lifter change in 202 couple of questions

[bogan_vk]

my engine is getting a little tappy on idle (only a very little tapping) but enough to annoy me im thinking its the lifters or a bent pushrod my questions are, can i replace the lifters without having to replace my cam as im happy with the cam i have in it goes well with the cam i have and ive been looking at crane hardened pushrods on ebay do they come in different lengths or is it one size fits all, probably a stupid question but if i dont ask i wont know.

[Pub247]

Pushrods do come in different length but as long as you get the right ones to suit your motor you'll be right.

As for lifters yes you can do them without removing cam but i'll warn you now its not the easiest of jobs if shit goes pear shaped. Number 1 issue is when they mushroom the bottom of the lifter where it makes contact with cam. This makes it really difficult to get them out through the lifter bore.

My old VH when i did them i ended having to knock them into the sump which is not ideal as then you got to get them out of the sump

Not saying this has happened to yours but be prepared sometimes its not as easy as
Remove rocker cover
Unbolts rockers (keeping in order removed)
Removing pushrod
Unbolting Side Plates
and pulling out lifters (turning motor to get them up)

So plan ahead and leave yourself plenty of time to complete it not i need this going again in 2 hours type of scenario

[bogan_vk]

thanks pub ill keep all that in mind when im changing them ,is it worth throwing on a new headgasket whilst its mostly apart anyway as ive done headgaskets etc but just never had to change lifters.

[Jonno]

I had realllly noisy lifters mate, I changed oils and it completely stopped lol
Just a idea before u pull shit apart

Penrite hpr30

[kane_coro]

No point doing head gasket,thats a whole lot more work for nothing..And jonnoos right sometimes it can be as simple as bad oil

[VK SL 3800]

Choose an oil with an API-SL rating as some newer oils (API-SM & API-SN) dont contain a vital anit-scuffing agent for flat tappets like in all older Holden engines can cause cam follower or camshaft failure, not common but it can happen.