If there is no pitting on the bottom, they can be reused in the same
position on the same cam. There isn't  any place else that wears. You can
replace a badly pitted one with a new one on the old cam, but it could
accelerate the wear on that lobe.  Use break-in cam grease on it. David
mentions Marvel Mystery Oil, and you can take each one apart and soak it in
this for a couple of hours, or overnight.  It's a powerful solvent type oil.

If you had noisy lifters that took a long time to pump up, it was likely due
to low oil pressure, not the lifter, and that will be fixed with new
bearings, which I assume you are replacing.

Stuart

-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of
Jim Felder
Sent: Friday, October 26, 2012 4:34 AM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: 2.1 hydraulic lifter rebuild kit available?

I see hydraulic lifters for the 2.1 priced about $20 each. That's a lot of
money when you consider that all a lifter is likely to need is a rubber
seal costing a few cents. Has anyone successfully rebuilt lifters, and are
the rebuild kits still available?

Jim