The lifters on this specific engine are hydraulic. Hydraulic lifters get their name by filling with engine oil on engine startup and then compressing/decompressing as they move up and down over the camshaft. This makes for a much quieter and smooth-running engine. A retainer clip on the top of a hydraulic lifter holds in the internal parts.
Solid lifters are as named: solid. They have a cone on the top to accept the pushrod but no internal parts, thus no retaining clip.
You can learn if your engine has solid or hydraulic lifters by shining a flashlight down the pushrod hole. If there is a retaining clip on the top of the lifter, they are hydraulic.
This is not needed if you did your homework on the identification because the block’s numbers tell you which type you have. Cars usually had hydraulics and trucks always had solids.
The head assembly after cleaning the rockers. Once cleaned, it’s important to refit to make sure you have all rockers and shims in the exact spot they were in before disassembly. Spray all that pretty, clean metal with WD-40 for safe keeping.
Lifters
Load each lifter one at a time into the small parts cleaner, making sure to keep the parts together and not mix them with any of the others. My first three didn’t have retainer clips, so I substituted a 3/4-inch snap-ring retainer from one of my boxes. The edge of the retainer may need to be carefully ground down, so it is away from the pushrod, but it’s a very solid fix.
These hydraulic lifters may have been the originals; you can see the wear patterns. With a thorough cleaning, they could be reused without problems.
The cleaning product Simple Green can be your friend in the shop. This stuff even cuts through the pitch left on saw blades when woodworking. It works great for removing residual kerosene.
Once the parts are cleaned using kerosene and a soft brush, soak them overnight in Simple Green cleanser. This removes all the petroleum-based contaminants so you start off with fresh metal. Use a soft, green Scotch-Brite pad for cleaning, rinsing each part carefully and applying some engine oil to all the surfaces.
Lifter Reassembly
With oil all over everything, including inside the lifter housing, turn the inner lifter barrel upside down and place the ball bearing over the hole, then place the ball bearing cover over the top of it. I like to drip a little oil over this assembly to sort of make everything stick together.
Next, place the tension spring on top of the ball bearing cover. Everything should go together perfectly. If it doesn’t, you are doing something wrong.
Now, while balancing the inner housing, ball bearing, ball bearing cap, and tension spring in one hand, turn the lifter housing upside down and gently twist it down over the assembly. It should be smooth until you feel some hydraulic resistance. Most of the resistance is from air being trapped between the two barrels. With a very small, thin tool (I used the plastic straw from a WD-40 can), push on the ball bearing just a little until you feel the resistance burp away.
From left to right: tension spring, ball bearing cover, pushrod cap, inner lifter barrel, ball bearing, and lifter housing. Not shown is the 3/4-inch snap-ring retainer. After a thorough cleaning, the parts look practically new.
Keeping a little downward pressure on the assembly, place it on a flat surface and fill the inner lifter barrel to the top with engine oil. Place the pushrod cap over the top. This cap pushes down below the surface of the lifter housing. Place the snap ring in the pliers and hold it over the pushrod cap, push down on the assembly using a pushrod so that the cap is sufficiently below the surface of the lifter housing to get the snap ring to engage. (Keep in mind that most lifters have their own retaining spring that is much easier to install, but I am telling you this just in case you run into what I did.)
You should have one fully loaded, fully burped, serviceable hydraulic lifter. Now do that 11 more times. When finished, find a nice container that you can use to hold all 12 of them and be able to fill it with engine oil over the top of the lifters.
These lifters are fully assembled and ready for reinstallation, it’s a good idea to soak the parts in oil for safe keeping. This keeps them filled with oil, which is a good way to start the first engine runup.
For this build, the machine shop decided that it would cost the same amount to purchase new hydraulic lifters as it would cost to resurface the old ones ($7.50 each). With that in mind, I just had the shop order new ones. The effort was not wasted, I learned something new!
Pushrods
You need to test the pushrods (mine were also in the box) to be sure they are perfectly straight and that each end is in the proper condition to be used. To do this, you find a perfectly flat surface (glass is good) and roll them across your work table or bench, watching for any wandering or out-of-straight condition. If they are not straight, do not try to bend them back; just get new ones.
The machine shop advised that these be replaced due to very small pits in the metal. These rods get a lot of abuse and the worry of failure is too likely.
Next, carefully inspect each end to make sure the little hole in the center is pronounced and clean. If there is any residue in the center, clean it thoroughly so that its surface is shiny and smooth. You can go the extra mile and clean the entire length with Scotch-Brite or similar pads. Test for straightness one last time.
In this rebuild, I was not happy with the condition of five of the pushrods. One had a very significant wear spot that reduced the diameter and the others were slightly bent. Luckily, I had a box of old pushrods from other Stovebolts and found five perfect replacements. This engine has 11¼-inch pushrods.
Even after all that, the machine shop wasn’t comfortable with some of the pitting, so new rods were obtained for this engine. This is why you should box up everything and take it to the machine shop for a proper inspection. My collection of pushrods is getting bigger!
The 1954–1962 235/261 engines used 11¼ × 5/16-inch pushrods. Never try to straighten a bent rod. The metal has memory, and it won’t be long before it fails again. New ones cost about $7, and it is cheap insurance to replace those that are pitted, bent, or cracked.
The lifter end of the pushrod is shiny due to its metal-to-metal contact. The hole in the center is to allow for a small amount of oil.
The design of the rocker end of the pushrod captures the rocker assembly so everything stays straight and true. The indention allows for a small amount of oil.
Rocker Assembly
The rocker assembly is bolted on top of the head and consists of two shafts, the rockers, the springs, etc. This is the assembly for adjusting your valves. It goes together in only one correct way. Getting