oldsmoboogie

Is anyone else using Crower solid roller lifters? While getting my car ready for Dragweek I found an oiling issue. Long story short the lifters have the oiling hole on the same side as the link bar. The engine builder installed the lifters with the link bar towards the middle of the block so the oiling holes in the lifter do not line up with the oiling holes in the block. Also the push rods hit the top of the lifter body. So we have it all tore apart and are going to modify the lifters and will hopefully have the car back together in time to make test and tune Friday night.

chadman

The link bars are supposed to go towards the center. I have used those lifters before. I had to put a .0015 deep flat from the oil hole to the oil band to get them oiling correctly. I had no issues using 3/8 pushrods.

VC455

I used those lifters in a Corvette engine. My only issue was that the oil flow through the wheel-oiling orifices reduced oil pressure at idle to about 10 psi warm. Perhaps that was sufficient, but I was a bit uncomfortable with it. I put in a high-volume, standard-pressure pump and it restored idle pressure.

CANADIANOLDS

was your oiling issue worse on the passenger side than the drivers?

oldsmoboogie

It was worse on the drivers side.

chuck_royle

Dale LOL! I just had this problem, just reading this now. I have the crower mechanical in a new build. As it was running/idling in my shop I started to hear a minor chirp on the driver's side. From my gm dealer days, it sounded like a bad roller lifter or cam. So I peed myself and shut it down. Found a dry pushrod tip on cyl 3. Pulled all of the lifters and ground a teensy groove up to the oil hole with a dremmel, and all has been well since.
I think the trick for keeping oil pressure is being real chinsy with the grinder. I have big clearances and a stock steel crank in a 495, so warm idle oil pressure is not something I can brag about.

oddball

The oiling holes are supposed to be 90 degrees out. Oil has to go around the body of the lifter to get to the hole to go in. Otherwise there would be a huge stream of oil going to the top end.
IMO the wheel oiling on the crower is a big aggressive, so you will need enough volume to keep pressure up at idle.
I'm very surprised the pushrod was hitting the lifter. Are you running 7/16" or something? I ran 3/8" pushrods on a small block and the lifter was no problem.

Note that the giant holes in the body are just pass-throughs. A leftover from a chevy-style design where oil has to pass through the lifters to get to the next lifter. The actual oiling hole is the itty bitty one right above that passage. The lifter bore should be round enough, with enough clearance, for everything to work just fine. But, well, **** happens. My 350 D block looked like it spent time at the bottom of a lake. The lifter bores looked fine, but had awful burrs top and bottom and weren't round anymore.