I am using a sharpie to look at the wear pattern on valve tips, however I am getting no wear pattern. I am not sure if it is just me(not turning the motor over by hand a zillion times) or is there not enough spring pressure to make a mark.

Any ideas of what I am doing wrong, or any alternatives to put on the valve tip besides sharpie?

I am also noticing that the lifter is depressing maybe 1/8th of an inch when pushing the pushrod/valve open. WTF I am using the checking springs that came with my comp degree kit. I would think this is going to screw up my results anyways. I thought a checking spring was the way to go if your not going use a solid lifter.

 

I have had similiar results with the sharpie method. I smear a light coat of Prussian blue (machinist's bluing) on the roller and that makes a mark that's easily seen.

As far as the lifter is concerned, you need to convert one of your lifters to a solid lifter. Disassemble it and replace the spring with some small washers and re-install the retaining clip. Be sure to use a lifter that is the same as what you are going to run in the engine because different brands of lifters have varying pushrod cup depths and that will throw off your results.

 

If you watch closely while turning the motor you can where the roller travels w/o any dye. My eyes aren't so great, but I can see that pretty good.

Rich

 

grease will work too, the ARP moly lube works good

 

I'll be doing the same thing this weekend and will probably just do it as Rich says and
eyeball it. If you are working on the mid-lift approach since you were also in that thread
the main thing you want to verify is the point where the roller is closest to the edge
of the valve stem tip. As long as the center of the roller is .080" or so inside the edge
you should be fine. The plunger depression in the lifter is probably not an issue, besides
there is no way to pull a lifter and replace it with a solid one with the intake on.

 

I tried the arp sealant yesterday just for the hell of it, but that did not work at all. I have some of the moly lube and will try that today. I thought about grease, but did not get around to it.

As far as the lifter goes, I think my checking springs are maybe too strong for the LS7 lifter. I will try to dissasemble the lifter today and see what I can come up with for replacing the spring portion.

Thought about this, but dont trust myself enough.

Where do you get this prussian blue in case my moly lube or grease doesnt work for me.

 

Permatex makes it, you can pretty much use any thin dark oil-based paint too.

 

I used my eyes, also.

 

Any machinist supply store should have it. Check McMaster-Carr.com, search for p/n 616K511 so you will know what you are looking for.

 

After making a solid lifter I played around with my adjustable pushrod for a bit. I used it with the checking springs that came with my degree kit, and still did not get much of a pattern to lay down on the valve tip.

I wound up installing my valvesprings back into the head and went from there. I noticed that the pattern was not really too narrow. I got the most narrow pattern that was the closest to central location to the valve tip in the pic below.

Let me know If I am making any large errors here. I am wondering if i should go shorter and locate the pattern closer to the middle. Sorry about the pattern detail, I am using moly lube.

 

I think you need to get it closer to the intake.....shorter

 

X2

Rich

 

you can only get pushrods in 0.050 lengths right?

I would say another .050 will either be it or .100....

Also make sure whatever you did to the lifter it is the exact same ht. as an assembled on in the engine. I have seen people try to make a solid one but either its shorter or longer than it should be. And pushrods are not cheap to keep buying over and over

 

I have been getting mine from Manton for years - they make them in exactly the length you specify. The best way to do this is with an adjustable pushrod and checking springs.

Rich

 

ok here is the update I think i am centered here dont you think?