Measuring for pushrod length question

Gents,
I am in the middle of this 400 engine rebuild. I purchased a trickflo pushrod checker and soon will need to measure for length.  I currently do not have a lone solid lifter lying around. Is it possible to use a regular hydralic lifter modified in some way?  It is a Hydraulic cam.

Thanks, in advance  

I've been told you use the lifter to do this with that you plan to run. Using a solid lifter when you plan on using hydraulic lifters would actually give you a bad measurement. Below are a couple of links that might help you.



http://forums.highperformancepontiac.com/70/8787132/the-general-discussion/valve-train-geometry/
http://www.circletrack.com/techarticles/ctrp_0609_pushrod_length/viewall.html  
Jim,

Hello
I personally would not recommend it for any reason and don’t know of an easy way to do this. This is why. The plunger in the  hydraulic lifter will depress [bottom out] under load with no oil fluid in it. This will make it’s effective length shorter than the solid lifter you eventually plan to use. The difference in length will throw off your measurement. In other words once you are set up properly with the “short” hydraulic lifter. Your selected push rod length will be too long to use with your solid lifter.

You would need to find some way of stopping the plunger from depressing like putting a short wood dowel inside it from the hardware store or something similar.

You can buy a single solid lifter to do this with which is what I would recommend if you can’t wait for the right ones for some reason but this may vary a few thousands of an inch from the others also.  

i always put my lifters in a can, cover with what ever type of oil you will be using. take a push rod and pump the air out of the lifter. you will know when it is pumped up. remove the valve spring and replace with a light tention spring for checking.  
76 455/4spd TRANS AM
69 GRAND PRIX 406/5SPD

Thanks for the inf,  JD  

Thanks, I have read differing stories,  JD  

Thanks, this sounds practical, I have some weak springs to use as well. It does make sense to use the intended lifters as another could be a vaiance in length. JD  

hello

Not a problem glad I could help but I'm guessing anyone else here would have said the same thing. There's some sort of saying but I forgot what it is, someone here may know it. It's like when presented with two answers for the same question [as it sounds like you found in your other readings] then the simplest or most logical answer is the most likely or best one. Is it hakems razor or something?

Rowsleys idea would have at the very least been closer than a hydraulic with no fluid and at least one of the reasons he uses a light spring with hydraulics is so the oil doesn't get forced out of the lifter as much as it would with a heavy one when rotating the motor.

OK found it Occam's razor at the url below just for fun.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occam's_razor  

+1 70bird  how about 6 in one hand half dozen in the other. thanks for exlpaining what i was thinkin.  
76 455/4spd TRANS AM
69 GRAND PRIX 406/5SPD