I assume that you noticed the pin walking out as you were installing them. If you're referring to the pin that holds the tie bar to the lifter body, you lucked out. When that tie bar becomes unattached, the lifter will spin in the bore and bye bye cam and whatever else gets damaged. That sounds like a quality control issue. I would be very concerned about running that set in my engine.
Roller wheel pin. They need to be double checked for secure fit. I've got some ideas to correct that. Mark, GM used solids in the 60''s & 70''s and provided warranty to boot. If they start making some racket, reset lash.
I've seen factory GM roller pins come out (at least I think that's what happened, I only saw the end result) I forgot about that. You're probably alright then.
I ran a 308s cam for about years on the track, checked lash s few times a year but never had to adjust. not sure if you have roller rockers, but you will either need them or adjustable pushrods. I suppose the is a very very very slim chance that you might be able to order a non adjustable pushrod the exact correct length to give the lash required and be able to use non adjustable.......
Yes I have roller rockers. I was doing some reading about Johnson roller lifters, Im sold on they're quality control and adherence to close tolerances, from what I was reading, you have to work for them for YEARS before they will let you assemble lifters unsupervised Johnson doesn't seem to be a big fan of solids tho, apparently the lash required causes the roller bearings on the wheel to be impact loaded every time the valvetrain has to take up the lash VS hydraulics pre-load, they go on to say on a dedicated race car its not a big deal, but a hot street cruiser, stop and go, highway driving, its more brutal to the needle bearings.
mark, I could sell you a nicely built 350 with a s/charger on it. has a tach that goes to 10k(lol), doesn't use an oil filter(cut down on costs) or gage and has solid lifters. only problem is comes with a 'bundle of pipes' that resemble a front engine dragster. but...it all could be yours for the right price with no oil pressure problems. john
I called Johnson yesterday and had a conversation with a tech there about roller lifters for a Buick 350, he said "its a GM small block".…….. here we go Im thinking I know Chevy and Buick have .842 dia. lifters, but what about bore spacing? Pushrod cup depth Im not overly concerned with. Needing the full shroud over the wheel, yes, that's important. He also told me that GM scrapped their Delphi rollers in the COPO Camaro for Johnsons, guess the Delphis weren't keeping pumped up and hurting performance He said he heard of Morels issues, and he'd rather have a competent competitor, instead of a pushover LOL. He gave me a name and number for a distributor of Johnsons in Michigan, Marine Kinetics. He also gave me a part # 2112 SBR (small block reduced travel) On Johnsons website, Crower and Isky are mentioned also, do Crower and Isky sell Johnsons?? I checked Summit Racing, Crower and Isky rollers are 1000.00 to 1300.00 Im going to Michaels Racing tomorrow morn to see and hold, and compare Chevy retro rollers to Buicks. Im a visual person, flat tappets are simple, but theres a bit more to rollers Im learning