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By Daniel Jessup - 12 Years Ago
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How many of you out there have had your lifters resurfaced? If so, were you happy with the results and what are the pros and cons?
I have talked to a couple of guys that swear by it, and then others that will only go new, not resurfaced.
Do most machine shops handle this?
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By aussiebill - 12 Years Ago
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Daniel Jessup (5/4/2013)
How many of you out there have had your lifters resurfaced? If so, were you happy with the results and what are the pros and cons?
I have talked to a couple of guys that swear by it, and then others that will only go new, not resurfaced.
Do most machine shops handle this?
Dan, it has been a normal process on all engines for decades, particularly those that new lifters were not plentifull or Necessary.
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By junkyardjeff - 12 Years Ago
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I would think it should work good since the valvetrain is adjustable,I had some rebuilt lifters in a FE without adjustable rocker arms that were quiet until it warmed up then a bunch of noise. They were about .030 shorter then the replacements I bought.
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By Ted - 12 Years Ago
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I’ve moved this topic to the Technical section as it’s a better fit there.
My philosophy on resurfaced lifters is always buy new if they are available. If not available, then I am game for resurfacing and then only in applications that have reasonably stock or low valve spring pressures. In a performance application where valve spring pressures are increased over stock, the correct hardness and crown on the lifter face for wear purposes would be mandated to be as good as it can be. For the Y engines, good quality, made in U.S.A. lifters are available so using reground lifters in a Y would only be done to save some dollars. You get what you pay for?
A major concern I see in resurfacing lifters is the potential for resurfacing lifters that have already been through the resurfacing process in the past. In these instances, the surface hardening on the wear face is going to be even more questionable. It’s already questionable with one resurfacing action but goes downhill each time they are additionally resurfaced. And then the amount of crown reground on the lifter face is as important. An incorrect crown is just as wear prone as insufficient hardness. From a business perspective, it’s a substantial risk I don’t want to warranty.
Here’s a link to a similar past thread on the subject. http://forums.y-blocksforever.com/Topic52298.aspx
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By Daniel Jessup - 12 Years Ago
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I have talked to two reputable machine shops that I have dealt with before with excellent results - they both reported back, "We don't do that anymore." The one shop said that they had no way to make sure that the face could have a convex shape to it. It would have to be entirely flat. This is the same machine shop that does all engine work for the White Post Restoration facility in White Post, Virginia. Odd. 
Guess I am going the new route.
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By scott5560 - 12 Years Ago
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Hi! I used resurfaced lifters and reground cam in my 292 build. On the advice of Tim McMaster by Oregon Camshaft. They looked great and broke in well as the valves didn't move much after initial adj and then break in. I was happy.
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By aussiebill - 12 Years Ago
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Daniel Jessup (5/6/2013)
I have talked to two reputable machine shops that I have dealt with before with excellent results - they both reported back, "We don't do that anymore." The one shop said that that had no way to make sure that the face could have a convex shape to it. It would have to be entirely flat. This is the same machine shop that does all engine work for the White Post Restoration facility in White Post, Virginia. Odd. Guess I am going the new route.
Well, i can only go on past expeirence over 40 yrs and had NO problems with resurfaced lifters, my cam guy had a machine that resurfaced the radius on face. And now bearing in mind information and parts are available at the push of a button new lifters are more available, although there were less quality ones being highlited at one stage. As TED rightly points out for higher spring rate and load, new Quality ones are required to reduce problems. Dan, i would think that shop hasnt got the correct machine for the job. Either way i,ve been running reground lifters in my engines for long time and no problems.
yyy
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By Doug T - 12 Years Ago
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I am pretty sure that the guy that bought the Racer Brown cam business who is or was located in Pasadena MARYLAND can resurface lifters if needed. If you were to buy his cam and lifters he would probably stand behind them both.
I used his cam and lifters in my truck with (as Ted suggests) fairly low pressure springs and had no problems. BTW he was very helpful with selection of the cam for the truck application. Most custom grinders can help you make a better selection of what kind of cam will do for a particular application than picking a cam out of a catalog and custom cams are not that much more costly.
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By speedpro56 - 12 Years Ago
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The way I see it is if in keeping with stock low spring pressure and done correctly you can get by with reground lifters. Building an engine for more power requiring more spring pressure and higher lift cam then new all the way. It's very expensive and time consuming having to tear down from cam and lifter failure. I've had failures even with new so I will be very cautious.
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By LON - 12 Years Ago
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I'm with Bill on this one .Have used reground lifters & cam before and have had no problem on good rebuilt street motors. The only problem I had ( BEFORE learning about zinc ) was not using the correct oil and taking about 6 lobes off the cam ??? A very expensive lesson . If I was building a high performance Y Block with a big cam ,springs & compression and plenty of noise I would want the best parts money could buy .As Ted says ,you get what you pay for .Just my opinion .
Lon
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By PF Arcand - 12 Years Ago
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I don't have any personal experience with re ground lifters, but when you consider the labour to "properly" regrind old lifters, how much money do you save? And considering the repeat labour to tear the engine down to remove bad lifters & the likely ruined cam, is the risk worth it?. I doubt it!
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By speedpro56 - 12 Years Ago
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Paul, you are so right on this when comes to insurance on maybe a tear down or not. How thin is the hardness that's left on the lifters after a regrind? Early ford lifters were thicker than some of the after markets so reground ford might be a better than the after market, just my opinion and for the little difference if any in price I'm with you.
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By pegleg - 12 Years Ago
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I'm really not certain how Ford "Surface Hardened" the lifters. there are numerous ways to do this, depending on the material they were made from. Probably, they're plain cast iron with a carburized or salt bath hardening. In either case the thickness of the hardened portion is going to be .010" or less. I don't believe that regrinding will remove less than that. Second issue, where or how did the regrinder get the specification for the shape of the foot. This curvature will be critical to the life of the lifter, AND your new expensive camshaft. If you want to play "Russian Roulette" with a new cam, have at it. Me, I'll get new lifters from somebody I trust knows all this and does not want to warranty his products, but rather sell you something that works the first time.
That probably does not include Chinese or Taiwanese lifters on E-Bay. Mummert or Ted Eatons Isky parts would be my choice.
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By speedpro56 - 12 Years Ago
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Comp cams are selling new lifters now and they look like Iskys to me.
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By Jim Rowe - 12 Years Ago
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Reground lifters left me in a bad way. I had sent mine to a Calif. specialist to have them reground. They looked great. I then installed them on a new Isky cam. The springs are over 200lbs open. My beautiful cam went flat and Broke 2 lifters in exactly 20 minutes of break in time. I phoned "ED" himself. He told me that should not have happened. But after flushing and reassembly alone with a new Isky cam, I used Isky Newlifters NO PROBLEMS! Oh sidebar "ED" offered to send me a new cam free. I did purchase the second cam from him. I figured it was my bad.
I would say with heavy springs and high lift I would Always go new. Just from my experience>
Jim
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By charliemccraney - 12 Years Ago
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Can they not be hardened again, after the regrind? It seems like that is what really needs to be done.
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By speedpro56 - 12 Years Ago
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Then you're talking more money, Where's the savings other than thinner lighter lifters??
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By pegleg - 12 Years Ago
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Charlie, Of course. But the cost for a small volume of parts would probably exceed the cost of new ones. You'd need to anneal the parts, then re-harden them. I obviously can't tell you what that would cost at every heat treat facility, but the furnaces or salt baths are usually designed for hundreds or thousands of parts per heat. You'd pay the same price for 16 that Ford paid for many hundreds or thousands. Seems like a no win situation. Having said this, somebody will find a place that'll do it for 10 bucks, I'm sure!
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By charliemccraney - 12 Years Ago
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I realize from the cost perspective, it would add more.
It just seemed logical to me that a place that can regrind with the proper crown might also have a way that's cost effective to harden them after resurfacing. If it's their business, they might be able to do several hundred at a time.
I didn't know reground lifters were not hardened, so now I would not consider them even for a stock build. Without hardening, only half of the job is done and apparently Ford thought hardening was necessary even for stock builds.
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By Ted - 12 Years Ago
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“Hardening” is a whole ‘nother science in itself. I see enough mishaps in hardening from those people that know what they are doing to be glad it’s not done at just any corner shop. Without the experience and the proper measuring equipment, it’s hit and miss at best.
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By pegleg - 12 Years Ago
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What Ted said! Back in the early days of overheads there was a lot of problems with cam and lifter wear. Probably part of it was the oils available back then, but much of it was metallurgical. They/we had to learn what to make the parts from and how to harden them. Sounds simple today, but everybody had problems. Even the the fantastic (?) GM small blocks were and are problematic in that area. The problems are compounded by the fact that everybody wants to build the stuff out of the cheapest metals or alloys possible. Make a difference when you manufacture a million or so engines a year.
Ted and some of the other "Geezers" here will remember when Isky's "Chilled Iron" lifters were the only way to go. He spent a lot of time working out the correct combination of materials for cams, and heat treat, and cam profiles, blah, blah.
Todays oils, as we have discussed at length here, are designed for roller lifters, which is a big reason why this is back on the front burner again.
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