tappet screen replacement

[sprucecreek]

Hi Folks. I finally got around to replacing the tappet screen on my 56 Pan (yeah, I know...should have done it earlier) and the kit I had did not seem to be a good fit. First the housing did not have the notch in it to hold in the screen, and I see the service guide indicates two cork washers underneath but the kit only had one (but it was thick). When I tried to put the kit in, the plug would not tighten up all the way. I looked at the old one, and the housing was jammed in the plug sufficiently that the assembly was shorter. So I put in the new cork washer and new screen, but used the old plug and tappet assembly, which seemed to tighten up alright. Has anyone else had this issue? Perhaps I need to buy my parts from another supplier...

[RUBONE]

There is generally no need to replace the screen, it is infinitely cleanable (the reason it is made to come apart), only the gaskets normally need replacement. Nothing in it wears out, the aftermarket ones are just used to replace missing ones that are lost or left out of older engines. And like most other aftermarket junk, they don't fit.

[sprucecreek]

Yeah, the aftermarket stuff seems to have problems with fitting, no matter what it is. The old screen looked to be aftermarket and it was sort of scrunched up, so it needed replaced. It would be nice to track down the OEM version, but I think that bus left the station a long time ago. Thanks for the reply.