Lifter removal

Good evening everyone. I drive a 1979 Firebird with a 301 mated to a th350 trannie. I bought a new cam and lifter set and im in the process of putting it in. But i have ran into a problem. Just as i had thought, it looks like some of the lifters might have seized up (but i hope not). Also, the rest of the lifters are a pain in the ass and wont budge more than a 1/4 inch :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: . Any ideas on how to get them out? Should i just pull the cam and punch them out into the oil pan? Thanks in advance

Matt :rofl:

does anyone have any hints, tips or tricks about getting lifters out????

if your not gonna keep them just kick the shit out of them to get them out just dont damage your block

i dont want them to fall into my oilpan tho. Then it just becomes difficult. Should they be this hard to get out??? :chair:

no

but the only other lifters i have removed were a smallblock chevy which was out of the car and on a stand and they all slid out nicly when it was tilted upside down

The only other thing that i can think of is to slowly slid the camshaft out and push the lifters out one by one, catching them so they dont go into the oil pan...

yah you could do that

rotate the cam... the lifters shouldnt have the push rods on them...
when the cam rotates the lifter should push up, grab a pair of vice grips and clamp down on the fucker and yank!
even if these came out easly with no damage i would strongly recomend not using them with a new cam, cam and lifters come in a set for a reason, there mated to eachother,
are these the stock lifters or aftermarket hydraulic ones your trying to get out?

They are stock lifters and cam. Probably the original one from 1979. An old lady owned the car until i bought it. When i rotate the cam, not all the lifters come up. And yes i did rotate it a couple of times. Will using visegrips crush the lifter? Ive just tried pliers, not vicegrips. Ill give it a shot tomorrow morning,

nah vise grips wont crush them, there very strong, they arnt seized either, if they were seized the cam would probally snap and your engine would blow, just turn the crank so there is no pressure on the lifter then tap on the lifter with a hammer until it touches the cam and work it loose like that then try to yank it out with the vise grips
good luck

Thanks bud, ill let you know how it turns out :smokin: :p

the reason why they might be so tight is because there could be a bur thats pinching the lifter to the block when you get the lifter out rub your finger along the hole and feel for burs, if u feel one for a metal shaving perhaps just take a file and on an angle file it off, then clean it make sure no file shaving are left and put the new cam in

right on. will do. thanks for the info

hey did the lifters come out?

Good news. The lifters and camshaft are finally out. Im just putting the new one in now. Is there anything i should do before i put the new camshaft and lifters in?

yes, yes there is,
did u change the cam bearings?
it would be a good idea to pop the old bearings out and replace them,
when installing the cam, make sure you grease up that cam good with the lube that comes with the cam, if there isnt any that came with it then u can buy some wheel baring lub that will work, also when sliding it in, make sure the bearings are lubed also, everytime u hit a bearing rotate the cam around to work the lub around then side it in to the next bearing and repeat till its all the way in,
when istalling the lifters give a generous amount of lub to the lifters and push them up and down till there slick
if u got any questions just ask!

Ummm, i think i made a boo boo. I cant remember which way my distributor was facing when i took it out. I forgot to mark it... Oh dear.

How can i find out if my number 1 cylinder is TDC? Isnt that where it should have been when i took the cam out? I let my brother work on it and he rotated the cam around.

where should i use silicon when i put the engine back together. I also have a complete gasket set. should i use it with the gaskets?

stick your finger inside the #1 spark plug hole and turn the crank until the piston can go up no more, that your top dead center, then point the rotor (the dirsributor rotor) at the # 1 piston then replace the cap with the #1 fire faceing the piston

Ok, everything is put back together, and all assembled. I turned the car over ( does this quite well). It doesnt want to catch. There is also a slight knocking coming from the engine.

your timing is off, rotate the distributor, while cranking the engine to get her to fire

so take the spark plug wires, and rotate them all one place to the right?

no no dont do that
take the whole distriburor cap and turn it slowly till it fires

It looks like my valves arent opening. Everything is turning, maybe i torqued the rocker bolts a little too much and its not allowing the valve to open. Maybe the noise is from the piston hitting the valve.... any ideas?

i dont know of any pontiac engines have adjustable valves so u didnt overtighten them, the rocker arms only go so tight then u cant tighten anymore, how do u know the valves arnt opening, take a valve cover off and turn the engine over, see if they move up and down,
remember everything is interconnected in an engine, if they valves arnt moving up and down then that means your cam is not turning to put the valves up and down, and if your cam isnt turning then your crank isnt making the cam turn.... did you set your timing when you put yer new crank in? u know the timing chain did u set it or just throw it back on?

There is a knock coming from the engine. I got my brother to turn the car over as i watched with the valve cover off. All the assecories are turning. But it looked like the valves werent opening (as i didnt see the pushrods move up and down). I did set the timing, crank, cam and distributor. Maybe the timing is off, no oil getting in ( as it has been sitting for 6 months. I did grease everything up well. Used a while tube of gear lube), no spark (but why knocking???). Im stumped....

i dont know what the knocking is, it can be anything, did u check the oil levels?

try rotating the distributor 190 degrees from the mark you have now, u might have the fireing order backwards, chevy and pontiac's fireing order is backwards