Hey guys,
I think I've mostly sorted out my lack of oiling issue, but the thought that I could cook my head has got me thinking about using my old solid lifters head on my hydraulic lifters block. Would I just need to get solid lifters and pushrods and then my head would be good to use?
Thanks for any info

You would want to put the hydraulic valve gear on the older head and use the juice pushrods. If you want to use adjustable valve gear you need solid lifters and cam.

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Joshua

Gotcha. Both heads oil through the same location then?

Yes.

Richard

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Part of Tyrde-Browne Racing

Right on, thanks guys.

Just to be sure, solid lifters will go into a hydraulic lifters block no problem, right?

Yes. The solid lifter will install.

To reiterate.

Solid cam, solid lifters, solid pushrods, solid lifter adjustable rockers on solid lifter rocker shaft. The rocker shaft bolt on the last tower is different. Get a set of mechanical rocker shaft bolts, and no problem.

The ramps of the hydraulic cam will not play well with mechanical valve parts.


CJ

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Part of Tyrde-Browne Racing

Okay, I follow. Seems that my oiling issue is not solved so I'm assuming that my cam bearing has spun or there is still just a bunch of gunk in the engine. At any rate, I'm picking up a mechanical cam, lifters, pushrods and a rocker shaft (already have one from my trucks original engine but I figure it can't hurt to have a backup) and will be pulling the cam, cleaning the oil passages out and installing the mechanical parts afterwards.

Pulling the cam alone won't cure a spun rear bearing, and replacing the hydraulic cam with a mechanical cam won't help oil get to the top end of the motor. In fact, if anything it will make it harder for the oil to get to the top end of the motor. This is because the hydraulic cam has a groove around the entire circumference of the rear cam journal that provides a constant oil flow to the rocker arms. The mechanical cam only has a hole drilled through the cam that permits sporadic oil flow to the rocker arms. A mechanical lifter valve train still needs adequate oil flow to the rocker arms to lubricate the rocker arms.

If you suspect a spun rear cam bearing the only way to cure it is to pull the motor, pull the cam, and pull and reinstall the rear cam bearing. Sorry, but there is no quick and easy fix for a spun rear cam bearing. Swapping to a mechanical camshaft will not solve your problem.

See HERE for some more info about the differences between the mechanical and hydraulic lifter systems in the slant six.

What you could do is pull the cam with the motor in the vehicle and stick the probe down the oil passage at the rear of the head and look into the cam gallery in the block and watch for the tip of the probe to poke out of the rear cam bearing. That way you can tell if you actually have a spun rear cam bearing without pulling the engine. If you are lucky you will just have some crud buildup in that passage which will clear out with proper care and use of the engine.

The factory lifters only need about 4 psi to pump up, so if you are getting oil flow to the head you wight try just running the motor and seeing how it does.

Forgot to mention that I will be replacing the cam bearings if need be. Ill check the way you siggested. I understand that just replacing the cam will not solve my problem, I would just prefer that I use a solid setup rather than hydraulic. Plus that's what I can get close to me.

If you're replacing the cam bearings you'll be pulling the engine. I imagine you could do cam bearings in a truck by pulling the trans and taking the grill out, but I'd rather have the engine out and be able to pull the oil pan easily and clean all the crap out that's living down there.

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Joshua