I have some noisy lifters. How much of a pain is it to change em out? I'm moving to WA next month and I'd like to fix them before the long drive there. Anything special I need to do? Whats the hardest part? Ive never really tore into a LT1 but ive built other sbc engines. Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

You will need to remove the rocker arms, remove the pushrods, remove the intake manifold and the "spider" that holds the lifters in place. I would recommend leaving the new lifters in a bucket of oil overnight. You can remove the old ones, install the new ones then install the pushrods, intake and rocker arms. You will need to readjust them for zero lash.
It's really not complicated at all, just time taking. I recommend www.shbox.com for how-tos on many of the things I listed above.

 

as stated above, not that hard at all. For being a frist timer, plan on 4 hours. Don't forget to let your intake sit for 24 hours to let the silicon dry. Don't want any leaks on the intake.

Neal

 

They both are right, thats how to do it. My question is.... how do you know you have "noisy lifters"?

 

Because I know how noisy lifters sound.....haha. Well changed em all out on wednesday. Took me a whole day to do it. Too many vacuum hoses and wiring. What a mess. I found that #1 intake lifter was pretty messed up. It had what looked like pitting on the roller. I was worried that my cam was screwed but I scoped it and it had no damage what so ever. Pretty weird. I guess the cam is made of harder metal than the lifter. It's always had a slight noise from that side of the engine since it was new. It got to the point where i was getting embarassed to drive it it was so noisy. I guess maybe it wasnt pumping up or maybe going flat causing the lifter to bounce off the cam. I dont know what was wrong but anyways it runs like a champ again and the hideous noise is gone. I took it on a 600 mile test drive and she ran good......haha.

 

One more thing that I found hilarious. I called a local Chevrolet dealership to get the price for stock lifters. They wanted $54 and some change A PIECE!!!!!! LMFAO!!! I bought some Melling lifters at Auto Zone for about $9 each. Just thought you guys would need a good laugh.

 

yep....thats the good ole Stealership for you.

 

If you are not experienced then you need to take your time and be sure to do it right. As mentioned it is not overly difficult, it just takes some time. While many state they have done this in 4 hours, I would plan on taking much longer. Not that I doubt what they are saying, but expect to take longer if you are not experienced at this. Don't rush it. This is your car and there are no prizes for beating the clock.

Also, I tend to do other related projects along the way. Like now that the manifold is off is an excellent time to clean up the TBI passages and IAC pintle, replace the PCV valve, scrub and degunk the intake manifold, etc.

 

4 hours yea right. Maybe to get everything torn down. It took me a good 12 hours start to finish. I did a good job though and took my time. I did a new PCV valve and cleaned everything good with brake parts cleaner. I also did the tb coolant mod and made a plug to get rid of the donkey dong in the intake elbow. I didnt rush things. It sure is nice having the alignment pegs on the intake gaskets to line things up. It went together perfectly. I didnt cuss once. well maybe once....haha. My engine has 121k on it. I guess thats long enough for the stock lifters.