I have a really dumb question. How can I tell if I have hydraulic or mechanical lifters? I have a 54 chevy with a 235 and hydramatic. also what weight of oil is recommended for my engine?
NOT ' dumb ' ! The easiest thing to do is put the # 1 cylinder to TDC and try pressing down on the push rod end of the rocker ~ if it gives atall , you have juice lifters , always a bad thing in these engines . In any case , you want to use thin multi-vis oils , like 10W-whatever as the lifters need it and thin oils lubricate better and get up out of the pan and oiling faster upon startup where 90 % of all engine wear occurs . Expect some serious flames over oil discussions .
