Sportsman Bracket Drag Racing Basics

Building Your Own Motor

The Valve lifter is a multifunction Item. It rides on the Camshaft Lobe to open and close the Valve via a Pushrod and Rocker Arm. It also is a path for which oil is taken to the Rocker Arm and Valve in most Motors. (Some Motors supply oil to the Rocker Arms and Valves in other ways) There are 2 different types of Valve Lifters. There are Hydraulic and Solid Lifters. NOTE: If you ever remove the Camshaft from the Motor and plan to use them again, you will want to keep them organized so that the Lifters will go back on the same Lobe of the Camshaft they were on in the Motor. Once the Motor is started the Cam and Lifters are Mated and should never be changed around. You can ruin a good Camshaft by moving Lifters from their respected mated surface.

A Hydraulic Lifter has a plunger and spring inside it and is used in most Production Motors. There are special Valve Lifters for Racing. You can get a Anti-Pumpup Lifter, it is used for extremely high RPMs. There are also Valve Lifters made for better Low End Torque. The thing about a Hydraulic Valve Lifter is that they hardly ever need Adjusting. The Adjustment is made at the Rocker Arm and not on the Valve Lifter itself.

A Solid Valve Lifter is just what it sounds like. It is Solid, but still has oil holes to feed the Rocker Arms and Valves. This kind of Valve Lifter needs to be checked frequently, as parts will wear and Adjustment will be needed. As with Hydraulic Lifters, they are Adjusted at the Rocker Arms. There is usually a small clearance between the Valve Stem and the Rocker Arm, say .017. You have to have clearance with Solid Lifters, as if you do not have Clearance, that would mean that the Valve would not close all the way. As a Rule of Thumb: The narrower the Gap between the Rocker Arm and the Valve, the more top end power can be achieved. Once again, you have to have some clearance as the Valve has to close all the way. Sometime a Manufacturers will tell you to set the Intake Valves at one setting for clearance and the Exhaust Valves for another setting. This is to get the most out of the their Camshaft.

As far as Roller Lifters Go, they are basically the same as the two styles I just talked about except they have a roller on the end of them. This allows the Valve Lifters to follow the Camshaft Lobe, with less Friction. The Camshaft Profile can be changed to get more Horsepower out of the Motor by keeping the Valves open longer. Unlike regular Valve Lifters, Roller Lifters can be used over again and on different lobes with no problem. NOTE: You cannot us Roller Lifter on a regular cam and you cannot use a regular Valve Lifters on a Roller Cam.

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