Hole in Lifter

[musgrave]

Hello
Here is one more question that I'm going to throw out there, seeing that I'm a rookie at this. We took the motor apart from my 51 GMC the other night. It is a 216, not paying attention of the order of the lifters. We see that one of the lifters has a hole drilled though it. Can anyone help me with this bone headed move I just did. I cant find it any where in the manuals what order to put them in. Or dose it really matter. Thanks

[Speedbumpauto]

All 216's had mechanical lifters as opposed to hydraulic. My guess is the one with the hole is a replacement installed at a later date. There is no particular order to lifters other than the rule of putting a used lifter back on the same cam lobe it came from and that ship already sailed. You might be OK with mismatching them since the spring pressure on those old engines wasn't very high but you do stand a chance of wiping out a lobe or two. Keep close check on the valve lash when you put it together and run it. If one or two start to "grow" in lash, it's a good sign the lobe is going.

[musgrave]

I had another 216 motor given to me, it was in pieces when I got it. It also has a hole in one of its lifters. Think it is to oil the cam. Thanks

[musgrave]

Here's what they look like. Thanks

[mr48chev]

Originally Posted by Speedbumpauto

. There is no particular order to lifters other than the rule of putting a used lifter back on the same cam lobe it came from and that ship already sailed. you do stand a chance of wiping out a lobe or two. Keep close check on the valve lash when you put it together and run it. If one or two start to "grow" in lash, it's a good sign the lobe is going.

One of the things you learn to do when taking an engine apart is to keep the lifters in order so that they will go back to the same lobe on the cam that they have always worked with. I usually snag an egg carton to put the lifters in but when I was teaching auto mechanics we drilled holes in 2x4's cut to length so that they would hold a row or two rows of lifters and backed it up with some scrap plywood. One of the kids made several of them one year in wood shop and we used them for years on end.

If you put those lifters back in the engine I'd suggest using a liberal amount of cam lube to give them more lubrication on startup and hopefully helping the cam last.

[musgrave]

Thank you very much. I guess I should stick to cabinet making. Though this project would help with me stress. Just added more. Live & Learn

[Speedbumpauto]

After looking at the pic, I'm wrong about it being a replacement. Since those lifters don't oil through the gallery like hydraulics, I'd look in the lifter bores and see if there is one that has a hole in it that might connect to an oil passage. Since lifters rotate in their bores, the hole could only be lined up occasionally unless one lifter bore has a radial groove counterbored into it, and that would be easy to see and again, problem solved.
Don't be discouraged. It's a learning process and those old engines were very forgiving. With a little deduction, you'll find the bore for the lifter with the hole and then put it together with cam lube, as stated, and drive it. You have a decent chance that it will putt right on for a long time.

[Speedbumpauto]

After thinking, I bet that hole has something to do with oiling the rocker arms. Look for a passage from the cam/lifter area through the block up through the cylinder head and ending in the mounting pad for one of the rocker arm stands. That's the basic way most of the shaft rocker systems are oiled and the old 216 had a low pressure system that only oiled the rockers, etc., and the main bearnings, I think. The rods used dippers and the splash system.

[musgrave]

Yes it dose use the dipper & splash system. There is no separate part number for that lifter either. Thanks