i have a chevy sb and i looked at the top of the lifter and i see a clip ring,,can this lifter be a solid,,i tried adjusting them as hydros and no luck,,the only way that seems to be workin is the solid method,,,i have them set to 10 k cold ,,i tried rolling the pushrod till snug and then one half turn as you should if hydros but this put the valves down too far and i had no compression,,,so iturned the engine over got tdc and started doin the solid adjustment ,by the chiltons book and all seems good,, but i found an old pic of the inside of my engine and noticed the clips on the top of the lifters did i screw up or what,,,thanks for any help 123 here is a pic of my motor

[This message has been edited by 123mmmyFIERO (edited 10-17-2010).]

There's no oil in the lifters?

When do you loose vertical movement of the pushrod? Are you compressing the lifter all the way and still able to spin the pushrod? So then you would be a turn and a half after the lifter is fully compressed instead a turn and a half into the lifter's compression.

quote Originally posted by 123mmmyFIERO: i have a chevy sb and i looked at the top of the lifter and i see a clip ring,,can this lifter be a solid,,i tried adjusting them as hydros and no luck,,the only way that seems to be workin is the solid method,,,i have them set to 10 k cold ,,i tried rolling the pushrod till snug and then one half turn as you should if hydros but this put the valves down too far and i had no compression,,,so iturned the engine over got tdc and started doin the solid adjustment ,by the chiltons book and all seems good,, but i found an old pic of the inside of my engine and noticed the clips on the top of the lifters did i screw up or what,,,thanks for any help 123

If the lifters have ring-clips in the top of them, they are hydraulic rather than solid.

If the motor hasn't been driven for a while, then it's quite possible that the lifters have collapsed. If you can, try taking them out and bleeding them in a container of oil by forcing the pushrod on it while it's submerged.

Then try putting it back in and do the tight / twist-turn the pushrod until tight, back-off quarter turn method.

Most small block chevies have hydraulic lifters. I think only some rare special use SBCs got solid lifters in the later years... like the 327 SBC in the high-rpm Camaro. They use them for higher rpm because there's no (or less???) valve float.

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Todd,
2008 Jeep Patriot Limited 4x2
2002 Ford Explorer Sport 2dr 4x2
2002 Ford Crown Victoria LX
1987 Pontiac Fiero SE / V6
1973 Volkswagen Type-2 Transporter