Is there a way of machining a non roller block to accept hydraulic roller lifters or are you stick with buying retrofit hydraulic lifters?

Big price diff between regular hydrualic roller lifters and retrofit ones

Cheers,
Richard.

 

There are no good ways of putting OE roller lifters into a non-roller block.

 

lol - so there are bad ways? Why are they bad?

 

Did you see the ad on E-Bay from a guy that has plans and the parts to make factory roller lifters and the hardware that goes into a factory roller block. Has something to do with drilling and tapping some holes in the lifter galley for the lifter spyder, I think that is what it is called. I saw the add while looking for parts to put into my new motor combo. I don't remember the guys name but I think he is a regular on there. Check under listings for cams, valve train components. Hope you can find it and maybe it will help you with your problem. I have about 1200.00 for all the stuff to make my 400 a roller motor, yes it is expensive.. Good luck..

 

They involve drilling and tapping holes in a thin casting that are perilously close to the oil galley that supplies all the oil to the main bearings.

The difference in price isn't that bad, if you're comparing lifters of similar quality.

 

So what is different about retrofit hydraulic rollers?

 

they are linked with a "tie bar" to prevent the intake and exhaust lifters of an individual cylinder from rotating in the lifter bores...and regrinding the cam...
i converted my pre-87 block for about 52 dollars with oem parts... as opposed to the 4-500 you will spend on that retrofit setup and the need to use a retrofit cam...were as i can use any roller cam

 

i beleive your supposed to replace the cam, as a roller cam is made or hardened tool steel (most of the time), a flat tappet cam is made of a hard enough material

 

He's talking about the lifter rotating in the bore eating the cam lobe, not about machining the lobe.

 

oh sorry i didn't get that, got confused there, still wanna know how he did it for 52 dollars?

 

I saw the ebay add for converting non-roller to roller.
I have emailed him several times about what it would cost and he never replied.
Sounds like a scam.

 

It's kinda a scam. They just tell you where to drill to mount the spider, etc etc.
I think you also need to use the later 2.2L I4 type roller lifters, since they're shorter. Probably a weird pushrod length as well, and I think a factory roller cam, with some kind of cam button and a stronger timing cover most likely.


$52 is a particularly cheap way to do it. Even with "half assed" way of doing it using factory parts and drilling the main oil line through the block, it should still cost a bit more then that, unless you know a guy who knows a guy sorta thing.

I'd just drill and tap for the spider, then braze some threaded rods in place, that way the holes won't leak, and they're essentially locked in place.

 

the 52$ came from looking at autozone and finding the lifters for 20 bucks a piece.. then going to a pick a part yard and pulling 2 sets of lifters out of a cavalier and having them tell me you cant reuse any lifter so i could have them all for 2 bucks then i bought the 50 dollar roller kit from summit which has the spider and the retainers

 

One more question... If you use retrofit lifters, do you have to use a specific retrofit cam or will any hydraulic roller cam work after that?

Cheers,
Richard.

 

Yea, you'll want a retro roller cam. I have such a brutal memory so I can't remember specifically why... Try a search... I want to say it's the recessed nose for the cam retainer plate or something..?

Spitot - post the part number for summits $50 spider and retainer set if you could please? (I'm going to do this one day, but do it very quietly and never tell anyone lest it fails).