Very true Dan...

 

I deleted my post by mistake, but what I said was; since the oil passageways in the pushrods are smaller than the oil hole in the lifter, the pushrods are the limiting factor on oil flow to the top end, not the lifters.

Keep in mind, the S&S video is made by a company that wants you to buy their lifters.

 

From all the pushrods I've seen, couple versions of SE, Crane, SnS, Smith, the flow is much higher than the lifter..

 

Thanks Max, I stand corrected.

But how much oil flow needs to flow up to the top, is the difference between automotive lifters and the lifters sold specifically for Harleys a concern?

S&S has the video showing a difference in flow, but I haven`t heard of any engines having issues due to lack of oiling to the upper valve train.

 

I don't really know on the second part but they do flow a little less. I don't know how much but I've used both the 850s and Crane 10530s in various builds without issue.. Pull the motor apart to play with and top end still looks good.. Valves, guides and rocker arms. I do think on the first initial startup it will take a few minute to get oil to the top end. Stuff needs to be lubed well on assembly.

I ran a couple sets of 850s in mu 02 RK while swapping cams and the stock pump. Pulled 2 top ends and the everything looked good. One at 30-40K Next at 80K. In one case the I was swapping heads, in the other I was increasing bore. Heads were disassembled and clearances checked.

 

@Dan89FLSTC
@Max Headflow
Hey guys, based on the conversation you've been having on the lifters and the pushrods, I decided to check some of the pushrods I have on the shelf. The stock Evo pushrod has an oil port of .090". I also have a set of TC push rods that I got from a kit from Fuel Moto which look like they emulate the Smith Brothers pushrods and those also are at .090" .. I don't think that either of these pushrods would be the limiting factor of oil to the top end based on measurements that I've taken with the stock OEM lifter oil ports, the Woods alpha lifters and the Comp 850's. They all measured out close to or less than the .090" of the pushrods.
The interesting thing though is the last set of pushrods that I measured were standard S&S adjustables and even though the ball end tips measured .090" The push rod tube internal diameter only measured 0.058". I definitely believe that they would decrease the amount of flow to the top end.. I wish I had a set of stock TC push rods to make comparison. I do have the S&S quickies in my 110 build but I'm not about to take that apart to measure them to see what the diameter is on those push rods.. So yeah you might want to consider that when purchasing parts and assembling your motor..
If none of this makes sense, don't mind me I had my right shoulder replaced Tuesday and the drugs are doing a hell of a job...

 

What? Pretty much every GM V8, and probably V6's also, from about 1990 on has had hydraulic roller cams and lifters.

 

The hole in the pushrod cup hole not have anything to do with flow to the top end. It's the bottom side.. I'll hunt around for the pic. FWIW the hole size is enlarged because the pushrod on the TC does not sit on the same line as the lifter. Automotive blocks have the pushrods inline.

 

The big issue changing flow IMO is the bottom of the lifter cup. I guess hole does have some but it depends more on the radious of the bump om the bottom of the lifter cup..

Here is a bottom pic of the different cups on the Delphi type lifter. The smaller the radius where the hole is the more oil that gets through to the pushrod/top end.

 

Here is a pic of the hylift which has a similar metering system as the older HD 99A.

A picture of a crane 10530 that I used with 99B lifter cup but both shown.


An the final 99C POS.