I am ready to put my valvetrain together and when I was looking at the Comp R lifters I noticed that only one side has a hole in it. It looks like some kind of oil passage, I am sure it is for the oil but the hole (on the block) that the lifters go in has an oil passage on both sides. So that leaves me with the question...

... What way should the oil passage on the lifter face, towards the front of the engine or towards the back, facing each other or facing away from each other?

John

 

I noticed you had no replies.

From my experience with non roller lifters they actually kind of spin as they go up and down which would lead me to believe that even though you have roller and they won't spin in place it really doesn't matter because oil rides up the sides of the lifter all around it and forces into the hole, wherever that happens to be.

Assuming these are hydraulic lifters since you described the oil hole, what's more important is that you prime them before installing. I used to set them all in a containter of oil and give them a little squeeze while underneath the surface to let the air out and get the oil in. You'll see little air bubbles on the side of the lifter come out which means oil is going in.

That helps prevent preloading them and ruining the hydraulic part before it's had a chance to fill with oil at initial startup. If you start out too tight and they haven't had a chance to "pump up" then the lifter will lock up and become a solid lifter, which you do not want and which of course I've done way in the past.

You could just leave the rockers fairly loose and give the motor several turns to let the oil start priming up but I never like to leave that to chance when it's as simple as above procedure to ensure they are primed.

I had to learn stupid stuff like that when I was 16 or so working on my SBC engines with no guidance but my own folly.

 

The instructions that come with the lifters tell you to soak them in synethic oil prior to installation. I don't remember reading about an orientation.

 

TTT for anyone else that might know

 

TTT

 

Either way works i think.

 

Nice post....but I think you need to turn that last line into a .sig.

Well said...and I'll think of Heatmaker every time I read it

 

Im fairly positive that it doesnt matter just al long as the roller side is down

 

Yes that's very true, also.

But as I said the oil travels all around the lifter which allows it to get in the little hole in the lifter. Otherwise if the oil wasn't completely surrounding it, the lifter would seize up on the block.

And about the sig.. that's the truth. 6 years ago I didn't know about message boards and I sure didn't have enough $$ for the LT1. I just had some magazines and a completely original '69 chevy with 350 small block that died from too many years of un-leaded gas on heads that originally were designed for the leaded gas of 1969.

I would have never made it if parts were as expensive as they are for LT1/LS1. I learned about collapsed lifters, cracked piston rings, complete engine rebuilds, wiped out cam lobes, and all sorts of fun things that I know how not to repeat.

 

ok i HAVE installed Comp R lifters in my car. Only thing I made sure of was that the roller side was down