Normal plunger travel with hydraulics is about .125" or so; running them at .100" clearance beyond that is defeating the opening and closing ramps entirely, and will beat hell out of the lifters, pushrod ends, rockers, valve stem tips, and valve seats. I'd get in there and swap out the cam and lifters with known compatible parts before things start breaking and you have REAL problems. :thumbs:

 

John:

I'm not sure what that has to do with his problem if he indeed has solid lifters in his engine.

Mike

 

Just to clarify things, this engine has hydraulic lifters, they just sound like solids. Ran about 100 miles tonight with clearances down from .100 to about .075, if all goes well on tomorrows cruise (125 miles) I'll take them down another quarter turn to about .05 and see how that works. I still can't believe this problem is with the ham fisted adjuster (me), if that is true these lifters must have the weakest springs in them known to mankind. I understand I'm not doing the valve train any favors running these things so loose but I'm determimed to take it one step at a time and not crank them down to the point it won't run at all as I have in the past. Bob

 

Bob said he had hydraulics for sure (2 sets), but from the symptoms, it sounds to me like he either has solids or two complete sets of hydraulics that are all collapsed or siezed internally (unlikely). In either case, solids or collapsed hydaulics, running with the clearances described will eventually result in valvetrain damage.
:cry

 

John:

Your describing the lifter travel is what confused me. You and I are saying the same things I believe. I think Bob understands he can't continue to run his valves this loose.


If he has collapsed hydraulic lifters, he should be showing a lot of threads on the top of his rocker studs. Maybe twice what is normal. I don't remember what normal is but I believe it is four threads or so.
Mike


[Modified by MikeM, 9:09 PM 8/25/2003]

 

i've seen ball point pens with stiffer springs.
TIP:
Take an old steel valve cover and chizel a cut in the length, then bend it up so you can set it running without an oil mess. they sell clips said to do the same thing.
I ALWAYS set the valves idling HOT.
The up & down method is ONLY for initial start up.
claf you are smarter than all the c3 1st time-ers, NONE of them could get it to run good enough to drive(until they set it running)

 

I don't agree - I've been building SB Chevys for 40 years, and have set hydraulics on the engine stand on countless engines and never had to touch them again (same way they did them at the engine plant). The hot-while-idling method works just fine too, but it's messier, even with rocker arm clips. Since Duke generated the crank angle/cam lift data for the "30-30" cam and the actual rocker ratios, and we developed the "cold-setting" method on my car, we can now set any solid-lifter cam "cold" as well. :thumbs:

 

Good for you JohnZ :thumbs:
Why don't you go over clafs house and look it over!
Be sure to ask him how many years he has been building engines.
Fact is, claf needs someone to check his work. I've seen shops advertising AUTO REPAIR. While i have never stopped at one, and i am sure you have not either, they must be there for some reason.
Claf is welcome to stop by my house anytime. :thumbs:

 

Bob
since you got this car with ticking lifters, i'll assume that is why the car was sold.
Nobody could fix it.
There have been some clever suggestions, but i don't think restrictors were mentioned.
With a solid cam, a previous owner may have installed restrictors in the oil passage that feeds the lifters. i've never seen H lifters used with restrictors, but what you describe is indeed possible. Solid lifters need less oil and racers sometime restrict the oil to them.
So say a racer sells the car, that owner wants a street cam, it is changed, but the restrictors are left in.
Eventually you get it and nobody knows the history.
Now you still need that 2nd opinion. :cheers:

 

So...Claf what is the answer. You can't just leave everyone hanging as to the orgin and resolution of this perplexing problem. :D

 

OK, everybody, I'm ready to throw in the towel. As per my game plan mentioned above, after two cruises and 250 miles, this afternoon I tried to tighten the lifters down another quarter turn (to approx .05 clearance). As I'm snugging up the drivers side and making a mess, yeah, plenty of oil, you can actually hear the motor slowing down. Exhaust starts sounding funny, almost like a valve is hanging open but the damn thing is still clacking away. At this point I opened them up again to .075 and that's the way they are going to stay. The motor runs great and fuel mileage is up around 20 per. When it finally blows up I'll go get a crate motor and be done with it. Just for the purists, there is no history on this motor. It was sold out of a local wrecking yard in a 59 or 60 vet to a guy I worked near. (Wrecking yard owner had a small collection of Vets and muscle cars). It is a 66 Vet block according to the casting # and it has original 66 vet 1.94 heads. It has been decked as the id on the boss is gone. Maybe it was an original solid lifer engine but it had hydraulics in it when I bought it a couple years ago. On another note I bought my first new Vet in 1960 and have been driving and working on them ever since and have actually built a few Vet engines from scratch. I've had problems before but never one I couldn't solve eventually. I'd really like to get to the bottom of this but feel I've taken up enough space and time. Last question. Where are oil restrictors found in the system ?Thanks, Bob

 

the 1st thing i do before i answer a question is to click on the posters profile. Your's showed you owned a "box stock 62".
That info showed you to be a newbie,and i delayed my restrictor answer. Often i don't even bother to answer newbie Q's, but it was a slow week. :lol:
Remember all we know about you is what you put in your profile. If there is nothing in your life worth mentioning........
i assume you know nothing about cars.
.
The lifters are not getting enough pressure and that could be a number of things.


[Modified by Matt Gruber, 9:24 AM 8/28/2003]

 

If someone previously put restrictors in it, they'll be in place of the oil gallery plugs on either side of the cam plug at the rear of the block. :thumbs:

 

Thanks JohnZ, too bad you can't find those restrictors without taking the engine out. To MattG, when I signed onto this forum the car WAS box stock, unfortuately for me on the 194th day of 2001 a 39 year old piston decided to break up and I was too stupid to shut it down before a rod took an early exit, hence the 66 engine. I have updated my profile to reflect this change! Bob

 

I've never had these things and never worked on them but, can your engine have Rhoads lifters in it? I know they are supposed to be noisy at low rpm even when adjusted right. Can this be the muddy water????????????

I disagree with M. Dublar that your lifters are not getting oil. They have to be getting oil if you have plenty at the rockers. The oil has to pass through the lifters to get there.


[Modified by MikeM, 3:14 AM 8/28/2003]