Club 80-90 Forums

The good people at Motive Components were kind enough to dismantle one of their tappets for me, to see whether the internal design is similar to what I'm assuming is the original design. And it is.



So I've ordered a set from CarParts4Less. They're cheap enough to experiment with (especially with the extra 15% discount they give you if you put them in your basket and then wander off for a couple of hours. £6.78 delivered ). They may well be cheap rubbish, but what would that mean? That they wear out quickly? That they're no better than my KS ones for depressurising? Worth a try I reckon. It'll be a few days before they arrive, so in the meantime I'm still going to see if I can spot a pattern with the KS ones depressurising under load.

I think its fine if they are softer than the cam, now you have the ability to change them its a replaveable item ...save the cam wearing so much.

That was my feeling too. And I didn't mean to imply that they ARE cheap rubbish - only time will tell. In fact, the CP4L price of £7.98 isn't THAT much cheaper than Brickwerks' price of £10.68 for the KS lifters. I've seen a huge range in price for these parts (over £25 in places), and I'm not convinced that the price is a reliable indicator of quality. I certainly would think twice about paying over £25 for them when I suspect that they're the same part from the same factory as many of the cheaper items.

there is a 12% discount code right there in the screen NOV12

Indeed. Less than £2 difference between 12% and 15% for a set of 8. But even when they’re not advertising a blanket discount, the trick of leaving stuff in your basket for a few hours usually prompts an email from them with a personalised discount code. It only works if you’re logged in of course, so they know who to send the email to.

Check the finish on the sides, any burrs or rough surface will be like a cheese grater to your tappet bores, they can be relined but a machine shop job
Worn bores is I suspect why some engines have lower pressure even when rebuilt like my DJ but the verdict is out until my ol pump is o ringed.

Well the '3-4 days other' free delivery option with CP4L turned out to be next day DHL. The tappets came packed in nice little pots, and seem well made. The spring clips are a slightly different design and are harder to get out. What I wasn't ready for though was the fact that the faces of the lifters aren't polished as they are on all the other lifters I've seen. They're a sort of dull grey finish - they feel smooth to the touch though, and they're perfectly flat in profile. I'm not sure what to make of this. Will they wear my cam out faster because they're not polished?

Difficult to capture the finish in a photo. Here's a couple, with an old polished lifter on the left and new one on the right - one photo without flash and one with.

Perhaps the grey finish is some form of surface treatment? Tufftride/WS2?

https://www.wallworkht.co.uk/content/sa ... tufftride/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Interesting - it could be I suppose. I'm no expert, but it doesn't look like the natural finish that would result from machining.

You might be onto something. From the Wallwork website:

Cam and bucket followers (on both OHV and OHC engines) operate under high contact pressures which are ever increasing to allow greater acceleration of the valve in the opening and closing of the lift profile. These high contact pressures and sliding velocities have a deleterious effect on friction and contact temperatures. Nitron MC and Diamolith DLC provide the necessary improvements in friction improvements whilst super polished CrN can perform better at elevated contact temperatures (> 400°C)

Nitron MC looks possible. Even if it's not one of Wallwork's finishes (which is unlikely if the parts are made in the far east), then it could well be a similar type of coating.

Probably some form of non-proprietary treatment such as nitriding/tufftriding done after final machining possibly. Wonder if they're though hardened, could cut one up and hardness test it possibly......

tobydog wrote:Wonder if they're though hardened, could cut one up and hardness test it possibly......

Is that 'through' hardened? Cutting one up - it's not going to be much use after that is it
I might give that a miss.

Just purchased one for analysis

Watching with much interest! I've improved results with KS ones by stripping, cleaning, and using a small smear of assembly lube on the internals before filling and reassembling. On the other hand, I've now had several KS units that have been chipped, scratched or faulty when unwrapped from sealed packaging...

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tobydog wrote:Just purchased one for analysis

Excellent - this should be interesting.