After finally getting a good set of lifters, I got my engine fired up last night and ran it through the break-in run, much quieter:TU: , and no collapsing lifter syndrome when I shut down . I still have a bit more valve train noise than I should (IMHO), nothing at idle, just when I get to about 1500rpm it is a little more clicky than it should be. Got plenty of oil flow, I double checked that when I had the intake off, ran the primer and got great flow coming out the head supply port under the rocker shaft (had to clean up the floor afterwards). So I'm thinking the only other two things that it could be are 1) Pushrods maybe to short, since the base circle on the new cam is smaller that a stock cam, and the felpro head gaskets are thicker than the stock headgaskets I may not have the proper preload. 2) The rocker assy may be worn, though I sure can't see it, they look good, but they are 35 years old and have 100k+miles on them. What do you guys think?
I'm going with #2 Len - I think TA rebuilds the rocker assemblies for about $250 including bushing the rocker arms with bronze for better wear resistance. I guess I tend to remember what one of the Michigan GSCA members told me when I talked about my noisy valvetrain - "proves it's a Buick!"
Gee Len, after everything else you have installed... I just ASSUMED you had TA roller rockers!uzzled: Yeah, we know, $600 hurts.:Brow: she will understand.
Don't think I haven't looked at them:Brow: . After submitting to a two week vacation dictated by the spousal unit I have gained the upper hand again so the budget is there, but, I don't think they work with the old style oiling system and there's no way I'm pulling that intake off again and trying to get another set of lifters to come to life (and then the new pushrod cost). So, I think I'll stick with rebuilt stockers, probably pull them tonight.
Pulled the rockershafts tonight and solvent washed them down, definately some serious wear there, lots of slop between the rocker and the shaft and some visible wear at the pushrod end, getting the oil off them really brought it out. Called Mike at TA and they have a couple sets in stock so I'm in good shape ( and another $250 lighter in the wallet), so, if Murphy's Law holds true, after I get these, I'll find that my pushrods are indeed too short and will be buying those also just doing my part to support UPS I guess. I think this thing is just destined to fight me to the end o No:.
Hey Len.Your getting there!! You might make The Hall of Fame with Craig and Yardley yet!! LOL!!! How does that cam sound?? Later,Tony.
Cam (290-94) sounds great, it idles with a nice lope at 700rpm, and I haven't done any fine tuning with the timing yet (set at 8btdc now I think). Once I get the new rockers in I'll go to work getting the timing/vacuum/idle mixture just right. I don't wanna get anywhere near Yardley or Craig's level of pain, this was enough to drive my blood pressure to dangerous levels, if I had to pull the entire engine back out I would probably have just called one of the Jim's to ship me an entire new engine and be done with the whole mess. Of course I would have also had to have them send me a cot as I would be spending my nights in the garage as soon as the wife saw the bill.
Installed new rocker assys from TA tonight, helped reduce valvetrain noise but still is more that I like so as I suspected I'll be purchasing a set of adjustable pushrods , one huge bonus that I hadn't expected from the rockers was the bump in oil pressure, my hot idle oil pressure went from 25psi to just over 35psi :TU: so for you guys out there building your engines and looking at your rockers it is worth the money. Engine is running extremely well, idling at 725rpm, 36psi oil press (hot), 14" vacuum, 185-190 degree water temp, timing set at 10 btdc.
