direct lube lifters

[steve cowan]

hi guys,
i have never used directlube lifters before,i just put together a junk heap 327
comp solid flat tappet cam,howards direct lube solid lifters
when i hand primed the oil pump on the engine stand i found it slow to prime initially and there is not as much oil getting to the rockers as i am used to seeing,i would like to say that common sense tells me that the 0.021 thou hole in base of lifter to lube the cam lobe directly,i am interested in what you guys think of the direct lube approach
AND HOW DO WE GAUGE OR RATE AN ACCEPTABLE AMOUNT OF OIL GETTING TO THE VALVE SPRING TO COOL AND LUBE ETC
i have had the engine running for a couple of weeks now with no problems,
010 2 bolt block
327 LJ steel crank
Z28 dome pistons stock chev conrods
new std mellings oil pump with soft spring 50lb oil pressure
comp castcore flat tappet 244-252 @ 0.050''
555 lift intake with 1.6 rocker
540 lift exh with 1.5 rocker
110lsa in at 106 ICL 4/7swap
howards direct lube lifters
dart 200 sportsman 2 stock with valve job,
comp springs,retainers to suit
scorpion rockers,crane studgirdle,5/16,0.080'' comp pushrods
rocker geometry set up at 90deg mid lift for pushrod length
good sweep on the valve
broke in cam with 1.3 rockers,could of done with a slightly shorter pushrod for rocker geometry but did not have any to suit in 5/16''
ported vic jnr intake
830 annular carb
i think it will make 420-430hp i have asked for approx hp for this combo before some guys here say 440hp
my question is about oil to valve train
i dont have an issue,just looking for some information
thanks

steve c

[cjperformance]

If you are getting oil up top with a hand prime it will be fine when running.
Edm lifters do of course lose some oil onto the lobe and when hand priming, i hand prime with just a speed brace, and yes do take longer to get oil up top at this time.
Once running i have not noticed any big difference in oiling at the rocker/spring in applications where there are no oil restrictors to the lifter galleries.

[mdabbott2009]

I did a derby motor with those same lifters. It took forever to prime well ok maybe couple mins to get oil out of every rocker but it held 50-55 with std oil pump never has had a problem with cam or lifters now head gaskets that’s another story!!!

[Newold1]

Just to make sure everything is fine as it should be with good oil pump and pressures, with a valve cover off check after the engine is warm and idling that you are getting a flow of oil up thru the rocker and over to the valve top and retainer. Roller rockers need and use less oil than stamped rockers but the other job of oil upstairs is to cool valve springs. You can also carefully record your valve lash settings warm and then check them after some running times and make sure clearances are not opening up indicating valve train and tappet wear. Should be just fine.

[CamKing]

Hopefully, you're not running oil restrictors to the lifter galley

[piston guy]

I haven't got past the "Z28 dome" pistons with a 327 crank. 1.800 does not equal 1.675 by my dinosaur math. Must have been 327 pistons with a Z28 dome.

[steve cowan]

hi guys,
i have never used directlube lifters before,i just put together a junk heap 327
comp solid flat tappet cam,howards direct lube solid lifters
when i hand primed the oil pump on the engine stand i found it slow to prime initially and there is not as much oil getting to the rockers as i am used to seeing,i would like to say that common sense tells me that the 0.021 thou hole in base of lifter to lube the cam lobe directly,i am interested in what you guys think of the direct lube approach
AND HOW DO WE GAUGE OR RATE AN ACCEPTABLE AMOUNT OF OIL GETTING TO THE VALVE SPRING TO COOL AND LUBE ETC
i have had the engine running for a couple of weeks now with no problems,
010 2 bolt block
327 LJ steel crank
Z28 dome pistons stock chev conrods
new std mellings oil pump with soft spring 50lb oil pressure
comp castcore flat tappet 244-252 @ 0.050''
555 lift intake with 1.6 rocker
540 lift exh with 1.5 rocker
110lsa in at 106 ICL 4/7swap
howards direct lube lifters
dart 200 sportsman 2 stock with valve job,
comp springs,retainers to suit
scorpion rockers,crane studgirdle,5/16,0.080'' comp pushrods
rocker geometry set up at 90deg mid lift for pushrod length
good sweep on the valve
broke in cam with 1.3 rockers,could of done with a slightly shorter pushrod for rocker geometry but did not have any to suit in 5/16''
ported vic jnr intake
830 annular carb
i think it will make 420-430hp i have asked for approx hp for this combo before some guys here say 440hp
my question is about oil to valve train
i dont have an issue,just looking for some information
thanks

steve c

If you are getting oil up top with a hand prime it will be fine when running.
Edm lifters do of course lose some oil onto the lobe and when hand priming, i hand prime with just a speed brace, and yes do take longer to get oil up top at this time.
Once running i have not noticed any big difference in oiling at the rocker/spring in applications where there are no oil restrictors to the lifter galleries.

hi craig,
i only use a speed brace to prime the oil system as well,dont really like the drill setup primer,i have an old distributor i welded a 3/4 bolt head and when it is in the car i use an air ratchet ,seems to work ok for me,i kinda figured that a bit of oil would bleed off on the cam with that lifter design
i have not used a flat tappet for about 20 years always roller stuff but it was fun and i like the breakin rockers 1.3 howards kinda expensive but dont have to change valve springs out in the car so thats a bonus i recon

Just to make sure everything is fine as it should be with good oil pump and pressures, with a valve cover off check after the engine is warm and idling that you are getting a flow of oil up thru the rocker and over to the valve top and retainer. Roller rockers need and use less oil than stamped rockers but the other job of oil upstairs is to cool valve springs. You can also carefully record your valve lash settings warm and then check them after some running times and make sure clearances are not opening up indicating valve train and tappet wear. Should be just fine.

thanks newold,
broke in the cam as stated,done a lash check and i had previously set lash around 0.012'' as mike (camking) had kindly advised due to the 1.3 rockers
lash was consistant so i was happy there was no dramas,i wanted to leave the 1.3 rockers ON and drive the car for a bit but as stated i was not completely happy with rocker geometry aka sweep.it was a little over to the exhaust hence me thought could of used a shorter pushrod but i have a few sets of 3/8'' pushrods but nothing in 5/16'' but i was happy to call it good,so i changed out to 1.6-1.5 rockers and have run the engine and driven and done lash check,there is oil getting upstairs and on every rocker as well

Hopefully, you're not running oil restrictors to the lifter galley

mike,
no restrictors,i stopped doing that 25 years ago LOL

I haven't got past the "Z28 dome" pistons with a 327 crank. 1.800 does not equal 1.675 by my dinosaur math. Must have been 327 pistons with a Z28 dome.

pistonguy,
i put up a picture of the piston,sorry i cant remember the part number,the crank,pistons and rods were given to me by a family friend,they had been under his bench for 30 years but he had the good sense to wrap everything up so corrosion was minimal,the crank measured up good the only thing i found was 1 piston was on the rod the wrong way round,i had a junk block that i honed,this thing has a lot of piston to bore and rattles like a son of a gun when cold hence the name JUNK HEAP 327
it has cost me very little to get it going only the price to get the heads cleaned up valve job etc,kind of inspired from the FLOOR SWEEPINGS THREAD from tony and the other guys sharing there storys,hopefully the engine will hold together this year for our street series once a month at willowbank raceway and i think it should run high 11s in my 3500 pound streeter,the sportsman 2 heads are stock unported,and i have just recieved a dart 170 runner bare head and some manley valves
i want to use the 170 head as a test head ( i am not a head porter but i have my own flowbench)just trying to learn and if i can i will put some of the 170 head ideas into the 200cc heads,hopefully some guys here on speedtalk will give me some ideas and help along the way,i want to see were JUNK HEAP 327 can go as far as it can with the dart sportsman 2
thanks to all that helped
steve c

327 sbc 005.JPG

[piston guy]

I feel better now . Speed Pro 327 dome part. Z28 was different.