Also, any detrimental effects to this conversion and possible ways to overcome them?

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I've been calling it as i see it for my entire life and that's not about to change. Take it or leave it.

The 1978 service bulletin does not list the rear cam bearing as being one of the unique parts of the change. I do not believe the part number for the cam bearing or cam bearing set changed from 1980 to 1981 either.

I have Mopar Performance Hydraulic Lifter camshaft for a Slant 6 and it has a grooved rear main journal. Putting the groove in the rear cam shaft bearing journal instead of in the bearing itself will make cam swaps easy in that you do not have to worry about or know what bearing is installed in the block.

Craig, thanks for the correction. That is why I said I was not sure. I see too many things that are posted as gospel, when the person dosen't know for sure. They are just posting what they heard from a friend who saw it somewhere, maybe. Then the myth continues, and spreads.

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Charrlie_S
65 Valiant 100 2dr post 170 turbo
66 Valiant Signet 170 nitrous
64 Valiant Signet
64 Valiant 4dr 170
64 Valiant 4dr 225

I would be sure to increase the oil flow to the rocker arm assy. when changing to the hydraulic lifters, either a grooved rear cam bearing or a grooved rear cam journal will do the trick.

We need to remember that the SL6 hydraulic lifters get their oil from the rocker arm assembly, through the special (non-adjustable) rocker arm and then down through a "drilled" push rod. This is a long pathway for the oil to travel and one problem with the Hyd. SL6 is reports of lifter noise upon start-up and fast choke idle. Getting the oil up to the rocker shaft quickly helps reduce this.

One thing to remember about all hydraulic lifter set-ups that use non adjustable rocker arms (most Mopar set-ups) is that valve stem height must be carefully set and even across all the valves, in order to get the correct lifter pre-load. Head and block surfacing effects this setting. The goal is to have the hydraulic lifter plunger "set" .020 to .050 into the lifter so they do not "top-out" or pump-up under high RPM use. This is the main reason I stay away from the SL6 hydraulic lifter set-up, there is a lot of work that needs to be done to set them up correctly. If I could figure-out a way to use the hyd. lifter with adjustable rocker arms, it would be a lot easer to set them up and worth using on some "street" applications.

It would be much better to have the hydraulic lifters oil from oil feed holes routed from the main oil galley, right into the lifter bore but there is no easy way to do that on a cast iron SL6 block. (some Alm. Block castings have the provisions to drill oil feed holes directly into the lifter bores)
DD

Could custom made adjustable pushrods be a possibility?

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I've been calling it as i see it for my entire life and that's not about to change. Take it or leave it.

I'm disappointed to see that anyone wants to eliminate the beautiful ticking if a Slant. If it doesn't tick like a fine watch, it ain't no Slant ! I love that sound.

Trust me, you wouldn't enjoy that sound if your slant already was a hyd cam motor.... Mine ticks a bit when its really cold out, or when I haven't run it in a while. Then usually after a few minutes they are fine. I look at it this way......after owning several old British sports cars over the years, mostly MG's, the not having to adjust the rockers during normal maint is a god send. That was one of the things I dreaded most about normal maint on my daily driver. I'll take the hyd cam slant over the solid for my daily driver any day. However, for my toy........thats a different story.

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"That thing gotta HEMI in it??"

A couple of "back to basics" reminders -

If you're having to adjust the tappet clearance more often than about once every 10,000 to 15,000 miles, something's the matter. The tappet adjustors' threads can loosen up with time and age to the point where they're very easy to turn with even a short wrench and modest hand pressure. That makes it easy to adjust the valves, but also guarantees you'll be doing it a lot! You should really have to put some muscle into the wrench to turn the adjustor screw. If not, replace the screws and/or the rocker arms -- both of which are still available new from your nearest NAPA or other source of engine internal parts. A budget alternative is to carefully munge the threads of the tappet screws using a vise or ball-peen hammer. Don't get carried away and ruin them, but if you're careful you can renew the thread interference that holds the adjustors in place between adjustments.

Also be sure the rocker shaft is installed correctly! I traced the necessity of frequent adjustment in my '62 to an upside down/backwards rocker shaft. This is a fairly serious matter -- the rockers weren't oiling properly at all.

Finally, remember that while some people find the ticka-ticka-ticka noise "charming", it's not supposed to be there. With tappets properly adjusted and a stock or close-to-stock camshaft, even the mechanical lifter setup is quite quiet.

Of course, don't get so carried away trying to get 'em quiet that you hang a valve open, spoil your idle and roast the valve!

BTT

This may help http://www.slantsix.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=46756

Dave

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86 Miser 170,000+
2 1/4" exhaust
Holley 1920 #55
HEI MSD BLaster 2
17.8 mpg

I drove my truck all winter long this last winter thru all the polar vortex's and never had any ticking in the engine with 180,000 on it.
Throwout bearing wasn't happy all the time tho. lol

Dave

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86 Miser 170,000+
2 1/4" exhaust
Holley 1920 #55
HEI MSD BLaster 2
17.8 mpg

Thanks, I was looking for that