IN SHOP CAMSHAFT ANALYSIS Our shop has had a cam analyzer for over 28 years, so I had forgotten how we checked and identified cams in the past. Recently I was asked by another shop how to verify which of three customer supplied cams to install in the customer’s...

PULLING PUSHRODS APART We run the valve train geometry on every single engine we build. Every once in a while we get in a time bind and need pushrods ASAP. It is for this reason we keep extra sets of push rods for the popular engines on hand. For emergencies, we keep...

MOCK LIFTERS For hydraulic lifter applications, I speed up the process for checking pushrod length, pre- load and geometry by using “solid” lifters. I disassemble a lifter and load it up with either epoxy or Plaster of Paris to position the plunger in a permanent...

NOISY, BUT NOT ALWAYS DEFECTIVE VALVE LIFTERS Hydraulic valve lifters are probably the most precision machined part inside any engine. It does not take much to cause one to operate incorrectly. In this case we are not referring to lifter failure due to metal to metal...

HYDRAULIC ROLLER VALVE LIFTER PRIMING NOTICE (From G.M. tech bulletin) Notice: Ensure each valve lifter is filled with clean engine oil and the valve lifter does not tip over (plunger down) before the installation of the valve lifters. The loss of oil in the valve...

AMC DISTRIBUTOR GEARS MATCHED SET Where they may work if replaced individually, the failure rate increases greatly if you don’t replace both the distributor gear and the camshaft drive gear on an AMC V8 as a matched set. There are at least 3 versions of gears, each...