<VV> Lifter Bore Wear

[Smitty Smith]

From: aeroned at aol.com
Subject: Re: Cam bearing, lifter galley wear

Assuming any one engine hasn't been run without oil, how much wear would you anticipate there would be to the lifter galleys and cam bearings?
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  Smitty Says:  I don't have any doubt that someone has experienced lifter bore wear.  I haven't and I have never gone to the point of splitting a block unless the engine had at least 150K on it.  I have roughed up cyls and put in cast iron rings and replaced bearings to squeze out a few more miles and never seen what I would call a worn out lifter bore..  On the super high mileage engines that have been doctered up or just naturally survived to 200 K or more I have never found lifter bore wear to be a problem.  As long as I have had to use carb cleaner and lots of wiggle to get the lifters out I never thought of measuring the lifter bores.  The type of loading and surface area of the lifter contact area seems to preclude wear there.  Nothing at all like the loading applied to the cam bearings or lobes.  Next time a lifter just slides out into my hand I will concern myself with wear there.
  Yes I suppose I am getting a little high mileage.  I know there are some professional drivers among us who have racked up some impressive miles on the road.  It would be interesting to know just how many miles are on some of us.  I got a 100K miles safe driver pin from Phillips 66 in "57" and felt like I had spent my whole life on the road.  Now I easily have 600 K Corvair miles alone and most likely a bunch more than that.