Solid Lifter Differences

[Walter R. Malik]

I must have confused you. I never referred to the lifter "having oil in it". However the groove width and depth does have a part in metering oil. That's what I was referring to.

The confusion is not coming from here.
AGAIN ... the width & depth of a MOPAR "dumb-bell" style solid flat lifter has absolutely NO PART in metering oil.

[Walter R. Malik]

I think it's fair to say the LA inherited the Polys wonky lifter bank angle.

Thanks
Randy

I don't know if the poly engine has the wonky pushrod angles that the LA engines suffer from.

EXACTLY ... the blocks are interchangeable except for the head dowel locations. And, The "Magnum" has no drilled oil passageway from the cam bearing to the decks; (but, they can be drilled).

[Geoff2]

I doubt the blocks are interchangeable because the cams are not because of different lifter bore angles in the Poly block.

[Walter R. Malik]

I doubt the blocks are interchangeable because the cams are not because of different lifter bore angles in the Poly block.

Those blocks ARE interchangeable ... the lifter bore angles ARE the same and the camshaft has exactly the same dimensions except for the lobe orientation of intakes & exhausts.

[benno318]

from my experiences the poly blocks do have more of a "cutout" in the top of the block/deck area for where the intake pushrods are aimed more of an angle to the rocker arms than the la. lifter angle is the same.

cams interchange size wise but as walter said the lobe orientation is different due to the even port layout - no siamesed exhaust valves on the poly.

fwiw bloody terrible blocks for core shift - i have sonic tested dozens of the bastards!!

[CamKing]

We sell the AMC flat tappet lifter(#998) for SB Mopar engines.
It has pushrod oiling, so if you don't want to oil thru the pushrods, you need to run solid tips on the pushrods. We EDM a .024" oiling hole in the face of the lifters, to oil the cam lobes. We've been running these lifters in Circle-Track SB mopars, for 30+ years.

[PRH]

In the mid-80’s I installed my first SFT cam in my 440.
Racer Brown STX-19 and a set of what was marketed by Milodon as their “light weight” solid lifters.
I didn’t know it at the time, but they were just the dumb-bell lifters.

Essentially no oil pressure with that combo(the gauge barely moved off the peg).
The big oil band cut out was creating a path from the oil gallery out past the bottom of the lifter when they were on the base circle.
Replaced them with the smooth body MP lifters....... oil pressure restored.

The only time I ever used them after that was in a slant 6 that I rebuilt...... as that’s what came out of it.

[Krooser]

Great replies... and I always thought Mr Malik was just a SBF guy!!!

[Walter R. Malik]

Great replies... and I always thought Mr Malik was just a SBF guy!!!

I am pretty much a Ford guy these days. Being in this business for 50+ years I have built and raced just about any O.E.M. automotive engine. With some brands I can only remember so much and that was from years ago. New things with those brands have certainly evolved over the years.
I began my racing in the sixties with a slant 6 and small block Mopars. Then a big block Chevrolet. Moving to the seventies was small block Chevrolets, a Cosworth Vega, again small block Mopars and AMC V8's. The 80's saw Oldsmobiles V8's and Quad 4's, Pontiacs, and again small block & big Chevrolets. Those years in the 70's and 80's at Holley I was involved with a lot of different racing of all brands. The 90's were again small block Chevrolets, all the Mopars including the V-10's. From 2000 onward it has been mostly FE's, big and small block Fords.

That is the "cliff note" version of my engine building biography.
I asked a lot of questions and learned a lot from many people throughout the industry and I thank them silently every day.

[Tom Walker]

That is a lot of experience with a lot of engines for a lot of time, that is really cool and a serious resume. You are always a vast resource of information and experience on this forum. Appreciate what you share and know.