Hydraulic vs solid cam for weekend cruiser, Pros and con Options

[914Sixer]

I know that the hydraulic is frowned on. All of the later type 4 motors went this route. Even the last Type 1 Beetles from Mexico went there too! The newest 911 are hydraulic.
I am not going racing just crusing in my 73 2.0. I know the power band is different but most of the driving will be under 4500 rpm. I plan on running some modified Hoffman AMC 2.0 heads, 94mm Euro pistons, 1.7 rockers with 911 swivel feet, solid rocker spacers and stock FI. Nothing exotic.

[ahdoman]

Mark,
I'll chime in hear since I currently own a 74 2.0 with hydro's. When I purchsed the car one of the hydros was airlocked. It took a lot of research to figure that out and I finally got the air out and it operates fine. I am really pretty happy with the hydros. I do not race or do AX but I do drive the car fairly hard. I currently have my engine out of the car and am beginning a minor clean and rebuild. I am going to keep my hydros because now that they have settled in they are really easy to live with. Here are a couple of tips I have found...
1) Use good synthetic oil. I run Royal Purple. All it takes is a little spec of dirt to clog a hydro. Synth helps to keep em clean.
2) Prior to changing the oil put a can of Marvel Mystery Oil in the case and drive it good for a couple of days. I usually try to put about 500 miles on the car once I've done that. The Marvel oil will help to loosen any of the gunk that may have clogged a lifter.
3) Supposedly you only have to adjust the hydros every 10k miles or so. I still check mine occasionaly. That has made it possible for me to find thier "happy place" for adjustment (mine is at about 1.25 turns past contact).
4) Here are a couple of web pages dedicated to hydros that help me a lot...
http://www.ratwell.com/technical/HydraulicLifters.html
http://www.bostonengine.com/articles/hydraulicll.htm

I like mine, I'm keeping them.

[anthony]

So for a weekend cruiser you are trying to save yourself 20 minutes a year on a valve adjustment?

The hydro is frowned upon because the cam is a big compromise in hp and torque. Get a Raby 9550 cam.

[markb]

I've had them in my 1.7 since I got it in 99, and they work just fine. Never had a problem.

[Johny Blackstain]

Mark,
I'll chime in hear since I currently own a 74 2.0 with hydro's. When I purchsed the car one of the hydros was airlocked. It took a lot of research to figure that out and I finally got the air out and it operates fine. I am really pretty happy with the hydros. I do not race or do AX but I do drive the car fairly hard. I currently have my engine out of the car and am beginning a minor clean and rebuild. I am going to keep my hydros because now that they have settled in they are really easy to live with. Here are a couple of tips I have found...
1) Use good synthetic oil. I run Royal Purple. All it takes is a little spec of dirt to clog a hydro. Synth helps to keep em clean.
2) Prior to changing the oil put a can of Marvel Mystery Oil in the case and drive it good for a couple of days. I usually try to put about 500 miles on the car once I've done that. The Marvel oil will help to loosen any of the gunk that may have clogged a lifter.
3) Supposedly you only have to adjust the hydros every 10k miles or so. I still check mine occasionaly. That has made it possible for me to find thier "happy place" for adjustment (mine is at about 1.25 turns past contact).
4) Here are a couple of web pages dedicated to hydros that help me a lot...
http://www.ratwell.com/technical/HydraulicLifters.html
http://www.bostonengine.com/articles/hydraulicll.htm

I like mine, I'm keeping them.

I have been dreaming of this for years, since I've been adjusting my valves for 33 years. Question: Did you replace your 2.0 w/ a bus 2.0 or did you have your engine modified for oil lifters? I heard once that the "gallies" have to be drilled out & then you can go hydro on any type 4. If you had it modified, who did the mods? Also, can anyone tell me what year did the 6 go hydro? Thanks. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/cool_shades.gif)

[Bleyseng]

Since you are in Texas, I assume its hot in Texas. So I would look at lowering my oil and head temps instead of the "ease of not adjusting the valves". The 9550 cam drops head and oil temps alot! Now that makes for a good weekend cruiser, nice safe cool engine temps while you drive 200 miles on a cruise.
If you run swivel feet the engine is really quiet anyway and doesn't seem to need adjustments just checking.

[Mark Henry]

I build engines and refuse to use hydro's, if a customer wants them I tell them to go elsewhere. I'd rather lose the job.
Type 1 or 4.

Even the last Type 1 Beetles from Mexico went there too!

...and they are (IMG:style_emoticons/default/stromberg.gif)

[Jake Raby]

I also refuse to use hydraulics.

Anyone too lazy to adhjust the valves in their engine should go buy a new Honda!

Do searches here, on the STE, Pelican and my forums to find out whyn they are so horrible.

My 4th Dimension Radio show this week will be on this topic, be sure to listen in!

I just went 100K miles without needing a valve adjustment with my 912E. The last time the valves were adjusted was 4 years ago this week!

The key is good solid parts, quality assembly and in my case cryogenic processes played a key role. I have a thread about this on my forums now with plenty of info.

Build it right and keep it cool and you can easily go 10K without an adjustement.

I will say that I have checked my valves every time I have changed the oil, but not a single one has needed an adjustment made!

Hydraulic lifters also need adjustments, contrary to popular belief!

[914Sixer]

I only asked, because I built a 2.0 motor with hydraulics in the late 80's and did not have any problems with it. I sold the car and then moved on to 6's. This is the 1st 4 I have built since then. I plan to go with the solid lifters at this point. I will be buying my parts from Jake. Len Hoffman should have my AMC heads ready next month.

[Johny Blackstain]

I realize it was 20 yrs ago, but could you elaborate on your 2.0 hydro build? Was it a bus engine or did you modify a type 4 for hydro & how? Thanks. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/cool_shades.gif)

[Brando]

Avoid hydros... The 2.0 I got (and rebuilt) came with hydros, and supposedly only had about 3k miles on it. Sat for less than a month... One lifter was already collapsed, another siezed. 2 out of 8 aint bad, right?

Scrapped 'em, decided on a raby 9550 cam and lifters (thanks again Jake!). Now I just need 0.02" chopped off of the cylinders and it's go time!

Go for what's tried and proven... Jake's cams and lifters. The extra hour every 6 months for a valve adjust with an oil change isn't going to kill you (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[SGB]

I rebuilt my 1973 2.0 engine 15 years ago and about 70,000 miles back, using a webcam hydraulic "street-grind" and webcam lifters. I had pushrods made to size. I put in swivel feet 911 adjusters (not Ford). I did not put in any spacers to lift the rocker arm. I also have dual 40IDA webers, and a couple of years ago replaced the .050 with a mallory unilite, got CBs tall manifolds, and put on SSI exhaust. I already had equal length extractor and Bursch muffler.

There have been a few times when the whole thing was a real problem. Carb work would get confusing b/c of a lifter not pumping up. or plug would foul b/c a lifter took too long to pump up, etc. The hydro lifter often had a bearing in whatever engine manifestation was going on. If the car is down for more than a few days, it will be noisy and have spotty behavior at startup, making other engine work more challenging.

That said, when they are right, they are quiet. But so are solids actually. At the end of the day, I wish I still had a solid lifter setup, but not b/c I am dissatisfied with the hydro, but it has an even smaller knowledge base than the regular teener.