You do not want to adjust a collapsed hydraulic lifter like a solid. If it collapsed there's a good chance that the oiling pathways through the lifterare restricted/blocked(think about it, why did it collapse in the first place? There are oil metering parts in there that may have failed) If you're not getting proper oiling through the lifter, than that rocker arm and spring and valve stem won't be getting lubricated, and will fail, as will the pushrod rocker/lifter seats

 

You already have hydraulic lifters in your 289. The only 289 with solid lifters is the K code, and I doubt seriously if you have a K code.

 

Well, better? That is a question of personal taste, and what you will be using the car for, I like the hyd's because there is no periodic adjustment connected to their use,, set um and forget um.. I like that.... I think you can drop hyd lifters in the lifter bores and they will work just fine in a SBF,, someone will correct me if I am wrong about this,,,,

and no machining is needed if you go roller and use the lifters with the cross bars, if you were to get a kit that uses the "spider and dog bones" machining might be needed, and for sure the valley would need to be drilled and tapped to attach the spider..

 

what do you mean by "cross bar"

 

On roller camed cars, the lifters for each cylinder are paired together to keep them from rotating, so the roller stays properly aligned with the cam. On the retro-fit kits, the lifters are paired together with a link bar that moves, but is attached to each lifter. Like these....

http://cranecams.com/?show=browsePar...umber=36532-16

 

sweet day, and i just looked at the lifters that came out of my block and i reckon they are hydraulic, the have a small hole in the side and appear to have a some kind of plunger inside of them

 

I guess I need to holler. The 289 came with hydraulic lifters. The only 289 that has solid lifters is the K code.

 

haha, i read what you typed the first time mr glen, but i walked out to the shop and looked just to make sure

did k codes have 4 bolt mains?

 

They were 2 bolt. And 4 bolt mains on a 302 is worthless anyway, the caps aren't the weak point, it's thew webs. Actual 4 bolt blocks with thicker webs are better not because they're 4 bolt, but because thr webs aren't flimsy. That being said, there are plenty of guys running 2 bolt factory 302 blocks and pushing 500+ hp without trouble

 

Just for discussion purposes, what 302 engine came with 4 bolt mains?
Jim