Swapping cam from one 440 into another

[nigel]

As the title says I'm swapping my full rotating assembly including cam from one 440 that developed a crack in a water jacket into a freshly bored block. I have my new motor on a stand and my old motor beside it and I'm transferring most stuff over excluding piston rings and bearings. My question is about the magical lifters. They broke in nicely with the cam on my first 440. I know that if I pull a cam and keep the lifters in the correct location going back onto the lobe they were removed from they are fine but that is for the block they were removed from. What's everyone's view on keeping the lifters on the lobe they were removed from but in a new block?
I cannot seem to get any info regarding this

 

[Kern Dog]

As long as the lifters spin in the block, I don't think they care where they end up.
This car:

Has a Mopar Performance 280/474 cam and lifters that I bought from a guy across the country. He saved the lifters in the proper order. I put them in the original 383 that I rebuilt. It runs great!

 

[nigel]

Awesome. That's what I like to hear because lifters are cheap but shipping and import duties are killer. Sweet looking ride

 

[Kern Dog]

"Jigsaw" is a ratty looking car that drives great. It looks like I pulled it from sitting in an open field but it sure seems to resonate with a lot of car guys.

 

[Cranky]

Inspect each lifter to make sure they still have a crown and are not dished.....IF.....you find one that is dished, that means the cam needs to replaced too so that will mean, new cam AND lifters.

 

[nigel]

Inspect each lifter to make sure they still have a crown and are not dished.....IF.....you find one that is dished, that means the cam needs to replaced too so that will mean, new cam AND lifters.

Noted 100%. There was never a cam or lifters issue in the motor but everything will be checked before I install it into the new block.

 

[nigel]

"Jigsaw" is a ratty looking car that drives great. It looks like I pulled it from sitting in an open field but it sure seems to resonate with a lot of car guys.

Dude that's what's so cool about the car. I love either super clean or ratty with a sweet clean motor.



I'm trying to insert a video of my own but I'm useless when it comes to computers. It's a 69 mod top satellite with a 67 440 motor bored .030 with flat top pistons, 452 heads, torker 2 intake and a whiplash cam. I have it running open header because I love the sound and haven't gotten sick of it yet. I'm going to eventually do a full exhaust. If the video doesn't play here's a link to the video

 

[Cranky]

Noted 100%. There was never a cam or lifters issue in the motor but everything will be checked before I install it into the new block.

Always inspect everything closely that you plan to reuse.....you just might find something that was about to go bad. Got to know what the new stuff looks like to know what used parts might look like. I'm one of the guys that have always 'reused' used parts but somehow got lots of experience in what new stuff looked like because I'm one of the worlds worst 'users' of used parts lol. New parts went into the stuff I built for others while the used stuff went into my junk but lots of times, my junk went faster and lasted.

 

[nigel]

I've learned over the build of my 440 that new doesn't mean good and I'm not talking about rockauto new. I'm talking spending big money on coils, alternators, transmission parts and the occasional rockauto item. Sometimes the old parts are the best or just better than a lot of new items. I'm hoping that's true for my new/used lifters and by new i mean 1000 miles. Dam motor had a water leak in couldn't find until the crack got big enough. Previous owner must've cooked the motor and put cold water in to get home because I found remnants of some rad weld in the water jacket. That block is welded and good to go but someone dangles a very cheap 77 440 under my nose that I couldn't say no to

 

[QuickBpBp]

The easiest way when checking cam lobes or lifters I found is to look at the lifter faces or the lobes under light. If it's good the light will beam straight across if it's bad the light will bend...

 

[6PKRTSE]

We did a complete re-block on my buddies 69' Camaro SBC 389". Same thing happened to him. We had a colder than usual cold snap come through one fall and dropped below freezing one night and cracked his block. We bored the new block notched the bores as needed and measured everything. Nothing like pistons or anything else warped or changed dimensions surprisingly from expansion. It's been back together and still running about 10 years now with no issues.

 

[khryslerkid]

If you're reusing piston rings why not used cam and lifters.

 

[DanielSlocum]

I would check the lifters for crown as described above. Then install them in the block along with the heads,pushrods,and rocker arms making sure cam and lifter bottoms are properly lubricated. Then mark all the pushrods and rotate the engine by hand about 20 or 30 revolutions. If all the pushrods have rotated at least 1/4 turn then so have the lifters. If they do not rotate,then try again with new lifters. Any lifter that fails to rotate will destroy itself and the cam lobe.

 

[Curiousyellow71]

I think you eluded to it...each lifter is broke in on each cam lobe in the first 20 minutes it was run. If you move a lifter to different lobe it will have to brake in all over again. Most lifters now don't have the material to do that.
If you number your lifters corresponding to the cam and install it the same way it you removed it..it will give you the best chance of success, even if it's in a different block.

 

[fourgearsavoy]

As said make sure the lifters turn when you crank the engine over. I have swapped cam and lifters a few times before and it works good as long as you follow the tips above.

Gus

 

[nigel]

If you're reusing piston rings why not used cam and lifters.

I won't be reusing pistong rings or bearings as the rings are broken in already on the last motor and this is a freshly block. They are super cheap aswell so they will be changed. The reason for reusing lifters is that they are already broken in to the cam and I think everyone knows how stressful that can be with modern materials even if the lifters rotate and using the correct oil. That was something I don't want to do for a while again

 

[Geoff 2]

If it was my engine, I would have the lifters re-faced.

 

[nigel]

Unfortunately that's not an option here in Ireland. Machines hops are very limited to the work they do. If you recommend defacing lifters that would mean buy a new set which if that's the recommendation I'll do it. It just works out around $400 for a set of lifters for me. A lot of money but if it should be done I'll do it

 

[khryslerkid]

I won't be reusing pistong rings or bearings as the rings are broken in already on the last motor and this is a freshly block. They are super cheap aswell so they will be changed. The reason for reusing lifters is that they are already broken in to the cam and I think everyone knows how stressful that can be with modern materials even if the lifters rotate and using the correct oil. That was something I don't want to do for a while again

My apologies, I stand corrected. I miss read the "for exception of".

I'd have no problem running the used cam and matched set of lifters.

Carry on!

 

[nigel]

No need to apologise I'm getting positive feedback regarding reusing the lifters on the matching lobes which is good but hearing from others about resurfacing them is making me want to buy new ones. I haven't pulled the lifters from the old motor yet. I'll get to that at the weekend and do a full inspection on them. Also picking up my new parts washer Friday so I'm really looking forward to that