So you didn't know you had hydraulic lifters?

[guards73/2.0]

I think that after a WHOLE SUMMER of spare time fighting with a new topend rebuild that
won't show good compression, had inexplicable valve adjusting problems... that I may have HYDRAULIC LIFTERS!!
Tell me if this sounds right:
1) PO had no technical knowledge of car that
came to him with 40IDF's, Konis, SS heat exchangers, ATS 14" wheels. He had never adjusted his valves. He didn't even know the car came with FI originally.
2) I was told to get my valves adjusted after I got it running after being parked for 14 years. It ran after I unstuck the motor but smoked ( turned out to be carbs, and rust ring in jugs)
3 After the valve adjust the valves go noisy, the car ran hot and it soon burned a hole between the valves and dropped a valve
seat.
4) Did topend rebuild, had hard time getting the valves right, kept getting PR's stuck in
lifters on " ridges" ( hydraulic lifters are designed to work with BUS pushrods, I understand)resulting in HUGE lash
then gave up and had the rockers reassembled by factory trained Porsche mechanic who mostly worked on new,or at least stock teeners. He had a hard time with this ( 4 hrs).
5) Car ran on 2-3 cylinders and backfired, fixed vacuum leaks and got rid of the 009.. no more backfire... but car now runs on 2 cylinders ( front 2)
compression is 90-90-90-65, even with new rings and reconditioned heads. At this point, I'm second-guessing EVERYTHING( just read my posts).

...Anyone been there before? I think I have
hydraulics. I saw a photo on Ebay and they look like the ones I took out to clean out the lifter bores before I put it back together, That black unmachined section looks like mine. PP's stock lifter photo doesn't have it. Anyone got a good test
for hydraulics with the valve train assembled
and teh motor on the car? Are there stock lifters that have that black, smaller diameter non-machined section ? By visual ID, I remamber this clearly, they looked like the hydraulics ( don't remember the spring clips, though)
in the Ebay photo, NOT like PP's photo of a stock lifter.... but maybe this is a 1.7 lifter or something, and the 2.0's look different....anybody know?

[This message has been edited by guards73/2.0 (edited 09-03-2001).]

[This message has been edited by guards73/2.0 (edited 09-03-2001).]

[This message has been edited by guards73/2.0 (edited 09-03-2001).]

[This message has been edited by guards73/2.0 (edited 09-03-2001).]

[John Rogers]

Since there was so much trouble up to this point, I'd recommend pulling one of the lifters and see if it is hydraulic, which could be done with the engine in the car easily. That would be the safest way.

[SteveStromberg]

Measure the length of the pushrod,The Hyd is shorter than a solid. I am not at my wokshop so I cant tell you how long a solid is but post the length of yours and I will measure one on Tuesday and post it lenght. steve