Solid lifters vs Hydraulic lifters
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Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 82
Likes: 7
From: Lakewood Colorado
How can I tell
I have to admit it wasn't me that determined they were solid lifters. I had taken the car to a pro to do some work on the car. Yes he's a pro. He is known here in town for his acknowledge and is the go to guy for bringing these cars back to nice quality or even perfection if you have the money. (He is also really fair in his hourly rate, darn hard to find $45.00/hour). He determined while adjusting my valves that they were solid lifters. He had never heard of a 327 (1968) having solid lifters from the factory so the question came up. Geez guys, sorry I brought this up. This just happens to be a local 3 owner car with only 55k miles so I was curious. The guy at the parts counter was positive, what can I say. Yes numbers matching car. The only change (visually) with numbers is the alternator, from front to back. Even came with the original spare. Yes I did buy a new spare. (I know this will come up).
Team Owner
Joined: Sep 2002
Posts: 38,311
Likes: 2,070
From: California
The hot thing to do back in the day was to
More than likely, someone stuck in a good ole LT-1 cam inside. Most guys into performance remember the good ole days of the L-76 and L-84's and upon hearing that a new hot solid lifter unit was again available, this is probably what happened. My money is that it has a 178 cam inside it and either 585's or 695's.
Drifting
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 1,443
Likes: 65
From: Wauconda IL
Not many 'Parts Counter' guys I've met in the last 10-15 years had any first hand experience with anything other than selling parts and repeating stories heard from others...
The 'convertibles only' comment is what make me claim
on this one.
Without physically removing the lifter and inspecting it, your mechanic has no way of knowing if these are REALLY solid lifters or if they are just collapsed or frozen from varnish and lack of use (55K on a 45 year old car means it sat a LOT).
I've had plenty of old cars with 'solid' lifters that were actually varnished up hydraulics that no longer functioned.
Never assume anything without proof.
The 'convertibles only' comment is what make me claim
on this one.Without physically removing the lifter and inspecting it, your mechanic has no way of knowing if these are REALLY solid lifters or if they are just collapsed or frozen from varnish and lack of use (55K on a 45 year old car means it sat a LOT).
I've had plenty of old cars with 'solid' lifters that were actually varnished up hydraulics that no longer functioned.
Never assume anything without proof.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Feb 2011
Posts: 5,943
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From: Southern NH
Instructor
Joined: Jan 2012
Posts: 156
Likes: 0
From: Mount Sinai New York
I remember many years ago Motion Performance out here by me, teamed up with Baldwin Chevrolet and offered a LOT of over the counter performance options for their new cars. As a kid I do remember seeing a few Vettes in their shop, so I guess anything's possible.
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Burning Brakes
Joined: Jun 2010
Posts: 1,165
Likes: 93
From: Bellmore NY
If I were doing lash adjustment on a car and found that all of them had substantially more lash than zero, and patterned in the .020 range + -, I would strongly speculate that there was a solid cam in there. Of course pulling a lifter or the numbers off of the cam would verify that.
However Im going to have to agree with the general consensus that this car is pretty old, and probably had a cam swap at some point in its life either by dealer, previous owner, or private shop.
Im also going to agree that the parts store guy's story seems a little goofy, especially with respect to a conversion exclusively for convertibles.
However Im going to have to agree with the general consensus that this car is pretty old, and probably had a cam swap at some point in its life either by dealer, previous owner, or private shop.
Im also going to agree that the parts store guy's story seems a little goofy, especially with respect to a conversion exclusively for convertibles.
Burning Brakes
Joined: Jun 2010
Posts: 1,165
Likes: 93
From: Bellmore NY
This also brings something else to mind.... you need to find out what cam is in this motor, because you need to know the lash adjustment specs for that specific cam.
An exploratory dig would be a good excuse to change a timing chain I suppose, or vice versa
An exploratory dig would be a good excuse to change a timing chain I suppose, or vice versa