235 Lifters: Change Solid to Hydraulic?

[62ShortStep]

My '62 235 uses solid lifters; with a gap of .018 at the exhaust, the thing sure does clatter. My sons' '55 Bel Air 235 runs almost silent with hydraulic lifters.

I read that the cars use hydraulic lifters instead of solid. Apparently the engines are identical...even the engines put in trucks have the correctly drilled passages for the hydraulic lifters.

My truck is not used for heavy duty work, so extra valve lash isn't really needed (I think).

Can I swap my solid lifters for hydraulic? Can I use the same cam?

thanks!

[dwcsr]

Originally Posted by 62ShortStep

My '62 235 uses solid lifters; with a gap of .018 at the exhaust, the thing sure does clatter. My sons' '55 Bel Air 235 runs almost silent with hydraulic lifters.

I read that the cars use hydraulic lifters instead of solid. Apparently the engines are identical...even the engines put in trucks have the correctly drilled passages for the hydraulic lifters.

My truck is not used for heavy duty work, so extra valve lash isn't really needed (I think).

Can I swap my solid lifters for hydraulic? Can I use the same cam?

thanks!

Pre 58 truck blocks are not drilled for hydraulic lifters I know a lot of guys put them in but they make just as much noise and solids. Cars from 54 up and 58 -63 were drilled for hydraulics. You have a 62 then you can can convert over. Just make sure the oil tube that feeds the 2 rocker shafts is crimped closed after it comes out of the shaft connector. The only issue with the cam is how worn it is. With the cost of lifters on these engines I might just put in a new cam along with the hydraulic lifters if you intend to keep it this way for some time. GM had issues with the noisy valve train on this engine from its inception and getting a completely quite engine is not always possible.

[62ShortStep]

Thats great info Dave, thank you.

My engine was done several years ago by the previous owner but the mileage is still very low. Hopefully using the existing cam won't cause a problem.

I wouldn't have thought of crimping the oil tube, but it makes sense.

thanks again
Gus

[dwcsr]

Originally Posted by 62ShortStep

Thats great info Dave, thank you.

My engine was done several years ago by the previous owner but the mileage is still very low. Hopefully using the existing cam won't cause a problem.

I wouldn't have thought of crimping the oil tube, but it makes sense.

thanks again
Gus

I buy a lot of 235 motors to part out and I kept seeing the tube crimped where it would normally curl down into the motor again on the later 60 and up motors. After a little research I found that it was actually a GM attempt at fixing noisy hydraulic lifters.

[62ShortStep]

Dave- Do you sell parts by request, or do you post/list somewhere?

[dwcsr]

Originally Posted by 62ShortStep

Dave- Do you sell parts by request, or do you post/list somewhere?

I'm not a vendor here so I can't sell on this forum.
Shoot me an email to info@thoroco.com.