[Adran]

I'm in need of a little assistance identifying the official technical name of these parts. They're these little retainer pieces that are secured around the lifter, and I'm not sure what they're called:

As you can see, mine are quite broken. They shattered inexplicably on startup one day, and made a god-awful racket. After taking off the valve cover and looking around, I noticed these little parts were broken. The roller on one of the lifters directly beneath it was all mangled, so I'm going to pull the head off and go digging around for any loose bits in there. While I'm at it, I'd like to find a source for some replacement parts. Is there anywhere that carries these parts and individual lifters? I'd try to find them in a junkyard, but the only ones nearby will try to swindle me even if I'm lucky enough to find an 88.5-90 GT there. Also, is there any problem with replacing the single torn up lifter, and leaving the rest?

 

[UnexplodedCow]

Those are the lifter retainer parts. They prevent the roller lifters from spinning in their bores. If they broke, you'll need to replace the lifters, remove any metal from the head (or oil pan), and replace the cam ( I can promise that it's equally as mangled and useless now). People have broken them before for a few unexplained reasons. You should be able to find new retainers relatively easily since they were used on the CVH powered Escorts after the 1st gen.

 

[Adran]

Wow, that's going to be a lot more pricey than I hoped for. It's too bad, because I'd just had it running really great right before this happened. Any ideas on why they just fall apart like that? I know my head was serviced sometime before I got the car, they did a valve job as far as I know. I guess incorrect reinstallation could have resulted in the premature failure.

Also, if I found a suitable candidate, could I just yank the cam and lifters out of a donor car and put them in there, or would that be a complete stab in the dark as far as the integrity of the parts goes? That's one mighty expensive cam where I'm pricing it, I'm kind of wishing I didn't have roller lifters right now.

 

[UnexplodedCow]

You are correct in your assumption...it's very likely the shop that did your head work didn't install the valves correctly, and the valve train geometry was off...and the lifters had to over compensate.

Be sure the donor is a roller cam, and you'll be fine. Grab the lifters, too..they'll be matched to the cam. They don't really wear much, but there is a little something, so just keep the stuff numbered properly and you'll be fine (lifter to lobe). If you can find a GT cam go for it and enjoy the extra little boost it gives. And be sure you get any geometry problems resolved before this happens again.