I went with the -73 blocks on my 48 because one of the correct aluminum ones had a crack in the slot that guides the roller wheel, then again so did a cast iron pan lifter block I had, cracked in the same place. Went with shovel blocks painted silver. As far sifton its all chinese or taiwan now I thought.

 

Think you are correct. What did you do for lifters and pushrods?

 

Jims solid lifters as solid is the only option in 48 and S&S pushrods.

 

We have been effed by Jim’s more then once with poor quality $hit - no longer use anything well some of the tools but they keep braking as well and he does not care you need to buy the tool again

we been buying the the tedds lifters and replacing the rollers with the japan units with very good luck

the lifer metal rockwells to the i OEM but the cheap rollers are well junk - so we replace them and doing that 5 years maybe

 

We buy the mid usa - usa made pushrods at 1/3 what S&S sells them for

 

And the ones I got from Tedd were crap, so bad I cant even bring myself to sell them to someone. The Jims looked good and measured out great.

 

Have a set of aftermarket lifter blocks (chromed) and some hydraulic lifters (came out of one of my Shovels when I switched to Velva Touch set up). The rollers on them have "Japan" on them. Need to mic the blocks and lifters to see if they are within spec. Have the conversion / adapter kit in my stash so I could just pull the hydraulic units out and replace.

Service manual states if roller is loose, force out pin, replace and re-peen. What's the definition of "loose"?

The original lifter blocks had been honed for oversize single piece lifters. Haven't a clue on the brand on the lifters or pushrods.

Any advantage/disadvantage on aluminum pushrods versus steel?

Anyone tried the replica hydraulic units offered by Tedd?

And so the jury is out on Tedd versus Jims units. What about Eastern?

 

The aluminum pushrods are thicker so they rub on the joint where the inner and outer telescope together. You can shorten the inner tube to reduce that. If its really bad the pushrod tubes will wiggle around while the engine is running.

Nice and vague about loose rollers, I would replace them if they are used and of unknown history and the Japan rollers are good. I have a bag of them and pins so Im never stuck on something simple like that.

I would like to say that depending on where the lifters are made would matter but saying US today doesn't mean much anymore. And Mid USA sells Jims lifters, no idea where they are made.

 

sorry i thought i said we buy eastern made in the usa sold by tedd and yes i dont like the rollers they use eastern

 

So...the hole for the drain plug is toast (might be two threads left). Can't find where I put the original either.

Is it 3/8-16?

Can I use a time-sert or will it eventually leak around/between the insert and the case?