Time for an update. I've got about 4 hours of grinding fitting the ford dog bones. My goal is to get them flat on top of the lifter bore. There is no slack on the lifters themselves, but getting them dead centered between the lifters is proving to be difficult as there is a cast in rib between the lifter bores. Mine is not quite centered between the lifter bores so I have to grind a little off centered.
There is also some rounding to the casting in the block on the back side of the lifter bore. The block wall tapers nicely into the lifter bore but makes grinding difficult.
I'm real close to getting them fit the way that I like.
Now for the idea that I hope generates some good discussion and I'll be sure to post pics tonight or tomorrow.
Instead of the spider to hold the dog bones in place, I have been fitting the plate. It sits across all of the dog bones and holds them snug to the top of the lifter bores. The dog bones can shift fore or aft as needed to clear the stiffening rib but can't rotate or lift. The hardware for the plate centers the plate nicely and it seems to provide even pressure across all of the dog bones. Can anyone see a reason why this would hold the dog bones in place as good or better than the spider?
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