I pulled them out last night and replaced them. Haven't fired up the engine yet. Just lubed them with assembly grease. I'll turn the engine over for a bit before I hook the fuel line back up or re-install the carb (also putting a shorter carb space in so the carb is off the engine right now).
Pics of what I took out:
old vs new:
Up close:
As you can see there's not much wear. They didn't seem worn out internally either. They were, however, a realy PITA to get out so rather than risk using lifters with marred edges I put in the new after letting them soak in oil and coating the bottom and sides with assembly lube. I also cleaned up the pushrods and ran a piece of weld wire down them. Every one had gunk either closing off or nearly closing off the hole near the bottom. Hit them with degreaser and then lightly sanded them. Now they spin freely.
Also the lifters turn freely in their recesses now. I can remove them with a magnet instead of a pair of pliers and a chissel to knock them up like I had to do with the old ones.
Lots of crud in this engine. LOTS. It's a ton better than it was when I bought the car but it's still absolutely full of it. I think this was the last of the really bad stuff though on the top end. All the passageways are now clear. I don't know about the passages around the crank though. Since I've driven it about 6,000 miles since buying the car I have to assume they're not clogged. No spun bearings yet.
The plan now is to put the spark plugs and distributor back on it, leave the valve cover off (side covers are back on), keep the carb off and fuel line to the fuel pump disconnected. I'll crank the engine until I see oil coming up into the valve train. That should indicate the lifters are primed, right?
At that point I'll set the valve cover back on without the screws, re-install the carb, and fire it up. Adjust the lifters so there's some clanking during break-in but not a ton of slack. Just enough to not stress the lifters/cam contact point. Run the engine for 3 minutes at 2,000 RPM's, 3 at 1,500, and idle for another 5. refine timing (I was smart enough to put tape on the distributor and valve cover so I can pretty much set it without a light before I crank the engine), and re-set the valve lash to normal (0+1/2 turn in).
Does that sound right?
Anyone see anything majorly wrong here?
We'll see if that fixes the noise problem on start-up.
