More lifter block questions !!!

[doc308]

OK--I just got a pair of lifter blocks ( the $89 , black ones on ebay) . These are the late type for hydraulic lifters and I'm going to use them in my '48 with solid lifters.
Q1---the rear block won't set into place--ie it's hanging up somewhere and it's hard to determine where. I could swear that someone recently posted a similar issue with a new block and fixed it by grinding somewhere. I've searched , but can't find the post. Does anyone recall this or know the post?

Q2--I have later gaskets also--ie the ones with the oil feed hole. Can these be used or will I be asking for an oil leak if I do?

Q3-- given the age of the engine and mating of a somewhat different block, should I use gasket sealer with the blocks/gaskets or should they be bolted up dry? If so, would a particular type be recommended?

[51Hog]

Can't help you with the fitment.
If you do not have a hole in the machined surface of your engine block where the base goes, then it does not matter whether the gasket has a hole or not.
I use black ultra hi-temp silicone (VERY SPARINGLY)on most all of my gaskets. I lay the gasket on a piece of clean cardboard and spread a less than paper thin layer of silicone on one side (almost as if you were trying to wipe it off). Then I turn it over and spread on the other side. I pick it up and clean any silicone out of any of the holes then smooth up where my big fingers have messed up the see through layer. When the parts are torqued down, there is NO squeeze out to later get into the oil system. I have never had a problem. I even used it on the outside of my intake nipples at the head last year and it held for the season until I repaired the nipple installation.

[VT]

It's over on Repop > Solid Lifters Review (on page 2)

vtguide02yo2.jpg

Note: I would have needed to grind off the 3/16" line of over-casting. It made contact with the rear cylinder base and prevented the guide from seating level on the deck.
2. Don't use the hydr. gaskets w/the hole. Use the no-hole base gaskets from J&P #15-0236. They sell them in pairs.
3. Do a flat check of the deck and blocks if your equipped. I don't know what that would take, but no sealer should be used.
Any gasket sealer is a mess and one you'll have to clean off one day. Only a light coat? yea, but still when you tighten those screws - you don't know if any sealer's going to squish into a hole. Plus, you're going to seal only the tappet side of the gasket? Then what? Oil seeps under the deck surface? Seal both sides of the gasket? Oh boy, it's stuck now. Sealer's are a mess on tappet blocks. You'd probably pop-off an ear getting the guides off again.

[doc308]

Thanks 51 and VT ! I tnink I have the same issue with my new rear lifter block.

[doc308]

Another q---The "3/16 " line of overcasting" referred to in the picture--is this overcasting on the lifter block or are you referring to the casting inside the the engine case itself ? I just exchanged the blocks and the second set does the same thing--ie , the rear block gets hung up somewhere.

[Panacea]

Doc, look at VT's picture, do you see the jagged edge along the bottom, near the oil passage? if that touches the case behind the block it may interfere, just file it off a bit around the back side of the block...Mike

[VT]

yea, do what mike said. See if that's the problem. Paint everything on the tappet block contact surfaces with magic marker. Paint the inside of the case bore for the tappet blocks black with magic marker (as dy-kem), and the edge of the case below the cylinder around the tappet block's neighborhood - then insert the tapper block as far as you can and then remove it. Look for scrape marks. Wonder. Fit. Wonder. Paint some more magic marker. Remove and wonder. Think and wonder. Get your head down to tappet block level. Watch as you insert the tapper block. see where hangs up and wonder.
Come back and report your findings.

[doc308]

Thanks, again, VT--and for the pm as well.