Our 1950 Chevy 3100 with a 216 has solids, so does my O/T Dodge Cummins. Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Solids on both my Jimmy 302 and Chevy 235 inline sixes. My Buick 322 nailhead came out of the factory with juice lifters but I've located an Isky street/strip cam and a set of Buick Export adjustable rockers for the rebuild.
One of the neat aspects of the OEM rocker arm adjusters on the Poly 318 and slant 6 is that they do not use a lock nut but instead rely on a greater percentage of thread between the adjuster screw and rocker arm threads. I'm not sure how many other brands or engine models did this but it's pretty slick and makes for faster adjustments. - EM
I ran them on one of my stock cars with a L88 cam in it. I'd adjust them every 4 or so races. But never had a set on the street... so far.
I run solids in my bike. If I find the cam I want and can pay for it I'll be running solids in the 355. Why do you ask pray tell?
The 351 Cleveland in my '50 Coupe has solid lifters,this is the first overhead valve engine I have had with solids. HRP
Many may think they're good at setting lifters w/a feeler gauge , have someone w,/ a. P&G check your work sometime , it will probably open your eyes.....
solid lifter and a Duntov cam in my 283 .. nothing sounds better than that ! loved that 35 Ford 5 window.. still around... had heard that the owner was getting away of the solid lifter stuff and going hydraulic...It was fun..
I started playing feeler gauge when I was about 5 or 6, learned from a master and I am not pretty good I an damned good and I will challenge your P&G any time you like. Granted you can only be as good as your gauges I suppose, but even at that a few tenths (.0001) won't make any difference you can tell in 1320 feet. You all are way overthinking this. Its just a damned old car.
My experience is that they are not that hard to deal with. Just make sure you are on the heal of the cam and if you don't have a fell for it get yourself a go no go feeler gauge. I am on 24 hour nurse duty here or I would offer to ride down and help you through it the first time. You got my number right? Call if you get lost. Want a laugh? When I was about 7 or 8 the Ol' Man got a car in with a 12 cylinder euro motor in it. He was in the habit of pulling whatever car clear to the back of the shop and putting it in second then bumping it backward with his knee and setting the valves as he went. The 12 cylinder car was out the door before he got finished and he said he would never ever work on it or another like it again as long as he lived.
I have no issue with solid cams, ran lots of them. Trick is a good solid valve train. Best I ever had was a 406" sbc, adjusted a few times, till she got broke in. Then did annual checks, always right on, only turned it to 7000. My new BBC will has a solid roller as well, with T&D shaft rockers, I don't expect to have to adjust too often.
You're both right. Back in the Day, the story goes, P&G wanted to get Ed Iskenderian to sell the gappers in their catalog. Ed had one of his mechanics adjust all the valves on an engine on the dyno a couple thousandths off on the high or low side give or take and they did a pull, and then again after using the P&G gapper. No difference. Ed didn't put the P&G gapper in his catalog. The difference then was they weren't using high mileage or worn parts. When the rockers aren't worn a gauge works fine. But a flat feeler gauge will give inaccurate lash once a pocket forms on the rocker tip face. That's when you hear solids clattering like a Kingfisher. The feeler gauge measures .018" but it's really .025" ; I'm not trying to win any races, this is just a hobby, but the gapper makes for a smoother running motor it is definitely noticeable. To each his own.
I was raised and taught by an automotive machinist. I don't neglect my motors that much. If the ends of the valves are that worn it needs a valve grind anyway and touching the tips of the valves is part of a valve job.
I'm with Gary.... 'Back in the day', if you wanted performance solids were your only choice. Almost all factory hi-po motors came with them, and the aftermarket could supply them for motors that didn't have them. The hydraulics of the day were RPM-limited to generally under 6K, sometimes even less. It wasn't until the late '60s that hydraulics were improved enough that 'performance hydraulic' cams started coming into general usage. Solid lifters were almost a required upgrade if you even had pretentions towards performance. I owned my fair share; besides the OEM motors (mostly Y-blocks), I also owned at one time or another a SBC with a 30-30 Duntov, and multiple FE and Windsor Fords converted to solids. I can't say that I ever particularly enjoyed setting the valves; most needed to be set hot, and the mess that usually ensued took the fun out of it. By the '70s hydraulics were improved enough that on anything other than a race motor, you didn't have to take a big 'performance' hit to run them. The advent of hydraulic roller cams in the late '80s (plus the general availability of roller rockers for most motors) opened up a much larger 'tuning window' in terms of cam profiles and you could now have your cake and eat it too. These days with my bad back, I simply don't have the physical ability to lean over a fender for the length of time needed to adjust valves. And with the performance available with modern hydraulic rollers, I don't have to....
My 327/375 HP motor in my '40 coupe has solid lifters, and my son's Model A with a trans America Series 302 and Hilborn FI has them.
Not the valve stem, the rocker arm face wears unevenly. These were junk and got replaced, along with the rocker shafts.
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