valve lifters, big dissapointment Options

[Elliot_Cannon]

Hi,
Finally get the 2.2 installed in my 73. I needed to get the 44idf carbs adjusted and and valve train was making a lot of noise. I took it back to the engine builder yesterday to have these adjustments made. I get a call from them this morning saying that they have to take the engine back apart because the cam had been worn down. Something about bad lifters! This on an egnine that cost me $7000.00 and had LESS THAN 20 MILES ON IT. These folks are supposed to be THE VW engine builders on the west coast. So now I have to go back up to their shop, drive the car home, remove the engine and bring it back up to them. Sorry to rant here but my wife is tired of hearing about the car.
Elliot

FAT PERFORMANCE (IMG:style_emoticons/default/fighting19.gif)

[Jake Raby]

I made this post yesterday on Pelican....

I have intentionally floated the lifters severely with no issues. as you will read below if you float your valves, someone either can't drive, doesn't have a rev limiter, or has mis figured their valve mass.


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I built the VERY FIRST aircooled street engine to EVER use these lifters- it was a Type I.

Go to my website at www.aircooledtechnology.com and look in my archives for my burnot video with that engine installed in my Blue Bug. That burnout lasted for over 2.5 minutes and I saw constant revs over 7500 RPM. The tach sat at 9,000 RPM for atleast 5 solid seconds. If you listen closely to the engine I miss 2 shifts and you can hear valve float. That was probably well over 9,500 RPM (thats where my valves were calculated to float with the mass of the valve train and the spring tensions used and matched to the camshaft profile) My memoory tach bumped over 10K 3 times!

The same engine was dynoed for 2 solid days when I assembled it and I PURPOSELY FLOATED THE VALVES TO TEST THE LIFTERS ON THE DYNO! since the lifters are the heaviest part of the valvetrain, lightening them is key to making higher revs using less spring tension. This engine made 230 BHP on my dyno- I drove the hell out of it, and now I have sold it, and it still runs great.

Shawn Geers, a well known VW dragracer had a failure with these lifters 4-5 years ago. From what I see his engine was not set up correctly for them and he severely floated his valves.

A correctly configured engine will retain valve control atleast 2K RPM over its powerband. If you can float the valves that easily, don't even build another engine till you figure how to calculate valvetrain mass, and understand the purposes of lighter components, and their important role in valve control.

I think enough about these lifters to put my reputation behind them 100%. I have seen what they can do, and put them to the test. I have torn race engines down using them that had ZERO CAM OR LIFTER WEAR AFTER A FULL SEASON OF 7,000 RPM TWISTING.

Building an engine with ceramics is noticeably different, it even turns by hand easier! Hell I have used 3 DIFFERENT CAMSHAFTS with the SAME set of lifters trying to free UP HP in ONE engine. hat WILL NEVER happen with a conventional lifter.

Guess what Formula 1 series valves are made of??? You got it, ceramics! Guess where the ceramic technology came from- Formula 1 in the earlier days.

If you want flames, I will happily provide the facts that will extinguish your fire. Sir, before doubting components- Test them yourself, or listen to those who have and can provide you with the accurate, first hand information to support their feelings.


These lifters run quieter, last indefinately, are lighter, don't go flat, the pushrod caups are made into them, and are located higher on the lifter for a shorter pushrod to be used which also makes the valvetrain lighter. The lifters have a smaller oil passage incorporated into them to reduce the amount of oil taht ends up in the rocker boxes. Stock dumps way too much in that area. heck, the engine don't even need a cam break in. Just fire it up and let it idle!

If they had ZERO benefits other than the fact that they didn't go flat I'd still use them!! If they cost 600 bucks per engine I'd still buy them for mine!

Until you have had a cam go flat, you don't kniow what the pain feels like. When it happens you just bought all new bearings, and an oil pump, and pssibly a crankshaft as well, since all that cast iron will extrude hone the engine internals. May as well dump 2 handfulls of silica sand in the oil sump- its the same difference.

The cam is the second assembly that drops into the engine. Its the second to last to be removed in a tear down.

Is it worth 400 bucks to ENSURE that you don't have to go back into that engine for a cam issue- HELL YES!


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