I would think that modern NC equipment could be programmed to grind the face of a rotating lifter and the grinding wheel also move in a curve to put the crown on.  John M??  You have NC equipment, can it be done economically?  My old valve refacer can grind them flat, but not crowned.

John - "The Hoosier Hurricane"

that basically was what i was hoping . that someone ,because of the inferior ones being sold, that there might be a 'second life' option for them. experienced a cam failure recently and after looking at an old original, noticed it is a much thicker mushroom than the new ones i purchased. not saying for sure that that was the problem but after purchasing a new cam and finding a nos set of lifters, havent experienced any problem. this nos stock was in old ford boxes btw.

This used to be a common practice. With the expense of new lifters and the market being flooded with sub quality imports I think its worth looking into. Older machine shops may still have the fixture and knowledge to accomplish the refacing. Depth of hardening shouldn't be a problem on decent used lifters. Maybe someone should look for an old machine and go into the business? Tons of used lifters out there that could be redone if we can trust the operator to do it right. Chuck in NH

Y's guys rule!
Looking for McCullouch VS57 brackets and parts. Also looking for 28 Chrysler series 72 parts. And early Hemi parts.

MoonShadow, 292 w/McCulloch, 28 Chrysler Roadster, 354 Hemi)
Manchester, New Hampshire

new may be a problem but i never had a problem with used cams and lifters. and i dont mean putting everything back in order.i pick out the best looking cam and lifters i have at the time.these are all stock cams.ive been doing this for 30 years.

Some older valve grinding machines had a fixture for holding lifters and resurfacing them.

Glen Henderson



Freedom is not Free

Letohatchee, AL

I thought the faces are convex.



You can make them into Christmas Tree ornaments.


Lawrenceville, GA

The lifter face (what the cam lobes ride on) is not a flat surface.

It is mildly concave so that it promotes lifter rotation and therefore oiling.

I would be curious to understand the refinishing process including the concave contour.

Oldmics

Its an interesting question, i can only add that resurfacing them has been the standard practice here still and as you know there are some doubts on quality of new ones and "us" made ones are certainly getting dearer and fewer. I personally in over 40 yrs of building these engines have not expierenced any failures.

  AussieBill            YYYY    Forever Y Block     YYYY

 Down Under, Australia

I believe Nielson Cams, for one, has the ability to regrind and recoat lifters.  At one time I think he even offered to buy used lifters, probably to refurbish and sell with his cams.  It becomes an issue of cost of refurbishing vs cost of new.  New ones are getting pretty pricey in my opinion.

John - "The Hoosier Hurricane"

i agree spreedpro, wasnt thinking of using them, was hoping there was someone or company that does refurbish or recondition. the old in me just has a hard time throwing anything away