yea, the new hydraulic lifters are tough. I think I posted this on another thread, but a very close friend of mine owns a machine shop in my area (getting few and far between these days so its nice to have that resource). He had taken on a job rebuilding a 51 powerglide motor for a customer. Used a set of the new manufactured hydraulic lifters. Had a couple collapse almost immediately after startup. Replaced the entire set two more times before he called me. For whatever reason, and I don't actually remember how I ended up with them, I had a complete nos hydraulic set for that motor. Gave them to him, and as the allman brothers said, trouble no more.
Two years ago I was at the trifive nationals. One of the guys there had his grandmother's 55 235 powerglide station wagon there. Never ever restored, in all of its original patina. It was tremendous. Its been years since I had a 235 or 261 of my own that has not been modified. But when he started that motor, it was whisper quiet. I was so reminded of just how well a stock hydraulic cam 235 runs, including my own when I first got it in the middle 70s when I was a teenager.
So I stick to my guns here. If you want to build a hydraulic cam 235, make finding an nos set of lifters, or an aftermarket set of lifters (25 years old or older) a first priority in your parts search (making an nos oil pump pickup your second priority, lol)
