That's a great question Jim and one that I'm struggling with right now.
Their is a lot to choose from out there but you wonder what is reliable.
There are some stock lifters out there that have some possibility. British
Frame and Engine been buying theirs from I believe RLJohnson in the UK. Ken
Gillanders told me he has had good success with them although another list
member had one fail recently and Ken was concerned and offered to replace it
and wanted it back to review with a metallurgist. British Parts Northwest,
Racetorations and APT sell tuftrided lifters but I have no feedback from
people that have used them to share any kind of quality info with you.
Tuftriding is a heated salt bath process which imparts a high surface
hardness which resists wear, scuffing and galling and has good lubrication
retention. Tuftride metals have improved sliding properties and higher wear
resistance which give it a longer service life. The question here is the
base material. The process elevates high alloys and lesser materials to
higher hardness values. If the steel used in the lifters is of lesser
quality and than tuftrided the hardness values may not be any better than a
quality stock lifter. I guess the only way to tell is to take them and have
them tested and compare the Rockwell values. I wish our suppliers would do
this.
I guess I really haven't answered your question. I just wanted to share
some of the things I've learned the last few days. Bob Lang had some good
advice on switching to the larger Ford lifter that Ken Gillanders sells and
I see that Racetorations also sells a larger lifter and sleeve that is
pressed into rebored lifter openings. Maybe we can talk Jim Swarthout into
making some super lifters. Hey, it's worth a try!!
Cheers,
Dave Mahlmeister
72 tr6
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