lt1/ls1/Ford lifters

[turbo buicks]

ive been wondering. instead of buying comps high priced roller lifters, why dont we just get a set from another car. lt1, ls1, ford V8, they have all come from the factory with those ductile iron cams and roller setups. plus we dont turn a lot of rpms and most go roller for reliability, and whats more reliable than a stock piece anyways, i measured a stock GN lifter diameter and it is roughly .819 inches. a lt1 (and prob ls1 also) roller lifter is .842 inches and certain Ford V8s with hyd rollers are .874 inches. now can anyone tell me why i couldnt drill out my lifter bore to whatever clearance lifters have in their bores and use a chevy or ford roller lifter with the comp roller cam? also if done this way the only thing that would need to be changed MAYBE is the pushrods due to possible different lifter heights. i dont know about anyone else but id rather spend $100 on pushrods than the $250 or watever comp prices their GN hyd roller lifters at, since ive seen complete lt1 lifter sets on ebay for $5

 

[83ttypecooled]

rollers

Hi!
So, if we are speculating here, why not go for broke and just use the stuff that is in the 3800 engine? I don't know if that would fit either, but at least it is Buick! Am I missing your point? Fill me in on it, if not. Thanks!
Dale

 

[Otto J]

The factory lifters all have a specila way to keep them from spinning,Sp unless you can adpat this method to your 109 block it wont work,THe aftermarket lifter are salled retro lifters and have a tie bar that pairs them to keep them in line without the factory hold downs
HTH

 

[ITSAV6]

lifters

The 5.0 has a "spider" that bolts in the lifter valley and has fingers that hold the lifters on each side to hold them straight.

 

[Razor]

Becuase you'd spend at least a grand getting the lifter bores punched open professionally.

 

[TurboDave]

Originally posted by turbo buicks
ive been wondering. instead of buying comps high priced roller lifters, why dont we just get a set from another car. lt1, ls1, ford V8, they have all come from the factory with those ductile iron cams and roller setups. plus we dont turn a lot of rpms and most go roller for reliability, and whats more reliable than a stock piece anyways, i measured a stock GN lifter diameter and it is roughly .819 inches. a lt1 (and prob ls1 also) roller lifter is .842 inches and certain Ford V8s with hyd rollers are .874 inches. now can anyone tell me why i couldnt drill out my lifter bore to whatever clearance lifters have in their bores and use a chevy or ford roller lifter with the comp roller cam? also if done this way the only thing that would need to be changed MAYBE is the pushrods due to possible different lifter heights. i dont know about anyone else but id rather spend $100 on pushrods than the $250 or watever comp prices their GN hyd roller lifters at, since ive seen complete lt1 lifter sets on ebay for $5

Buick lifter bores are .842

Those stock setups usually have a special tie bar bolted into the lifter valley which wont adapt to our engines. Best bet is to get "retrofit" roller lifters that are designed to convert non roller setups to roller lifters, with their own tie bars. But then you're almost up to the price of a good set of comps.
So why not use the good stuff and not try and cheap out, possibly causing more headaches down the road?
Remember, you ALWAYS get what you pay for.

 

[Mike Licht]

Not only will you have to fabricate some retaining system but most likely the oil holes will be in the wrong location creating hugh oil pressure leaks inside the engine.
Mike

 

[83ttypecooled]

nice idea

Hi!
OK, I'm sorry for the suggestion, guys! You have fully educated me in this matter. I will keep my future opinions to myself!
Dale

 

[Otto J]

Hey, It can never hurt to ask,That might have saved you time,It still may be able to be done though.I believe we use small block chevy retro lifters, so if you were to try,I would start with lifters from a tpi or Lt1 motor.

 

[83ttypecooled]

Thanks, my friend!
Dale

 

[turbo buicks]

Originally posted by Mike Licht
Not only will you have to fabricate some retaining system but most likely the oil holes will be in the wrong location creating hugh oil pressure leaks inside the engine.
Mike

well maybe if someone didnt want to use stock pieces at least roller lifters for chevy/fprd engines are cheaper overall. also, about the oil holes, where are they on the lifter on the buick engine?

 

[turbosam6]

You'd easily spend $1000+ trying to save $150, case closed.

 

[Drac0nic]

I will point out that the 3.8L FWD in 86 and 87 DO come with roller lifters in the VIN 3 motors I belive it is (check gnttype) far as it goes, they use the "spider" mentioned above, but I bet they'd work provided you had some machine tools. Hell, the cam would probably work if you were willing to do enough work to make it run. Only prob with that IMHO is getting one that's probably not some anemic grind. Then again, if the blanks were easily avalible from OEM sources Comp may be able to make you up one cheapish. You'd definitely need to rework the front cover though.

 

[SPOOLN]

Keep saving and get the correct roller lifters for your roller cam. You will be happier in the long run.

 

[KendallF]

Originally posted by Drac0nic
I will point out that the 3.8L FWD in 86 and 87 DO come with roller lifters in the VIN 3 motors I belive it is (check gnttype) far as it goes, they use the "spider" mentioned above, but I bet they'd work provided you had some machine tools. Hell, the cam would probably work if you were willing to do enough work to make it run. Only prob with that IMHO is getting one that's probably not some anemic grind. Then again, if the blanks were easily avalible from OEM sources Comp may be able to make you up one cheapish. You'd definitely need to rework the front cover though.

A number of years ago I pulled the lifters and retaining setup from a FWD 3.8 thinking I'd explore using them in the 4.1 production motor I was doing. The retainer would've been fairly simple to use; it just bolts into the valley. However, the lifter design would've uncovered the oil holes in the lifter bores (I checked it w/a .469 lift cam). Unless you get the lifter bores bushed it's not going to work...and as pointed out earlier, that would be more expensive than just buying the retrofit lifters.

 

[Drac0nic]

Originally posted by KendallF
A number of years ago I pulled the lifters and retaining setup from a FWD 3.8 thinking I'd explore using them in the 4.1 production motor I was doing. The retainer would've been fairly simple to use; it just bolts into the valley. However, the lifter design would've uncovered the oil holes in the lifter bores (I checked it w/a .469 lift cam). Unless you get the lifter bores bushed it's not going to work...and as pointed out earlier, that would be more expensive than just buying the retrofit lifters.

Cool, didn't know that. I just had what is a stocker FWD cam, it's not exactly what I'd file under "lumpy" if you know what I mean. The machining is infinitely cheaper if you've got your own machine tools to do it with. I don't, but I can dream can't I?