Lifters and valve specifications - '63 144ci

[63Sedan]

I'm wondering if there's any advice for replacing the lifters on my '63, or is it pretty straight forward?
Something is off with the motor as far as drive-ability. I've thus far rebuilt the carb and rebuilt the distributor, adjusted the timing, there doesn't seem to be much else other than fuel (which is flowing just fine) and valve adjustment. I haven't yet tackled adjusting the valves as I'm looking for proper specifications, I've seen two different specs online. Can anybody give me the proper specs for this motor? I figured I'd go through the lifters first, since they are pretty cheap and I'm sure with the age of the car a few of them have failed by now.

[MacDee]

Um...
Replacing lifters requires removing the head.
I don't have the specs right offhand, but I can dig them out tonight and update tomorrow.

[Luva65wagon]

I wouldn't just throw in new lifters, since if they have failed - so has the cam. You'd want to do these both at the same time anytime you want to replace one or the other.

I'm not 100% up-to-speed on the valve-train on anything earlier than 65, which was all hydraulic, but others may know. I think a few of us have the aftermarket "everything you wanted to know about the Ford 6, but were afraid to ask" book, which will have these specs - but my copy is not here. I do know some had adjustable rockers and some do not, but I am not sure it was because some were solid lifters or not.

So, in essence, I'm being totally worthless to you at the moment. :(

[redfalken]

After you get the head off, you can use a strong magnet to pull the lifters out of their bore.

If you have hydraulic lifters, you could do like I did and just clean them up. They can be disassembled and soaked in Chem-Dip. Make sure the same lifter goes back in the same bore!

Also, don't mix up the parts from lifter to lifter when cleaning. Some of mine were pretty gummed up and hard to get apart but I eventually got them all done. There are several tiny parts inside the lifter so be careful! I lost a spring from one and ended up having to buy a new lifter. Seems to be doing OK so far!

While you have them out, check for wear. If they're too far gone, take Roger's advice and get new lifters and a new cam.

[63Sedan]

Thanks for the input everybody, I might just add a few drops of ATF to see if I can free up the sticking lifters for now and do a valve adjustment first to see if I can get things running properly. (Anybody have a chance to look up what the specs are?) Thanks.

[Luva65wagon]

Does anybody know for sure if they are hydraulic or not?

I got home way too late last night to look. I will look in my book tonight if nobody beats me to it.

[63Sedan]

I was figuring they were hydraulic just based on parts look up at autozone. Is there a difference in the rocker assembly between the two or anyplace else on the motor where I could determine if they actually are hydraulic?

[Luva65wagon]

According to the Schjeldahl Bible the 144 was solid lifter. Interestingly, this nifty little book (I have the 4th printing of 2001) doesn't tell you the valve adjustment specs on the 144 and 170 with solid lifters. So onto Google and found this:


The spec for mech lifters is .016" hot for intake and exhaust. Add .004 to the setting if you are setting them cold to allow for expansion when hot.

Set engine up on TDC # 1 cyl. now adjust both valves on # 1 cyl, Turn the crank (looking from the front of engine) clockwise 1/3rd of a turn and adjust both valves on # 5 cyl. Now repeat this for each cylinder following the firing order, order is 1, 5, 3, 6, 2, 4.

If you remove the distributor cap while diong this you will notice that each 1/3rd of a turn of the crank, the rotor will point to the appropriate plug lead position in the distributor cap for the cylinder you need to adjust the valves on .

Personally, this sounds too clean. I always adjusted valves with the engine hot and running and splashing oil all over my hands and the engine bay. ;)

[modified17]

I had a old truck with a 460 in it that had a lifter that was making a lot of noise and I put a quart of Marvelous Mystery Oil into it and after about 10 minutes it stop making any noise. You might give that a try.

[redfalken]

My trick with noisy lifters was to let the engine run a few minutes, shut it off for a few seconds and then start it back up. The noise usually went away. Learned that one from Gary MacD!

If you're rocker arms are non-adjustable, the lifters are hydraulic. If the rockers are adjustable, they are most likely solid lifters but...

A lot of stuff can happen to a 40+ year old car. I have hydraulic lifters with adjustable rockers. People sometimes do this when the block and/or head gets milled so they can compensate for the machining.

I've heard others have had good luck with Mystery Oil too. Might be a cheap fix!

[Luva65wagon]

Karsten (63Sedan) stopped by last night and I had a look at the car. It's neat. It was well after 9PM and getting dark by the time he got there, but it has some oddities about it he'll have to work through. It has the external rocker-arm oiler installed on it, I counted at least 3 (or was it 4) missing valve-cover bolts. He's rebuilt the carb, but it still sounds like that may have issues. I gave him a few suggestions of things to look at, but it looks to be original, so I suspect it is the 144. Should have grabbed a flashlight and poked around more.

We were also looking at the brake light issue, which I think is due to the brake plunger cam bolt possibly rotated to the high spot and not letting the push-rod retract fully. There was 0 play in the brake pedal. So that will likely solve the brake lights not going off when they should - but may also be the reason for odd brake behavior. The plunger has to fully retract - simple as that. I still supplied the alternate brake switch I bought from Pick and Pull, just in case. But I don't think he'll need it. He recently replaced the brake master (with the same fruit-jar version) and the hydraulic switch is fairly new.

Anyway, he's looking to get it running well so he can sell it. It's a pretty decent survivor car, so I think it will make anyone a nice little driver when he's ready to sell it.

[Jeff W]

I'm new... what is an "external rocker-arm oiler" ?

[Luva65wagon]

I've seen 'em on ebay a couple times. You tee off the oil-pressure switch port with a line that runs directly up to the rocker arm (drill ye-old hole in valve cover and keep it from seeping - and good luck with that) and now the rockers get all the oil they could ever want.

I think the rocker oiling is a "known issue" with these engines, and this was the "fix."

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=290360310460

[Jeff W]

I have never seen or heard of this modification. I guess you could get Artsy with the design of the feed tubes.