[DeTomaso] Comp Cam's roller lifters
Daniel C Jones
daniel.c.jones2 at gmail.com
Fri Oct 13 12:23:08 EDT 2017
> I have not used Johnson Lifters, but it is my understanding that they
have a good reputation and are good quality.
There are two lifter companies using the Johnson name. HyLift Johnson (
www.hylift-johnson.com) and Johnson (https://johnsonlifters.com). Hylift
owned the Johson brand when they were an OEM supplier and, like Stanadyne
and Eaton, they were a high quality supplier. Hylift went out of business
due to dropping sales volume as the OEM's moved to OHC engines. As I
understand it, Johnson is in no way related to Hylift. Also, Hylift's name
was bought and a new plant was opened with new people so they aren't really
the old Hylift Johnson company, either. Much of the flat tappet cam issues
were due to Hylift exiting the business and the void being filled by
sub-par Mexican (Moresa) and Chinese suppliers. Be aware that Eaton sold
their aftermarket lifter business to Stanadyne then later purchased the
Moresa plant and re-entered the business.
> Anybody have any experience with Johnson Lifters?
I've not used either Johson or Hylift-Johnson hydraulic roller lifters. On
their website, they list four versions of the SBF lifters. Two of them
have "short travel" in the name but if you follow the links all four of
them mentioned reduced travel. Not sure what's up with that but elsewhere
on the site it claims all hydraulic lifters are available with short
travel, variable duration lift and axle oiling features. Variable duration
would be a fast bleed rate lifter like the old Rhoads lifters.
Dan Jones
On Fri, Oct 13, 2017 at 9:40 AM, <jgkrenton at comcast.net> wrote:
> Dan et-al:
>
> I stumbled over these guys while looking for something else.
>
> https://johnsonlifters.com/Products/HydraulicRollerLifters/2222SBR.aspx
>
> Anybody have any experience with Johnson Lifters?
>
> Jeff
>
> ------------------------------
> *From: *"Daniel C Jones" <daniel.c.jones2 at gmail.com>
> *Cc: *"detomaso" <detomaso at server.detomasolist.com>
> *Sent: *Friday, October 6, 2017 11:51:22 AM
> *Subject: *Re: [DeTomaso] Comp Cam's roller lifters
>
> > Does anyone have any experience with the Comp Cam's retrofit kit's such
> as this?
>
> There are two ways to run a hydraulic roller cam in a 351C. The first is
> to run link bar lifters. The other is to run the spider and dog bones
> arrangement similar to what was introduced in the mid 1980s on the 5.0L
> Ford V8. The Comp retrofit kit is the latter. We've run both arrangements
> and there are some issues to be aware of. It varies from block-to-block
> and depends upon the size of the chamfer at the top of the lifter bore but,
> on many blocks, the oil feed is exposed at maximum lobe lift on stock base
> circle cams. Some manufacturers (like Comp) will reduce the base circle of
> the cam so the OEM type lifters can be used. As a rule, irregardless of
> how much lift that a camshaft has, the lifters generally all stop in
> approximately the same location at the top unless the base circle is
> deliberately reduced which can cause problems at the other end of the
> lifter bores. With a reduced base circle cam, the OEM lifters will usually
> be safe at maximum lift but some blocks will have interference problems
> with the dog bones. A local shop which uses the Comp retrofit kit has a
> fixture to machine the block for clearance but it can also be done by
> hand. Comps link bar lifters have the oil feed (and associated band on the
> lifter) in the same place as the OEM lifters so have the same problems at
> max lobe lift.
>
> Other retrofit link bar lifters like the Crane, Gaterman (copies of the
> Crane), Howards (made by Gaterman), Lunati (made by Morel) have the oil
> feed placed lower on the lifter body and do not have the max lift
> problem. My favorites are the Crane link bars but they are quite
> expensive. The Lunati/Morel hydraulic roller lifters cost about half what
> the Cranes do and seem to work well. Be aware there are some Chinese
> knock-offs of the Cranes that should be avoided (tested on a spring load
> machine and failed).
>
> Comps kit comes with pushrods, springs and timing chain set. Comp doesn't
> make the timing chains and gets them from a variety of manufacturers.
> Often (usually) the gears are from one manufacturer and the chains are from
> another. There are some good and some very bad chains out there so you
> need to verify the name on the chain links. Avoid chains with no name or
> "Rolon". The pushrods are shorter for the taller hydraulic roller lifters
> but may not be correct for your engine. Due to tolerance stack up in the
> cam base circle diameter, rocker arm, whether or not the heads and/or block
> have been milled, the pushrod length you need may be different. Given the
> angles involved with the canted valve heads, it is important to get the
> pushrod length and valve train geometry correct.
>
> Have your heads been converted to studs and guide plates or are they the
> original pedestal mount? What rocker arms are you using? The spring loads
> required for a hydraulic roller cam may exceed the pedestal mount bolt
> strength.
>
> Another issue is distributor gear compatibility. The cam core can be made
> from a variety of materials, generally either on of several steels or a
> SADI core. Unless you get a custom grind, Comp uses a SADI core. SADI
> stands for selectively austempered ductile iron. SADI cores are generally
> compatible with cast iron distributor gears. Be aware the quality of cast
> iron gears varies greatly. Following several cast iron gear failures, a
> friend Brinneltested several different cast iron distributor gears and
> found that some gears (especially those purchased from auto parts stores)
> were softer than the OEM Ford cast iron gear and some were even softer than
> an aluminum-bronze gear. Mallory makes a distributor gear for their
> distributors that is made specifically for "austempered ductile iron
> billets" and "proferal billet" cams. "Proferal" is a grade of iron alloy
> that is used primarily for non-roller camshafts because of its anti-wear
> characteristics.
>
> > I used the Crane Cams roller conversion kit, with a Crane 351C hydraulic
> roller cam and lifters.
>
> We've used the Crane kit before as well. It differs from Comp in that
> Crane uses an 8620 steel cam core of standard base circle. The steel core
> requires one of Crane's compatible steel distributor gears:
>
> 52970-1 Ford V-8 70-82, Boss 351-351C-351M-400 for 0.500" shaft diameter
> 52971-1 Ford V-8 70-82, Boss 351-351C-351M-400 for 0.531" shaft diameter
>
> As noted above, the size of the lifter bore chamfer determines whether a
> standard base circle cam like Crane uses will work in a specific block with
> OEM style lifters.
>
> We've used both steel and SADI cores successfully (with the proper
> distributor gear). The Gaterman/Howards or Morel/Lunati link bar lifters
> are inexpensive enough that we no longer use the OEM style retrofit kits.
> Rather than buying a kit with parts of unknown brand and specification, I
> prefer to put together parts of known pedigree that fit the application. A
> custom hydraulic roller cam is around $100 more than an off-the-shelf grind
> which may not match your engine.
>
> > When Denny Aldridge built our 351C he used Comp Cams roller lifters.
> Thank the lord above that he then dyno'd the engine - and found the lifters
> would not stay up.
>
> Plus one on the dyno testing. We found a link bar that had come detached
> on a Crane lifter during a dyno test. This was back when Crane went out of
> business but before they reorganized. Someone had bought the remaining
> inventory and had sold the lifters without realizing they had not been
> finish machined. The specific problem was the link bars had been pressed
> into place but the ends of the axles had not been peened to retain the link
> bars.
>
> Dan Jones
>
> _______________________________________________
>
>
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-------------- next part --------------
>A I have not used Johnson Lifters, but it is my understanding that
they have a good reputation and are good quality.
There are two lifter companies using the Johnson name.A HyLift Johnson
([1]www.hylift-johnson.com) and Johnson
([2]https://johnsonlifters.com).A Hylift owned the Johson brand when
they were an OEM supplier and, like Stanadyne and Eaton, they were a
high quality supplier.A Hylift went out of business due to dropping
sales volume as the OEM's moved to OHC engines.A As I understand it,
Johnson is in no way related to Hylift.A Also, Hylift's name was
bought and a new plant was opened with new people so they aren't really
the old Hylift Johnson company, either.A Much of the flat tappet cam
issues were due to Hylift exiting the business and the void being
filled by sub-par Mexican (Moresa) and Chinese suppliers.A Be aware
that Eaton sold their aftermarket lifter business to Stanadyne then
later purchased the Moresa plant and re-entered the business.
> Anybody have any experience with Johnson Lifters?
I've not used either Johson or Hylift-Johnson hydraulic roller
lifters.A On their website, they list four versions of the SBF
lifters.A Two of them have "short travel" in the name but if you
follow the links all four of them mentioned reduced travel.A A Not
sure what's up with that but elsewhere on the site it claims all
hydraulic lifters are available with short travel, variable duration
lift and axle oiling features.A Variable duration would be a fast
bleed rate lifter like the old Rhoads lifters.
Dan Jones
On Fri, Oct 13, 2017 at 9:40 AM, <[3]jgkrenton at comcast.net> wrote:
Dan et-al:
I stumbled over these guys while looking for something else.
[4]https://johnsonlifters.com/Products/HydraulicRollerLifters/
2222SBR.aspx
Anybody have any experience with Johnson Lifters?
Jeff
__________________________________________________________________
From: "Daniel C Jones" <[5]daniel.c.jones2 at gmail.com>
Cc: "detomaso" <[6]detomaso at server.detomasolist.com>
Sent: Friday, October 6, 2017 11:51:22 AM
Subject: Re: [DeTomaso] Comp Cam's roller lifters
> Does anyone have any experience with the Comp Cam's retrofit kit's
such
as this?
There are two ways to run a hydraulic roller cam in a 351C.A The first
is
to run link bar lifters.A The other is to run the spider and dog bones
arrangement similar to what was introduced in the mid 1980s on the 5.0L
Ford V8.A The Comp retrofit kit is the latter.A We've run both
arrangements
and there are some issues to be aware of.A It varies from
block-to-block
and depends upon the size of the chamfer at the top of the lifter bore
but,
on many blocks, the oil feed is exposed at maximum lobe lift on stock
base
circle cams.A Some manufacturers (like Comp) will reduce the base
circle of
the cam so the OEM type lifters can be used.A As a rule, irregardless
of
how much lift that a camshaft has, the lifters generally all stop in
approximately the same location at the top unless the base circle is
deliberately reduced which can cause problems at the other end of the
lifter bores.A With a reduced base circle cam, the OEM lifters will
usually
be safe at maximum lift but some blocks will have interference problems
with the dog bones.A A local shop which uses the Comp retrofit kit has
a
fixture to machine the block for clearance but it can also be done by
hand.A Comps link bar lifters have the oil feed (and associated band
on the
lifter) in the same place as the OEM lifters so have the same problems
at
max lobe lift.
Other retrofit link bar lifters like the Crane, Gaterman (copies of the
Crane), Howards (made by Gaterman), Lunati (made by Morel) have the oil
feed placed lower on the lifter body and do not have the max lift
problem. A My favorites are the Crane link bars but they are quite
expensive.A The Lunati/Morel hydraulic roller lifters cost about half
what
the Cranes do and seem to work well.A Be aware there are some Chinese
knock-offs of the Cranes that should be avoided (tested on a spring
load
machine and failed).
Comps kit comes with pushrods, springs and timing chain set.A Comp
doesn't
make the timing chains and gets them from a variety of manufacturers.
Often (usually) the gears are from one manufacturer and the chains are
from
another.A There are some good and some very bad chains out there so
you
need to verify the name on the chain links.A Avoid chains with no name
or
"Rolon".A The pushrods are shorter for the taller hydraulic roller
lifters
but may not be correct for your engine.A Due to tolerance stack up in
the
cam base circle diameter, rocker arm, whether or not the heads and/or
block
have been milled, the pushrod length you need may be different.A Given
the
angles involved with the canted valve heads, it is important to get the
pushrod length and valve train geometry correct.
Have your heads been converted to studs and guide plates or are they
the
original pedestal mount?A What rocker arms are you using?A The spring
loads
required for a hydraulic roller cam may exceed the pedestal mount bolt
strength.
Another issue is distributor gear compatibility.A The cam core can be
made
from a variety of materials, generally either on of several steels or a
SADI core.A Unless you get a custom grind, Comp uses a SADI core.A
SADI
stands for selectively austempered ductile iron.A SADI cores are
generally
compatible with cast iron distributor gears.A Be aware the quality of
cast
iron gears varies greatly.A Following several cast iron gear failures,
a
friend Brinneltested several different cast iron distributor gears and
found that some gears (especially those purchased from auto parts
stores)
were softer than the OEM Ford cast iron gear and some were even softer
than
an aluminum-bronze gear.A Mallory makes a distributor gear for their
distributors that is made specifically for "austempered ductile iron
billets" and "proferal billet" cams. A "Proferal" is a grade of iron
alloy
that is used primarily for non-roller camshafts because of its
anti-wear
characteristics.
> I used the Crane Cams roller conversion kit, with a Crane 351C
hydraulic
roller cam and lifters.
We've used the Crane kit before as well.A It differs from Comp in that
Crane uses an 8620 steel cam core of standard base circle.A The steel
core
requires one of Crane's compatible steel distributor gears:
A 52970-1 Ford V-8 70-82, Boss 351-351C-351M-400 for 0.500" shaft
diameter
A 52971-1 Ford V-8 70-82, Boss 351-351C-351M-400 for 0.531" shaft
diameter
As noted above, the size of the lifter bore chamfer determines whether
a
standard base circle cam like Crane uses will work in a specific block
with
OEM style lifters.
We've used both steel and SADI cores successfully (with the proper
distributor gear).A The Gaterman/Howards or Morel/Lunati link bar
lifters
are inexpensive enough that we no longer use the OEM style retrofit
kits.
Rather than buying a kit with parts of unknown brand and specification,
I
prefer to put together parts of known pedigree that fit the
application. A A
custom hydraulic roller cam is around $100 more than an off-the-shelf
grind
which may not match your engine.
> When Denny Aldridge built our 351C he used Comp Cams roller lifters.
Thank the lord above that he then dyno'd the engine - and found the
lifters
would not stay up.
Plus one on the dyno testing.A We found a link bar that had come
detached
on a Crane lifter during a dyno test.A This was back when Crane went
out of
business but before they reorganized.A Someone had bought the
remaining
inventory and had sold the lifters without realizing they had not been
finish machined.A The specific problem was the link bars had been
pressed
into place but the ends of the axles had not been peened to retain the
link
bars.
Dan Jones
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References
1. http://www.hylift-johnson.com/
2. https://johnsonlifters.com/
3. mailto:jgkrenton at comcast.net
4. https://johnsonlifters.com/Products/HydraulicRollerLifters/2222SBR.aspx
5. mailto:daniel.c.jones2 at gmail.com
6. mailto:detomaso at server.detomasolist.com
7. mailto:DeTomaso at server.detomasolist.com
8. http://server.detomasolist.com/mailman/listinfo/detomaso
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