Mine are going bad. How hard is it to change them?

I almost wana take this on myself since me and brandland from here did my supercharger, and I think it's a pretty easy task to take the heads off.

But how hard is it to change the lifters themselves? What do I need. new lifters and head gaskets?

All input would be great.

Thanks,
Ryan

 

Lifters, head gaskets and head bolts (use once).

If you haven't, think about replacing the bearings on the rockers.

 

have you ever had to do this?

 

Yup.

Twice.

1st time I used RHOADS lifters which were noisy.

2nd time decided to quit screwing around and got a set of MORELs.

 

know of any good videos showing lifter failure? I'm pretty sure it's not an exhaust leak.... cause I have a little one

But I'm not sure. And I dont wana blow my motor

 

Not really, but I was surprised to find out that they can **** bearings just like the rockers.

Also, some people had problems with the Cad "racing " lifters.

My thought's on those were with a loppy cam (over 0.6xx lift) the base circle would be smaller and allow the lifter to drop further in the bore and then it would lever on the edge of the bore because of the long shroud on the lifter causing the cracks.

 

i have a baby cam in mine...... that's why I was kinda suprised

 

Sucks chasing leaks.

A lifter can "go bad" by having some bad plumbing and getting "pumped" which will cause a leak.

 

what about the lifters themselves? do they just come out and go back in?

 

Yup.

Some have replaced them with linked types so they can't rotate.

There is a retainer/tray that you have to remove but it is no big deal.

I used a magnetic wand to remove the lifter.

 

Don't forget the assembly lube

 

Save yourself the unnecessary expense and go with the LS7 lifter kit for $120. The trunion kit is also unnecessary unless you are over .600" lift or have early LS1 rockers before they were updated. You will have to get the LS2 style lifter tray's while you're at it since they are a little different and the trays prevent the lifters from rotating, causing damage. Here's what I got when I did mine...
12595365 - lifter tray $5.51 (ea)
12499225 - lifters $110.00
12589226 - hd gasket $17.57 (or get the LS9 gaskets)

Also, if you are doing this in the car, do not use the stock TTY bolts, get the ARP head bolts instead. Its enough of a pain in the *** having to lean over the fender and torque the head bolts in place without having to worry if you went 50* instead of 70*.

Also, no assembly lube needed. Soak all of the new lifters in a bucket of oil for a few hours before install. I actually soak everything (lifters, pushrods, rockers, etc) and take everything out as assembled.

 

If you use the stock head bolts, use a Sharpie and draw a line on the head of the bolt so you will know how far you turned/torqued it.

 

I agree the ls7 lifter set, that is what I went with, and no problems

 

ls7 lifters are where it's at.

 

I would (have) get the Comp trunion upgrade. I've heard of a couple people spitting rocker arm bearings. They're only $125. I never had a problem with te Comp-R lifters. Get the "How to rebuild LS engines" book. It has step by step instruction with pictures and torque specs.

Lifters
Head gaskets
Head bolts
Push rods
Trunion upgrade
1 gal dexcool
Oil