[68 nova dude]

finally got around to tearing down the engine,and like always, the only obstacle thus far is the stuck lifters. i rented the hydraulic lifter tool and its worked pretty good until the last 3 lifters left. i have used vise grips, a BFH! and a pry bar to remove them,,, and they do not want to budge at all. so, is there any other thing i can try to remove em'? i did spray some lubricant at the base of the lifter bore and im going to give it some time to soak in some. i do believe they are high enough to clear the camshaft to remove it. o yeah, sorry, im doing a camshaft swap. i have spent atleast 10 hours doing this, and only 3 to go. my back is killing me, lol. no joke tho. they must go now! so any ideas would be great, thanks.

 

[76 SS]

Did the rented tool have just a handle, or a slide hammer? The one I used had a slide hammer & it worked well, but one lifter was mushroomed on the bottom & I had to disassemble the engine & drive it out from the bottom.

 

[chuckha62]

The bottoms of the lifters are probably varnished. You might want to try a solvent to disolve or soften as much as possible, then pull them out. Spray around the lifters and let the solvent (PB Breaker, maybe?) run down the bores.

 

[D-Man]

You can always try a little heat around the lifter bore.:yes: Sometimes the heat will soften any varnish/baked on oil deposits and make things quite a bit easier.

 

[Lugnut79]

If they're high enough to clear the cam, pull the cam out then see if you can push them through from the top. Might have to give them a little tap tap tap-a-roo with a hammer.

 

[Paul Wright]

If it's varnish, Spray Brake cleaner down the lifter bore while rotating and pulling the lifter. If the ends are mushroomed and you force it out, you are running the risk of damage when the chips fall in the engine.

There's a basic rule in mechanics that says if it's hard to do, you are doing it wrong or using the wrong tool. Beating on things with hammers often causes secondary damage.

 

[68 nova dude]

the tool i rented is the sliding hammer type, like i said, it did its job pretty good, a little stubborn at times, but it worked. well, so far every lifter i have pulled out looked really good at the bottom, sides, and no mushroom or odd shapes on them. i can see a oil line up the side of the lifter, and im sure that is whats holding it in place tight. i do believe im going to try the propane torch approach and see if they come out that way. if i dont succeed in removing the lifters, i guess ill try to remove them from the top down. I just dont know if the oil pan can be removed from the bottom? and i can also check the oil pan for any metal particals if theres any in there. i really dont want to see much if theres any. 76SS? u said u had to disassemble the engine and drive it from the bottom, did u have to disconnect any conmnecting rods to push the lifter from the bottom up? or did u mean u took it all apart literally to push it up? if i can remove the oil pan, then i can just drive the lifters down, but i need to know if the lifter can get stuck somewhere else if i do so? thanks so much for the good advice, i sure do appreciate it. thanks so far, keep ya posted. and o yeah,,,, i really hope this doesnt happen to anyone else here on this site. thanks.

 

[ALLT4]

I might be crazy but I seem to remember running into this problem once. What I remember doing is turning the motor upside down on a stand, getting all the lifters popped up, or down so to speak since the motor was upside down. Worked the cam out then pushed the lifters into cam area. I'm not sure this is possible on all motors but it worked for me.

I suppose you could zip tie all the lifters up as far as possible and try the same.

 

[Paul Wright]

I think the engine is in the car and he has to get the lifters out for the cam swap. He won't want to use those lifters again anyway. If lifters are mushroomed real bad he may have to pull the engine.

 

[ALLT4]

Yeah but to get them out they slide down into the cam area rather easily. Of course if you can get the cam out.

 

[JRouche]

Im really liking the heat idea. If its varnished oil causing a grab. JR

 

[68 nova dude]

lifters are out!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

i really want to thank everyone for helping me out here. i believe it was a combination of tricks to getting them out. the tool, solvent lube spray,propane heat, and some muscle with good advice got them suckers! o yeah, what helped alot too was that i removed the lifter pin and top ball looking thing and the lifter tool had a much better grip on it. put a big smile on my face when the last one came out. :yes: if anyone plans on doing the same thing, make sure you dont drop the pin and ball inside one of the lifter bores. i almost did, that would have sucked. but i did place a big ol towel on the 2nd and 3rd time around to cover the hole entire top of the motor since the valve covers are off too. thanks again everyone! have a good one. and o yeah, if anything else i need help with, ill let you know. dont you just love a happy ending. i sure do!

 

[stock z/28]

Hi guys.

I have several different style lifter pullers, but I never use them.

In my experience, if I use choke cleaner and spray around the lifter as I slide it back up and down (I generally use pliers- duck bill-needle nose, or possibly snap ring pliers) and it still wont come out, I take it out the bottom.


I have found that if you remove all of the lifters you can, from the top, the lifters that wont come will generally stick high enough in the bore to allow you to carefully slide the cam out.

I have a piece of plastic pipe that I cut in two lengthwise (but I have used cardboard bent to it in the cam tunnel) and then I tap the lifter down into the pipe and slide it out, generally one lifter at a time.

I will never pull a lifter that has surface failed (bad lobe on cam) out the top with any tool that applies much pressure.

I have seen several cases where the bores were groved fairly bad with this type of puller. I dont care for this at all.


Generally if I am taking an engine apart that has much wear on it I pull the pistons/rods and the crank, and then pull the lifters as high as I can, slide the cam out and tap them through the bottom. Generally takes about 5 min..


Good Luck

Jeff