Flathead Ford valve train questions

hotcoupe

hotcoupe

Well-known member
Hello, I took a "59" block to the machine shop recently along with some new internal components, among the supplied parts were a set of N.O.S. Ford hollow lifters. I'm a little gun shy of the current Johnson style lifters, improper material or heat treatment, causing the lifters to fail. My question is, do I need to use a custom length valve, I speced a Manley 1.6" Pro- flow valve. Does anyone have any practical experience in this situation.
Thanx,
Tom
 
hotcoupe said:
Hello, I took a "59" block to the machine shop recently along with some new internal components, among the supplied parts were a set of N.O.S. Ford hollow lifters. I'm a little gun shy of the current Johnson style lifters, improper material or heat treatment, causing the lifters to fail. My question is, do I need to use a custom length valve, I speced a Manley 1.6" Pro- flow valve. Does anyone have any practical experience in this situation.
Thanx,
Tom
Click to expand...

You are right in not using adjustable lifters.
The lifters you should use are the OEM STEEL ones with ONLY two 5/32 holes in the side. NOT the ones with the slots.
If you are using an original stock cam the Manley valves should be long enough to grind to proper length.
If you need to add some length, you can put Eutectic 16FC rod on with a torch or you can TIG weld 347 stainless on the tips.
 
Pete, just to be clear, the hollow lifters (pictured below) are not appropriate for a mild street engine application. I always thought the lighter weight would be a benefit. I'm always interested in your comments.
Tom
 

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The ones with the slots ran from 1932 to 1940 when Ford changed. As far as I can tell that was awful lot of cars and racers that never had any trouble. Just saying.
 
For street use, I like to use the valve rotators. I've used these on the Max #1 cam and so far (15 years) they work fine. It's just a stock 258, not sure how many miles ont, Have to call him and ask.
Gramps
 
hotcoupe said:
Pete, just to be clear, the hollow lifters (pictured below) are not appropriate for a mild street engine application. I always thought the lighter weight would be a benefit. I'm always interested in your comments.
Tom
Click to expand...

The ones with slots are cast iron and prone to breaking with a performance cam.
It is not a metal compatibility problem.

The steel ones, identified by two 5/32 holes in the side, first appeared in 1932
and are lighter than the cast iron ones.
 
Pete said:
The ones with slots are cast iron and prone to breaking with a performance cam.
It is not a metal compatibility problem.

The steel ones, identified by two 5/32 holes in the side, first appeared in 1932
and are lighter than the cast iron ones.
Click to expand...
527099
 
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