NOS Lifters advice needed

[roadrunnerh]

Hey Everybody,

I scored some USA made NOS Elgin lifters on eBay, and they arrived today. They are new and look really good. The old cardboard box even has survived well, and each lifter was boxed. Who knows how long they were on a shelf? But, I saw what my 2019 Comp Cams lifters looked like after very little run time. My machinist strongly recommended OLDER stock hydraulic flat lifters.

These are going in my 383 this summer. I was thinking I should soak them in oil for a while.
What say you?

 

[DanielSlocum]

I say take them all apart,clean them thoroughly inside and out with mineral spirits,naptha,or gasoline. Make sure that the little check valve at the bottom of the plunger is not stuck.
Lube them lightly with oil and re assemble. Dont soak them or fill them with oil. If you dont do this.....some will likely not want to pump up but will just hemorage oil out the top instead.
Also,polish off any minor surface rust before dis assembling them. They will have dried and/or gummed up ancient oil inside. They should at least partially fill with oil when you prime the oiling system on a new engine;best done before installing the intake. Good luck.

 

[ckessel]

Make sure the face has a radius on it so it spins when in motion. One of the lifter/cam killing problems. None or wrong, same on the cams.

 

[Geoff 2]

If they are pre 1995, they should be ok. Certainly much more likely to survive than today's crap.

Do not dismantle. Soak in kerosene & push down on plunger a few times, good to go....