I have a 337 lincoln I want to run and it came with Hydraulic lifters. I talked to Ken Austin and he said that Crower regrinds cams and does a great job on these but prefers solid lifters. I called Egge and Kanter, looked on epay and they seem to be as rare as hen's teeth. Is it possible to convert hydraulic to solid or am I an idiot. Start flaming..........NOW.
I'm not real sure about this, but, I "believe when you go from hydraulic to solid, it's best to go to a roller set-up. If not a must? I'm interested to see what the pros have to say also...
The problem in the conversion is valve adjustment. You will need adjustable rockers or pushrods to set the valve clearances. I am not familiar with that engines valvetrain so I can't offer the exact fix.
just pull a lifter and check it with a micrometer. usually there is a lifter that will fit, i would check small block ford stuff. your only advantage to the hydraulic over the solid would be the stability of the vavletrain at high rpms. the conversion wouldnt be a difficult process it would just be a hastle to locate parts. it isnt a must to go to solid roller lifters in the conversion as long as you break in the lifters properly you wont risk wipeing out a cam lobe. rollers wouldnt be a bad idea you will make a little power due to reduced friction but still have the stability and little to no valve float when pulling revs. a little research finding parts and im sure you can find everything you need but you may have more trouble locating adjustable rockers.
I won't turn more than 5000 rpm and the 337 is a giant ford flathead with the same style lifter. I was wondering if I could turn hydraulic lifters into solid lifters witha competent machinist, drawings, etc. 337's are the big flathead, no rockers.
I have never made the conversion on the 337 Lincoln. I have done it with the big and small block chevy, as well as the small and big block Dodge. The chevy is a no brainer basically put the solid cam and lifters in and adjust lash, although I have always taken it one step further and installed flow restrictors in the oil galley that feeds the lifters since solid lifters dont require as much oil as the hydraulic lifters, which keeps more oil at the crankshaft when you are really pounding on the throttle. The dodges are similar with the exception that you have to install adjustable rockers or adjustable pushrods. Since you are having so much trouble finding solids for the Lincoln you may have to take one of your hydraulic lifters to a good parts man (they are still out there) and see if there is a lifter from another engine that will fit. If that doesnt work it seems to me I read an article once upon a time that showed how to make hydraulic lifters solid by removing the guts and replacing the hydraulic guts with a solid spacer, although I would think that would be a last resort. If the Lincoln has no provision for valve adjustment you will need to go with adjustable pushrods or adapt an adjustable rocker system from another engine. No matter what you do make sure that you check the pushrod geometry to make sure that the rocker stays centered on the valve stem throughout its travel. Anything can be accomplished with 3M,,, Men, Money, Machines
DOH! why didnt I know that a 337 Lincoln was a flattie. have you looked to see if the Ford flathead adjustable lifters will fit? Another source might be to check some of the ford tractor flatheads, I used to sell an adjustable lifter for those.
If you can take the "lash" out of the hydraulic lifter without plugging the oil holes then you can do it... It's actually a "trick" the mustang guys use that have to run a "factory hydraulic lifter" in a racing class - I'll see if I can't find instructions out there somewhere on how they do it *(there's a couple different ways I've heard) Should be a similar process on yours... OK - can't find anything real quick other than this one on TrickFlow's site: http://www.trickflow.com/articles/stroker_1/
As I recall the truck version of the 337 Lincoln used solid lifters. So it could be done with a set of adjustable lifters.
I haven't found a truck motor yet. I hope I can to at least get lifters and whatever else I need. Know where I can get one? Cheap?
In the late 50's, I converted my 53 Olds motor from hydraulic to solid lifters with a kit from McGurk. The conversion kit for the lifters consisted of a piece of machined steel tubing that replaced the hydraulic guts of the lifter. So, yes any machinist could make a spacer to replace the plunger. You just retain the seat in the lifter for the pushrod. Instead of using adjustable rockers, McGurk sold an adjustable pushrod. It worked fine, but there was no real advantage. In all probability, it probably hurt performance because the profile of a solid cam is different than a hydraulic cam. I made the conversion, because some of the hydraulics were stuck (varnish) because of the crappy oil they had in those days. If this is a flattie, why wouldn't the lifters from a Ford block work? Bob
Are you aware that pound for pound unless rpm is above 7000 a hydraulic cam will outperform a solid of similar specs. Here is why. A solid requires clearance ramps of approx 7 degrees at each end of the lobe to take up the valve lash and set the valve down agai so it doesnt bounce or pound. A hydraulic does not need this so a solid cam needs typically about 14 degrees more duraion to run the same rpm range. (duration controls rpm range) Also with a solid you dont get the lift you thought you did because solids a rated for cam lift at zero lash. (If you dont believe it check a cam catolog) so if you have a cam with say .525" lift but it has .025" lash you get only .500" net lift with the solid. With the hydraulic you get .525" lift (in reality - about -.006" so to be fair .519") Of course above 7000 hydraulics have trouble handling the rpm so a solid is needed there but me, I would give it a second thought. There is no trouble regrinding cams for hydraulic use. I have had it done many many times for vintage motors or experimental grinds. Some crank grinders also have cam service, at least two i have dealt with. Just a thought to let you know some of the ins and outs . D
I once converted a (sorry to say) Nissan OHC V6 used in a Bonneville streamliner, from hydraulic lash adjusters to solid. I did it by trashing the insides of the stock lifter and making spacers. To get the valve clearance I wanted, I had to machine each spacer to the correct lenth for that valve. That ment making one spacer a little short. Puting it togeather. measuring valve clearance. take it apart and make the real spacer the correct lenth. Time consuming, but when I was done the valves stayed adjusted.
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