Who regrinds the lifter face crown on used lifters

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Ron Miller
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Who regrinds the lifter face crown on used lifters

Post by Ron Miller »

I have a few used sets of older solid SB-BB Chevy lifters. Do you Guys know of anyone out there that will regrind the lifter face crown to the 35 degree face radius and add the small oiling hole to? What’s the price? And who dose it?
Thanks for looking, =D>
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Re: Who regrinds the lifter face crown on used lifters

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Re: Who regrinds the lifter face crown on used lifters

Post by jed »

Read this thread for starters. viewtopic.php?t=46101
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Re: Who regrinds the lifter face crown on used lifters

Post by i82much »

i’d like to ask why, out of curiosity? ive never heard of this but i’m intrigued by the idea.
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Re: Who regrinds the lifter face crown on used lifters

Post by 1980RS »

One day at a NHRA Stock racers house, we all got into how flat tappet cams and lifters have a huge failure rate these days. This old guy piped up and said "I've had none fail" so I asked what his secret was. He told us that the problem he thinks is the cam lobes have an edge on them that is too sharp then gouge the bottoms of the lifters and take them out, so he takes a die grinder and rounds them off. Must work, he said he has broken in over 150 cams over the last 20 years and has not lost one of them. Could it be that simple? I guess I will have to try it next time.

I do like the idea of regrinding old "good" lifters for reuse. Back when I had no money I used to take lifters that looked good and polished the bottoms with 600 wet and dry paper that had solvent on them. Must have worked ok as we ran a lot of used cams with different used lifters that way, but when you have no money you do what you have to to go racing.
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Re: Who regrinds the lifter face crown on used lifters

Post by Truckedup »

77cruiser wrote: Sun Nov 28, 2021 6:55 pm Maybe these guys.

https://mizpahprecision.com/pricing.htm
I used them, nice workmanship
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Re: Who regrinds the lifter face crown on used lifters

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Ron Miller wrote: Sun Nov 28, 2021 5:15 pm I have a few used sets of older solid SB-BB Chevy lifters. Do you Guys know of anyone out there that will regrind the lifter face crown to the 35 degree face radius and add the small oiling hole to? What’s the price? And who dose it?
Thanks for looking, =D>
Ron
I sent mine to Schneider Cams and had them do it. The cost was reasonable and the turnaround was quick. They look and measure like OE lifters.
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Re: Who regrinds the lifter face crown on used lifters

Post by PackardV8 »

Ron Miller wrote: Sun Nov 28, 2021 5:15 pm I have a few used sets of older solid SB-BB Chevy lifters. Do you Guys know of anyone out there that will regrind the lifter face crown to the 35 degree face radius and add the small oiling hole to? What’s the price? And who dose it?
Thanks for looking, =D>
Ron
Ron, in a technical discussion, it's always best to use correct terminology. Most likely, you're asking for a 35 inch (35") spherical radius, not 35 degree.

Several shops routinely regrind solid and hydraulic lifters, but few are equipped to add the oiling hole.
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Re: Who regrinds the lifter face crown on used lifters

Post by plovett »

I had Oregon Cams resurface my solid flat tappet lifters many years ago. I used them with a new camshaft. They worked great. I don't know if they can add the lifter hole. Mine already had the EDM hole. I had Crower put the hole in my lifters.

http://www.oregoncamshaft.com/
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Re: Who regrinds the lifter face crown on used lifters

Post by agertz1 »

Ron, "35 deg. face" ? Could that be 35" radius+/- instead ? While on subject, smaller the lifter diameter, less lift per degree of lobe. If this is so,
why only that radius is acceptable ? Reportedly , the problem is edge of lifter will gouge the lobe ? Why not use a slightly smaller radius to prevent ?
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Re: Who regrinds the lifter face crown on used lifters

Post by jsgarage »

Be a bit careful with this. One of our small local engine builders got in a bind with a customer that showed up for a 'simple' valve grind on a recently rebuilt engine. That raised red flags- recently rebuilt? So why am I doing this? He soon found out the 'other shop' had been hired to freshen up the engine prior to selling the whole car. They saved shop time by using the attachment Sioux valve grinders once included to stone-dress lifter bases back in the '50s. All the lifters had been cut at a very slight conical angle, which was enough to also quickly ruin the cam lobes. Turned out not to be a cost savings for anyone involved.

Also remember a Ford Tech Rep once mentioning that their lifters used a 50" inch radius on their lifter bases, to match the angle cut on their cam lobes. So using genuine Ford cams with 'economical' aftermarket lifters resulted in poor life of both components. Too long ago- might have been a special use performance cam that used such a tiny angle.
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Re: Who regrinds the lifter face crown on used lifters

Post by Stan Weiss »

agertz1 wrote: Tue Nov 30, 2021 1:55 pm Ron, "35 deg. face" ? Could that be 35" radius+/- instead ? While on subject, smaller the lifter diameter, less lift per degree of lobe. If this is so,
why only that radius is acceptable ? Reportedly , the problem is edge of lifter will gouge the lobe ? Why not use a slightly smaller radius to prevent ?
Art.
The radius on the bottom of the lifter has nothing to do with this. It is the lifter size itself. The larger the lifter diameter the high the max velocity in inch / degrees can be. a GM .842" lift can be around 0.0072 while a .904" Chrysler can be around 0.0077

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Re: Who regrinds the lifter face crown on used lifters

Post by frnkeore »

Ford, in the '50's, '60's & '70's, used a 37" radius on the 7/8" lifter. I don't know (because I don't have the drawings) what they used on the FH 1" or the 1" mushrooms, that came before that. I also, don't know the angle that Ford ground the lobe angle to. It should be diameter/radius/lobe angle related.

Correct me, if I'm wrong but, the reason for the radius, is to allow the lifter, to ride on or near, the center, of the tapered lobe, while imparting a spin to the lifter. So, the radius and taper have a relationship and there is, most likely, a tolerance of radius to angle.

A cam grinder, could speak better to what that tolerance would be.

Edit:
Here is another lifter grinder:
http://rockerarms.com/index.html
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Re: Who regrinds the lifter face crown on used lifters

Post by Baprace »

What is the general cost of lifter regrinds for a set of .842 flat tappet and who is recommended ?
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Re: Who regrinds the lifter face crown on used lifters

Post by Ron Miller »

Baprace wrote: Sun Dec 05, 2021 2:43 am What is the general cost of lifter regrinds for a set of .842 flat tappet and who is recommended ?
I called Mizpah Precision Mfg and spoke with Kristin. I was quoted pricing starting at $2.50 to $4.00 a lifter. Kristin stated that the lifter is completely taken apart. The internals are kept with the main shell-body and cleaned in a sonic cleaner machine. Then the shell-body get a new spherical radius grind on the bottom. Sonic cleaned again then assembled.
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