I ran across this on the Yahoo Y forum



Re: Y-block lifters



The information I have is a company called Lockwood Engineering in

Littleton, Colorado has the Harmon & Collins masters and equipment. I

talked to Craig there and he said they probably could still make the

312 roller cam kit. He wanted to know if a market exists for something

like that. What do you think?

Lockwood Engineering makes Black Widow motorcycle cams.





Harmon & Collins made a y-block roller cam kit.

54 Victoria 312;  48 Ford Conv 302, 56 Bird 312
Forever Ford
Midland Park, NJ

I would like to think that there would be a market for a roller cam and lifters for a Y although it could be a relatively small market depending upon the camshaft selection.  The lifter size in the Y has made the current availability of a roller lifter a challenge for sure.  But the motorcycle market has been ahead of the game in this regard.  I'd be interested in such a cam and lifter combo myself if it was made available.  And if this company was the only company involved in such a design, then they'd have the market all to themselves which in itself would potentially make it worth their while.

With the increasing number of failures of flat tappet lifters in recent times, roller lifter camshafts would perhaps insure a given amount of durability in this area depending upon the roller lifter design.

Lorena, Texas (South of Waco)

I thought I heard somewhere that the Y had no provisions to get oil up to the hydraulic lifters, would this be the same for a roller lifers or are we ( I ) talking of two diffrent things? Gerry

Lake Forest California  5th inf 77 Armor Div. VN 68/69

If you put your town and state in your signature

help might be closer than you think.

Gerry, You're correct in that the Y has no oil feed to the lifters but that's only an issue if trying to run some form of hydraulic lifter.  Roller lifters refers to having a roller wheel at the camshaft side of the lifter which reduces the friction at the point of contact while also allowing for a much more aggressive camshaft profile.  On my Fe's, I block the oil galley that feeds the lifters when running either flat tappet solid lifters or non-hydraulic roller lifters.

Lorena, Texas (South of Waco)

So the lifters would need to be adjusted as often as now but probably less "drag" on the falve train? and some horse power difference?  Gerry

Lake Forest California  5th inf 77 Armor Div. VN 68/69

If you put your town and state in your signature

help might be closer than you think.

Just for further info on this subject, Verne Schumann (Schumann's Sales & service) said that his company could make roller lifters available if there was enough of a market. This info was in YBM about a year ago or so.  Apparently he had a few made for racing many years ago, but didn't give any details. Is there a connection between them & the current proposal? I don't know...  

Paul

Would there be an advantage for a "mild" y block, and because of the roller would the  valve adjustment be more critical? Gerry

Lake Forest California  5th inf 77 Armor Div. VN 68/69

If you put your town and state in your signature

help might be closer than you think.

Some questions come to mind if going with roller lifters in a Y,

1.) the lifter bore is round and has no provision to keep the roller aligned with the cam, what would need to be done, we wouldn't want the roller turning sideways on the cam. in order to place keepers on pairs of lifters the lifter would need to be much taller to stick out of the block and require shortened push rods.

2.) The lifters turning rotate the push rods, with rollers they would not turn, would this accellerate wear and require more frequent valve adjustment or would they wear less and require less adjustment.

Just some thoughts to stir more minds

55 Vicky & customline

58 Rack Dump, 55 F350 yard truck, 57 F100

59 & 61 P 400's, 58 F100 custom cab, 69 F100, 79 F150, 82 F600 ramp truck, 90 mustang conv 7 up, 94 Mustang, Should I continue?

Link bars as pictured above is one way of keeping the lifters from rotating.  Another method is a stud or protrusion in the lifter bore with an appropriately grooved lifter.  The SBF and scrubs use the 'dog bone' method with a 'spider' to keep the dog bones in place.

The pushrods not rotating on a street engine doesn't seem to be an issue for the factory equipped hyraulic roller cammed engines.  I'm sure a hardened pushrod tip and the appropriate hardness in the rocker arm would help though.

Lorena, Texas (South of Waco)

My Brother and I run the 302 HO with hyd lifters, and have no problem twisting to 7K..

It would be great to have hyd lifters for the Y.. Surley someone can drill the block, if your going to go as far as bore the lifter guides.. Just a thought..

Hey Ted, didn't see ya at the Bracket Finals at Texas Motorplex this last weekend.. There was a Red 57 Bird, turning 9.1 ET..

Brother and I own/operate 1957 Ford Fairlane 312/4x2 and two 1963 Falcons 302 rollers carburated 600cfm, FE427 sitting in shed..