Hey i have a hydraulic motor in my valiant (non-hydraulic has adjustable valve train, correct?) and its painted blue. It has a yellow plastic nozzle with a couple vaccum line nipples on the head, and also extra threaded holes amongst the head and manifold that are plugged off. The block is painted blue, but it appears as if someone took the old 64' slant distributor (no electronic ignition) and carter bbs.

Obviously this is a much newer motor thats been swapped into my car, but my question is how desirable is this engine from a performance perspective? I'm going to mount a BBD on an adapter and try converting my ignition to gm HEI system. I can't really see any draw backs from this motor except for the compression ratio.. cam/lifter kits are plentiful and cheap as well but i would definitely run into problems with the cast crank if i wanted to really invest into this motor..

Has anyone ran into problems with the hydraulic slant with more power in mind?

Thanks,

Aaron

The main drawback is the way the factory oils the hydraulic lifters, up to the rocker shaft, over the rocker arms, down thru the hollow pushrods... and finally, to the lifter. That a long way for the oil to travel before getting to the lifters.

The other "drawback" is the non-adjustable rocker arms. Hydro lifter preload must be carefully set and with-out adjusters, you have to grind on vavle stem tips, use rocker arm shims or adustable / custom push rods, in order to set the lifter preloads.
DD

Hmm I guess some sort of hydraulic block/adjustable valve train and head swap would be out of the picture? This motor has a cast crank and low compression ratio anyhow so there'd be little gain anyways..

A more logical goal at this point would be to upgrade the brakes and suspension instead of more power.. I got my moog strut rod bushings in today

when you are ready... you can change over to solid cam, lifters, pushrods, rockers .... shave head/block..... cast crank is lighter than forged and plenty strong enough


keep on roddin'

Ah so there is money to be saved! I'll keep my eyes open for a solid valvetrain setup.. any suggjestions? My local wrecking yard is pretty much dry except theres a 78' volare with a slant.

Thanks,

Aaron

Where are you located?

_________________
Yeah....Im the one who destroyed this rare, vintage automobile.....

There's your stuff...just grab the rocker bar and rocker arms, pushrods and bolts... you will play mix and match with the rocker bar hardware (I believe you'll be using the hydro motor rear rocker bar boltt. You will just need to order a cam and lifter set (better to get new or a reground one from a reputable place), install and lash and you should be back in business...

-D.Idiot

Wow thats not to bad at all.. i assumed the way the hydraulic motor lubricates the valvetrain would make things difficult. I'll probably just take the whole head so i have something extra to get machined and play around with..

and sandy im near kelowna