converting solid lifter to hydraulic

Criswell

im sure this has been covered before, im pretty sure i even seen it, but i did a search and couldnt find exactly what i was looking for so im going to ask ... i have a 2000 cc engine, that i thougth had hydraulic lifters, i bought all new hydr. lifters b/c i wanted to freshen things up and figured i may as well replace them all so i didnt need to worry about replacing 1 at a time sometime in the near future to find a bad one ... well, the engines apart now, and its solid lifter ... cam and lifters both look incredible, and i noticed it was reman by vw cuz theres a little sticker on it that says so ... but ... i still want to put the hydraulic lifetrs in ...
i know im gonna need pushrods too b/c there a little shorter (if im not mistaken) on the hydraulic lifter setup .. theyd almost have to be b/c they sit higher up on the lifter.
do i HAVE TO replace the cam too? it looks perfect .
I thought i saw somewhere that one was made of a stronger steel or something ???
i remeber seeing a post from jake raby,and i know hes very knowledgable (even though everyones friend papoon dont like him), saying they werent good b/c it promotes laziness or something , cuz people dont check them ... but i really dont think its practical for me to adjust them every 1500 miles ... i work 6 days a week and i dont want to have to readjust them every other week on my day off ...i want soemthing thats going to be semi maintenence free...
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Mike
78 Westy 2.0 Hydraulic Lifter

Amskeptic · Posted: Sat Sep 06, 2003 7:23 pm Post subject:

Hydraulic lifters have to be used with a hydraulic camshaft. The reason you cannot use a solid lifter camshaft with hydraulic lifters is because the solid lifter camshaft has a different cam grind to "take up" the valve lash gently. If you used hydraulic lifters on that profile, you'd have hydraulic lifters that didn't have enough reason to adjust their lengths correctly as the engine dimensions change, because they would not know what "base circle" was.
You do not have to adjust the valves every 1,500 miles with the solid lifters. Factory recommended interval is 6,000 miles, most of us who care will do them at the oil change. It is an easy maintenance item, and don't think your hydraulic lifters won't give you irritating little coniptions themselves, they will. They will clatter like an old diesel if you don't start it every few days, the hydraulic lifters will sometimes collapse because they feel like it, and if you accidently piss off an exhaust valve that decides to stretch and later on snap off, YOU WON'T KNOW ABOUT IT, because your dutiful stupid lifter will hide this important information from your oblivious bliss. WHEREAS, if you were adjusting your own valves like a real man, you'd stop and say, hey, that valve has diminished its clearance two tune-ups in a row, I'm going to investigate and save my engine from a tragic horrible traumatic instant death.
Other than that, hydraulics are fine for sissies who wear white dresses.
Colin : - ] ]

Criswell · Posted: Sat Sep 06, 2003 7:57 pm Post subject:

thank you ... someone finally gave me a good answer why it needs to match ... the weird thing is though .... from matching up my engine # to what it says in the idiot guide ... im certain its supposed to be a hydr lifter engine ....it is ge o4 ah dammit, i forget ....but 6000 aint nothin ....i thought i was gonna be doin it every other week ...lol
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Mike
78 Westy 2.0 Hydraulic Lifter

ratwell · Posted: Sat Sep 06, 2003 10:41 pm Post subject:

See my posts from this old thread for more information on compatibility.
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'78 Westfalia CDN
'76 Doublecab
Read the Baywindow FAQ

Criswell · Posted: Sun Sep 07, 2003 7:43 am Post subject:

actually, im going to stick with the solids now that i know its 6000 miles, i can live with that ...1500 i couldnt ... im glad i was mistaken. i dont have to worry about the pumpin up ticking blah blah blah associated with the hydraulics. maybe ill switch someday down the road, when i service the engine , when i have a cam and the whole shebang. i still want to switch sometime, but for now im set at ease enuff to be able to "deal with it" for now .. lol ... heck , maybe till then ill change my mind and decide to stick with solids, they cant be all that bad if everyone swears by them ... so well just have to see how it goes ... i am somewhat mechanicaly inclined. i just dont liek to do more work than is nessesary if i dont have to . that was why i wanted to go the hydraulic route. oh well, i just want my baby drivable. the week i got to drive it w/o needing inspection due to title transfer , made me real antsy
_________________
Mike
78 Westy 2.0 Hydraulic Lifter

casey79westfalia · Posted: Sat Sep 13, 2003 8:27 pm Post subject:

good choice stick with the solids you will get much more life out of your engine as long as you keep it properly adjusted.

JamesT · Posted: Sun Sep 14, 2003 10:39 pm Post subject:

Yep.. good old solids saved my ass once. Well.. not mine, but my dad's. In his truck, after investigating the strange noise and huge gap, we found a valve seat had come loose. We pulled the 1800cc motor, replaced the head, sold the engine and put a rebuild 2000cc motor that is actually famous around here in. It was called Hilmar's last engine. This VW guy out of tofino who rebuild almost everyone's engine out there. He built this motor for his bus, but he died soon after. The motor was left to his assistant, who traded it to my dad for some parts. Anywho, long story not so long, the solids gave us an oppertunity to make some money as well as replce the motor in the truck.
_________________
-James T

1968 Kombi (Weekend warior project)
1982 Rabbit Pickup (Forever a project)

fes · Posted: Tue Mar 15, 2011 5:06 pm Post subject:

Wow, this really stirs up some emotions for me,
Hilmar Hajek was like my dad when i lived in Tuff city, he taught me everything i know about VWs, Before i decided to move back east we decided to do a dual port conversion on my '69, long story short,(which i will be happy to share) he had his stroke when i was there for a long weekend, i saw him off to the hospital, went to see him in his last days before he passed, His assistant would have been Lance,Claudia
That bus, which he sold me for $800 is now the one i am trying to restore right now in in Newfoundland,
Rest in piece my old friend HH Auto,
P.s if anybody has stories, i'd love to share over some "high test" and a "snort of Wiesers"

Wildthings · Samba Member Joined: March 13, 2005 Posts: 50350

The way Dan Hall (well known Portland machinist) explained it to me was that hydraulic lifters would run okay on a solid lifter cam, but might not have quite the lift as they would with a hydraulic cam. Solid lifters on a hydraulic cam supposedly had both a wear and noise issue and was a no no.

An attentive person should be able to notice a valve problem with hydraulics before it causes serious engine damage. I noticed a keeper problem on a 2.0 I picked up as it had caused a lessening of valve spring pressure and thus over pumping of the lifters.

With a well set up and tuned engine you shouldn't have much change in the valve adjustment with solids from adjustment to adjustment. Just a little loosening from valve stem end wear. By adding swivel adjusters this will be lessened so you are down to almost no change at all over 6000 miles. Start with sorry head work or let your engine overheat and all bets are off.

Hoody · Samba Member Joined: November 28, 2007 Posts: 1948

Which is why Jake has not used hydraulics for a very long time. Laziness promotes failure.Sounds like someone gave that engine some thought and love. Button her back up properly.

Bleyseng · Posted: Wed Mar 16, 2011 5:00 am Post subject:

1977_L63H_P27 · Posted: Wed Mar 16, 2011 7:42 am Post subject:


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