Good call on the flimsy shafts. We typically never bled anything for reassembly and simply torqued the shafts down incrementally till you could see the lifters plunger start sinking into the body of the ones which were sitting up higher as a result of being on the nose of the cam lobe. And if the unit was torqued a bit too fast it simply lifted the valve off the seat a bit rather than bending pushrods. That's when you knew to slow down and let them bleed off a bit before continuing with the torque process. Have to use a little common sense with these shaft designs. But if you're bending pushrods while the shaft is being seated into the stands and lifter isn't being colapsed quick enough?.. then you will surely have problems when the lifter tries to actually open the valve which takes even greater pressure than just collapsing the lifter itself. IIRC, the cams in these things are so small along with taller compression/quench heights that you could never touch a valve to the piston even if you torque the shaft while that particular cam lobe is at full height. The valve just stands open very quickly due to the tiny spring pressures on these heads, at least until the lifter collapses and then the valve sinks back down. And not to nitpick, but unless the lifters were still well oiled from the disassembly?.. I would never install them with assembly lube only on the crown itself. The whole lifter AND the bore itself should be lubed well to buy the necessary time it still takes to get oil back into the shafts, through the pushrods to fill the lifters again to also allow the bores to be relubed around the oil band. You can never overlube cams and lifters prior to engine startup if the system hasn't been prelubed. Even prelubing won't completely save you since most all engine wear occurs at startup prior to oil pressure filling all the voids that are created from oil drain back and building the protective film still takes a few seconds or more. Just basic backyard engine building 101 right there.
As you state the whole lifter and bore itself needs to be lube well when installed...its basic engine building 101. But we are talking about building a inline six. The rocker arm is not oiled through the pushrod like the V8...it gets it oil from the rocker arm shaft by way of the rear rocker arm shaft pedestal support. The 170-200 inline six has a 8 5/16" long pushrod ( 250 pushrod is 9 5/16")...almost an inch or two longer than a V8 pushrod making them easier to bend. No where in the shop manual does it say to fill lifters with oil. It does say remove test fluid from lifters before installing.
So I think it's pretty well understood by everyone that the entire lifter (and lifter bores) should be lubed, but not "pumped up" before installation.
I surely understand what was said just as much as I understand what had worked for me in the past as well. BUT.. in my defense.. it was many years ago that I rebuilt and hopped those little motors up so I would trust Jeff's advice listed above without much issue. IMO, this previously run in cam/lifters should be fine but I done this motor stuff for far too long to ever install dry lifters ever again. The spring pressures of lifted lobes will still bleed off how much they want to get the job done in the end. Was only trying to help out with firsthand experience and convey what has worked for me and others who have and still do this stuff to flip cars and make extra cash on the side. YMMV and there's more than one way to skin the same cat.
When I said "dry", I meant internally (not pumped up). I know I should have clarified that, as "dry" implies no lube whatsoever, which is certainly not what I meant.
I removed the lifters to inspected them. the previous owner installed new valves and head gasket. I drove the car about 50 miles and it started running bad. I checked the oil and found it was milky. Removed valve cover and rocker assy. to pull head and found valve float occurred. he installed new valves with old springs, no lapping etc.. just a real crappy job. Head bolts were not torqued to proper spec and took little to no effort to break bolts loose. Surface of block was not prep. and had grease, old sealant and debris sandwiched between head and block. A real shitty job. This guy saw me cumin. the lifters are all new and no damage or cupping occurred. My son and I obtained this car very cheap so I'm not all that pissed off. I at least made it home with the car and had plans of working on it anyway. I had to cut all 12 valve stems with a whiz wheel to remove them. I did call him and tell him he should sell his tools in a garage sale and pick up a new hobby like needle pointing or something.
Eventually the comet will get a v8. First my son needs to prove he is responsible enough as a driver before he gets a 302. Besides I still need to finish the 302 transplant in my Rambler.
lol.. good one! I have said far worse than that because I too have bought these type of cars a few times as well and is primarily why I won't even buy something that a backyard mechanic has "rebuilt". Not that there aren't some good mechanics out there.. just too many potential corners being cut for the sake of profit and quick sales. I try not to even buy cars that have been repainted either.. but that's getting tougher and tougher to find as the years go by. need to have a keen eye and ears more than ever. Good luck with it.
