Lifters from Hot Heads - Concerned

Scooter man..listen to your little voice.. if you dont feel right about them send them back and get diffrent ones..TRUST THE VOICE !!!!!!!!

 

The typeface (font) on the box screams 'Hecho in China' - nobody else uses that font. I thought that all products had to show their country of manufacture. Is there a barcode on there? if so you might want to look up Chinese barcodes at www.snopes.com. Even that is not a dead sure indicator but may bring you closer - the truth is out there....

http://www.snopes.com/politics/business/barcodes.asp

 

I have great business dealings with Hot Heads and Bob for years. It is a mom and pop shop, so you get the positives and negs of that, but I go for the old school hotrodder mom and pop shop over the corporations any day. Bob has saved me tons of time/money by taking the time to talk to me that larger companies can't or won't do.

Why don't you just call him and tell him you only like to use USA made products and ask him if his are? If they are not, he can probably just sell you more expensive higher quality USA made ones.

Wil
www.sakowskimotors.com

 

I'm sure the import "hardening" is in question as well.

 

I don't know where those Hotheads lifters are made or who made them but I do know that I have been using them in my 392 Chrysler without any problems. That's my real world experience based on actual use of the product. The car gets driven too. I put about 600 miles on it in one weekend last month.

 

Cool, that's what he was also asking for.

There ya go Scooter, use them, if they don't work, hunt this guy down and kill him



.

 

Scooter, you don't wanna use those. Look close, down on the left. It's right there...



See it????



Made in Cambodia?!!!

 

That's nonsense. They don't make any cams in Bodia...

 

<HR style="COLOR: #e5e5e5; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #e5e5e5" SIZE=1> Well, from the close up of the "Made in Camdoia" gag photo, I'd return them...NOT for the phoney "Made in Cambodia", but for the pits in the lifter body, and lousey turning of the oil groove! As was said before, about the printing on the cheap white cardboard box, they were made "off-shore". Get the Egge lifters, and sleep worry free, or PM me your address, and I'll send you a box of 16 NOS DeSoto Adventurer lifters...same size as what you need...gratis...

 

Wow! I didnt even see the pits and such until the gag photo.

 

I get alot of "You know, I dont know's"...on the non typical questions I ask.

but Im probabally a tad off on some shit.

did get an adapter and flywheel and it looks nice.

most of my cake is going to egge...for internals i just like there stuff.

hope they got the high grade product....cause daddys gonna need a fat hit soon.

 

Max Sr. from H & H 4 bangers and flatheads

There are only a couple of US companys that make lifters. Topline bought Johnson a few years back, Eaton and Standydine ( if they are still around) and Isky. or Comp Cam

Your pic shows Import lifters and there is without a doubt a problem with metal and hardness, especially case depth of the hardness, let alone the convex radius of the base.

We will no longer use Sealed Power or Federal Mogul Pistons as of approx 1 month ago ( could be more ) they are having all their pistons made in INDIA, and you talk about a bag of shit, it is incredible.

And a lot of mfg's and resellers are going to India without telling, as they think this small hot rod industry will not notice and worst of all they are trying to justify in their own mind and yours that it is OK or they do a better job, such symantical BS.

Beware of all manufactures, WE the consumer ( and as a engine builder we fall in the same seat as you ) MUST ASK where the product is made.

Engine tech is a rebox company.

We made V/8 60 adjustable lifters here in the US and yes they were expensive BUT they were CORRECT, as well as our SCoT Blowers are 100% US components.

Certain countries are capable of and are leaders in the industry of manufacturing and there pricing and quality reflect it.

Rembember on Monday he was making Woks, Tuesday Pistons, Wednsday Pressure Relief Valves, Thursday electric motors, Friday Egg Rolls.

On 20/20 with an under cover camera in a chinesse factory the foreman was all over a worker for production volume of a 3/4 hp electric motor while she was assembling 1/2hp electric motors, and as the camera was rolling she simply reached in the bin and pulled a 3/4 hp sticker and started putting it on the electric motors on her assembly line. TRUE STORY.

 

madmax: so where would you recommend people buy hemi hydraulic lifters? Got any pictures of what a good lifter is, as opposed to a bad lifter. How do you measure hardness on a new box of lifters?

 

BWAHAHAHAHAH!!! Scotty!!! You rule! I never noticed that untile now...

OH! Those aren't pits! There is some oil residue on there that is just casting a funky shadow. The surface finish is just fine. No guesses onthe hardness though.

 

WOW! Thank you for adding this! I appreciate your input on the subject! You guys are in a similar business, just dealing with a different type of motor. You have my attention!!

 

ALSO! Thank you to Skirv to adding his take on the subject! I appreciate this also.

How long ago did you purchase the lifters?

I feel at this juncture, I will be making a call to Bob on Monday and I'm going to ask him straight up what's going on with these lifters. I will probably be sending them back unless he can offers me some kind of guarantee these are not chinese (or apparently India) made.

Thanks for all your input everyone. I will post more as I learn more. in the mean time... out to the shop to get some work done on the 331 block!

Cheers!

 

Scooter, this is a really good discussion but maybe you should put yourself in Bob's shoes for a minute. HHH has a good reputation for knowing hemis and these are the parts they sell. He doesn't have a reputation for selling junk.

Now think about it from his angle. You don't have a specific beef with the component but seem to be digging and digging. They already gave you a "manufacturer". HHH might not buy direct. The manufacturer may sub out the actual manufacturing work. Those might not originally be a hemi lifter and he's not giving away a profitable secret. At what point would you become standoff-ish?

Don't go thinking I worship everything hot hemi heads. Not true. They have issues like all vendors do. But it just doesn't seem they're getting a fair shake.

You obviously don't trust these lifters. That cardboard ain't doing them any favors. Maybe the next phone call should revolve around your options for higher quality lifters instead of witch hunting on these. Realistically, you don't have a lot of data to say they're bad.

Just go with your gut and step up to something else, you don't want the engine to have to earn your trust.

Good luck!

 

Really, I got a couple of 100k plus motors that say different, flat tappet motors if put together decently and maintained will go 150k-200k pretty easy...

 

It's just an observation, running through the junkyards in the 70's, that most of the 50's cars in there had 30k to 50k miles on them.

I'm sure there's always an exception.

There's a reason Detroit ditched those lifters.

 

A lot of it has to do with keeping up with the Jones'. We are a consumer society and are conditioned to want the latest greatest. People don't keep cars for more than a few years most of the time.

As for the lifters, well they call that technological advancement. It was less friction and more power.

 

I agree. Scooter, many of us have been following this project. I think it would behoove you to move up a notch to a known quantity. I think that is your gut feeling as well?

 

A relaible lifter can be purchased from Isky, Melling or Comp Cam.

As for hardness, this can only be done with a Rockwell test, can not be done with the file, scrape theory or method.

Always ask the supplier for the brand and or the source of origin, as most straight up suppliers will tell you, and if the answer is I don not know, but they are good ones, walk away.

Good luck Max sr.

if you need any help or sourcing give us a call at the shop and I will try and direct you if I can. 1-818-248-2347,

We do 4 Bangers and Flatheads for the last 40 years but still do customs and have some sources still arpund.

 

Max, thanks for your input here! Got a banger on the back burner that may need your help some day.

 

Clacklefest: funniest darn thing I've read all day!

...and a big wow to hear from Max Sr. I didn't know that about Federal Mogul, I'll be passing that information along to my bro-in-law...

 

Ever since Federal Mogul got rid of their performance manager a few years ago, while they were going through some severe financial difficulties, they have continually moved production offshore for both standard & performance parts...and yes, some of their parts are made in India. I have the personal opinion (and it is no more than that) that the std. rebuilder parts offered by F-M, specifically cast pistons, are no longer to be trusted. I have seen significant deviances in machining tolerances.

BTW, Comp Cams does not make their own hydraulic or solid lifters (flat tappet style)...they rebox...same with their timing sets, many of which are built by Cloyes. For example, the Comp 3110 BBC double roller set @ $50.25 is the same set, repackaged, as the Cloyes 9-3110 @ $93.95 (Summit pricing). You have to be careful about this now, as A) Comp has changed product line "names" & B) there are a lot of suffix letters added...for ex. the 9-3110T is not directly comparable to the 9-3110 or the Comp 3110.

There is a LOT of repackaging that goes on in the aftermarket parts industry, ESPECIALLY when you look at "vintage" engines....sometimes even direct competitors will buy from one another, because the market is not sufficient to justify making new tooling to produce a particular product. So they purchase & repackage to keep their WDs & dealers happy, and to offer "complete" coverage. You see this with gasket sets and exhaust system parts quite a bit.

 

Just another reason to run a solid roller cam... unless your building a streetrod

 

Okay... here's the update. I finally got a chance to call Hot Heads and my faith has been restored.

I talked to Eric and just asked him straight up if these are made in China. He grabbed Bob's attention and Bob said they are made in America components.

So! That's great news!

I know some of you were thinking "what the hell is this guy bitchin' about?" Just trying to help. Sorry if some of you thought this was a "nit-pick fest". I simply wanted to know where my money was going and who I can depend on as a vendor of early Hemi parts. For those of you who are building or have built early Hemis, you know that there are not that many vendors of parts for these things.

Now, since all this has happened, I've decided to go another route. 345 DeSoto made me a SCREAMIN' deal on some NOS lifters and I would much rather go that direction. I will be sending these back, saving them for one of the other motors, or passing them on. Which ever comes first.

I appreciate everyone's input and would also like to thank whoever put the amusing tags at the bottom! Where did those come from!? HAHA!

 

American components? Like recycled 83 Buicks melted down in China!?

 

HAHA! Wait...

 

american components assembled in china?