FE lifter question??

[Fred Hamilton]

After 550 miles my rod bearings went south. My builder has said he would fix everything and blamed it on oil pressure loss on start up.
After looking at the How to rebuild Big-Block Ford Engine, I have a few questions that need to be cleared up. The builder installed solid lifters, the book say on page 32 and 63 that if you install solids in any hyd lifter engine you need to block off the lifter galleries, one above center gallery and one below.failure to do so could cause early engine failure. A High Vol pump is installed, all the oil galleries have been reamed and inlarged. By not having this extra set of plugs installed could it have been the grelim for bearing failure. Did a search and someone said a H/V oil pump would prevent this.



Thanks

[Brent Mills]

As I understand it Fred, those need to be blocked off especially if you are using the lifters that sorta look like an hour glass. I think I remember hearing that if you're using shell lifters then a problem is less or not likely. The others would bleed off too much oil. George or someone will likely answer soon with solid answers, but I think I'm close.

By the way Fred, I am very sorry to hear about this. Is he going to get you squared away soon?

[Brent Mills]

From the federal-mogul site....

http://website.federal-mogul.com/cda...3_6915,00.html

When using solid or roller lifters in these engines it is common to block off or restrict the oiling to the lifter galleys. The factory 427’s with solid lifters did not directly oil the lifters, so this should not be a problem. Another frequently seen oiling modification is matching of the main oil passages to the holes in the bearings.

[427 S/O]

And don't forget the two in front, behind the timing cover, did you not check your oil pressure before starting?.

[Clois Harlan]

I recently went through a similar situation w/ my FE 428 CJ. My problem was self induced by the oil filter adapter plate being insalled incorrectly. I now have about 900 miles on my new engine of which about 250 miles were ran on a race track. I have a System One filter that I have checked after two oil changes and I have found no debris from bearings or abnormal amounts of wear.

I am running a Comp Cam and Comp solid lifters. When my engine builder rebuilt my engine he not only restricted the oil to my lifter galleries but also restricted the oil to each head and increased the size of the oil return in the corner of my heads. He also enlarged the holes to my oil filter. I am running a M57-HV oil pump that we put in a larger spring for additional oil pressure. My oil pressure at idle is about 30-35 pounds and as high as 80 pounds at 5500 RPMs.

Engine Break In is so important during the first hour or so be sure and not let your RPMS drop below 1500 for at least the first 30 minutes of its life.

Clois