+1...

If ya don't get the air out, you will have problems on startup. It will run with four collapsed lifters until they fill, IF it makes it that far. When I did my cam support plate upgrade, my lifters were full, but when I did the test run an air bubble worked its way thru the empty cam support plate and new oil pump. About a mile up the road, one of the lifters collapsed, and ran like hell till I got back home. Shut it down, and thought for a min or two, then restarted and it pumped back up again. Lucky for me!

I didn't see anything in your post about installing or using adjustable pushrods, so I won't bother telling you that with adj pushrods it will be difficult to get them adjusted properly without oil in the lifters. But, I will keep my fingers crossed for ya!

 

I am using adjustable push rods!! everything is installed also.. we have not fired it up as of yet. so from what im reading here I should remove the rods and pull out the lifters and fill um up?

 

If it were me, I would. In order to set the push rods correctly, they need to have oil in them (the lifters).

 

I always used a common oil gun. Just squirt some oil in the lifter from the port and it is primed. Always worked for me.

 

Iclick ,
I will try that , I really dont want to have to remove the lifter blocks to remove the lifters if I dont have to .
the common oil gun that you are speaking of , is it the pump type that has a small tip on it?

Also I need to do a compression test on the cyliners after everything is complete, do you know what numbers I should be getting when I do this?


thanks marty

 

Go to the Big Boyz website and use their compression calculator. Put in all your specifics and it will spit out a ccp for you based on your cam choice.

 

In general, a twin cam 88 should be runnin around 135-145psi. The manual for mine says anything below 90psi should be serviced. Mine is runnin 115psi front, and 110psi rear. Not smokin or usin oil yet. I've got the parts to rebuild the top end, just waitin for the clutch hub to come in tomorrow to complete what I have planned.

If yer thinkin about turnin the engine over with the starter motor to get the compression readings, I would first use the rear wheel to turn it over by hand a few revolutions, to make sure there's no interference between the hard parts.

I believe iclick was talking about the lifters being loose from the engine. Not sure how you'd do that with them in the engine. Maybe, once you insure there is no interference, and are ready to check the compression, you could turn the engine over with the starter long enuff to get the oil to circulate thru the engine and lifters? I think I'd loosen the push rods before attempting that, then adjust them according to instructions, then do the compression test...

 

update: we got everything back together, I took the lifters out last nite and let them soak in oil for about an hour plus I primed (pmped)them about 20 times each, we started it and the lifters were making alot of racket , so we shut it down and and readjusted the pushrods to 3.5 turns in stead of the 2.5 turns and still have a slight tick on the front cylinder, we let it run for about 5 mins to let it heat up, should we let it sit and try it ltr or adjust them more. is this normal ? to have a slight tick to it ?
the compression was 155 rear and 170ish front.