1941 up lifters

[Steve Passmore]

It seems Terrill Machine has no website. I would love to see what these spacers look like. Did I understand correctly, do they just drop inside the lifter chimney and then the plunger on top?

I would like to see those too Mo. The plungers couldn't just sit on the spacers, the spacers would have to sit on the first ledge in the cylinder somehow and allow the nose part of the plunger to pass through its centre. They would have to be very thin.

I have always thought that strange that Terrill has no website. Interesting too that the address is down a dirt road with no Google street scene access and the satellite shows no buildings down there that could be considered industrial.

[Mike Simmons 938]

Folks- I guess I can see why someone might think the late 48 lifters carried on through 1956. That's what  that nos etc reference shows-he is selling late 48 lifters for $40 per set, but also claims they fit 49 through 56 OHV engines. He is VERY wrong.
Mike Simmons 938

[Bobby B]

Folks- I guess I can see why someone might think the late 48 lifters carried on through 1956. That's what  that nos etc reference shows-he is selling late 48 lifters for $40 per set, but also claims they fit 49 through 56 OHV engines. He is VERY wrong.
Mike Simmons 938

Mike,
Hi. I agree. As far as I know they only fit '48 and LATE '48 if you check the VIN numbers of the engine. He obviously doesn't know, because when I was also looking, I thought I hit paydirt when I saw that they fit other OHV engines. You can see where they were going though, with the idea of moving past the open spring plunger design. I would love to know the inside truth of why they made such a drastic change mid-year and didn't proceed any further with them.
                                             Bobby

[Hilarius]

Mike and Bobby,
they didn't just make that drastic mid-year change, they obviously also experimented with the design, itself.
I have found two kinds of those Unit Type lifters in my late 48 engine.
Balls are of different size, retainers, springs, even the cylinder tips have a different diameter.
Look at the picture. Parts are, of course, not interchangeable.
Hilmar.

[Bobby B]

Hilmar,
  Wow…Something new to me. Fortunately, I only had to deal with one set of these and didn't know that a subtle difference existed within the same era. Thanks for the heads up on this. It's good info…..
                                                                           Bobby

[Steve Passmore]

Folks- I guess I can see why someone might think the late 48 lifters carried on through 1956. That's what  that nos etc reference shows-he is selling late 48 lifters for $40 per set, but also claims they fit 49 through 56 OHV engines. He is VERY wrong.
Mike Simmons 938

Who are we talking about here Mike?  Terrill lists a set of lifter plungers for the 41 -48 cars at $25 each making a set $240? They also list a separate lifter for the 49 through 57 cars. Are you referring to a different supplier?

I see Hilmar that Terrill also lists the 41 up lifter bodies.  Pricey but nice to know theres a solution if you can't find any used ones.

[Bobby B]

Steve,
Hi. He's referring to my suggestion of $40.00 EACH for NEW '48 Lifters complete @ the below website, which I mentioned above. By the way,  some other vendors (not mentioning any names to protect the guilty) are asking close to 3X that price. We all know our Flatheads are not cheap to deal with, and Patience becomes a Virtue. Could've dropped a SBC in there for 1/4 of what I have into mine  :o…….
                                                                                                                                                                    Bobby

http://nosandrestoredcadillacparts.com/shop/42-9-11240030/

[Steve Passmore]

Thanks for that Bobby, Hilmar had already put me straight on that one and yes I agree about the SBC engine, in fact I have a car that someone did just that.

[35-709]

At least put a later model CADILLAC engine in it! 

[Tom Beaver]

There were some questions as to what the lifter spacers look like so I tried to take a picture.   The attached picture shows two new lifter plungers one with a spacer ring and one without.  The spacer rings supplied with the lifters seem to measure 0.177" to 0.179" in length which should make the overall lifter length match that used on the early engines.  I've included in the picture a bunch of spacers of slightly different lengths that I use to set the correct clearance on engines that have reground cam followers, reground cam, resurfaced valve seats, etc.

Tom Beaver

[Hilarius]

Tom,
that is a great picture showing how the spacer rings fill in to obtain the correct length of the new plungers, relative to the old lifter bodies.
Very informative - Thank you.
If I remember rightly, they come with the Terrill new plungers.
Do they include them, automatically or on special order, only?
Important question: are the spacers alone for sale also?
Hilmar.

[Steve Passmore]

At least put a later model CADILLAC engine in it!

I agree with that totally.

Great picture of the spacers Tom.  Just as I thought, very thin items.
Why on earth would Cadillac make such a small change as that? Guess we'll never know.

[las39]

Thanks Tom, very interesting.
Exactly Hilmar, are the spacers alone for sale?

[Tom Beaver]

Hilmar, your question about the spacers being available separately.  I don't know the answer for sure but I think they would be.  Terrill Machine just included them with the hydraulic lifters when I ordered them for a 38 LaSalle engine.  I would call and ask them (254-893-2610).

Tom Beaver