Death by Valve Cover
Thread Starter
Heel & Toe
Joined: Aug 2013
Posts: 17
Likes: 0
From: romoland california
Death by Valve Cover
Hello All,
I (or more correclty my neighbor) just solved a 3 week mystery. I got a new corvette about a month ago, had it for a few days drove it to the dmv to get registered, idled a little fast but not bad.
Then I changed valve covers to this set that looked great. they were supposed to be original for chevy small block.
after that the car would not run, it was only hitting on a few cylinders. the guy before me had put on a holley 770 double pumper and edelbrock air flow manifold. I had to make an makeshift air cleaner because of lack of clearance from these high performance pieces.
after a week of trouble shooting, I had the original stock Rodchester carb reworked, and put back the original manifold. still did not work, I had guys setting the timing all over the place, still did not work. I took off the valve cover to see what was going on it worked, put it back did not work.
apparently the cover was holding the valves open so no compression. Who would have thought that.
has anyone heard of this problem?
Vet69
I (or more correclty my neighbor) just solved a 3 week mystery. I got a new corvette about a month ago, had it for a few days drove it to the dmv to get registered, idled a little fast but not bad.
Then I changed valve covers to this set that looked great. they were supposed to be original for chevy small block.
after that the car would not run, it was only hitting on a few cylinders. the guy before me had put on a holley 770 double pumper and edelbrock air flow manifold. I had to make an makeshift air cleaner because of lack of clearance from these high performance pieces.
after a week of trouble shooting, I had the original stock Rodchester carb reworked, and put back the original manifold. still did not work, I had guys setting the timing all over the place, still did not work. I took off the valve cover to see what was going on it worked, put it back did not work.
apparently the cover was holding the valves open so no compression. Who would have thought that.
has anyone heard of this problem?
Vet69
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jul 2009
Posts: 3,264
Likes: 3
From: Vero Beach FL
I had a set of aftermarket tall valve covers that the ends of the rockers were just barley hitting the side of the valve cover. It was just enough to create a ticking noise like a rocker that needed adjusting.
Thread Starter
Heel & Toe
Joined: Aug 2013
Posts: 17
Likes: 0
From: romoland california
Originally Posted by tfi racing
Stock,stamped steel rockers?
Stock,stamped steel rockers?
Terrorizing Orange Cones
Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 2,572
Likes: 17
From: Northern CO
I took a look at your profile to see if there was any information on your wrench-twisting experiences but I didn't see any.
With only 4 posts so far, I won't jump to conclusions. For your car's sake, I hope that when you run into any interference when disassembling or assembling automotive parts and pieces, that there may be a reason for that. Putting the big arm on stuff isn't always the answer. That's a nice looking '69 you have.
I wish you well and please feel free to ask the CF about any future issue if something like this happens again. One of us may have already been there and done that.
Good luck.
With only 4 posts so far, I won't jump to conclusions. For your car's sake, I hope that when you run into any interference when disassembling or assembling automotive parts and pieces, that there may be a reason for that. Putting the big arm on stuff isn't always the answer. That's a nice looking '69 you have.
I wish you well and please feel free to ask the CF about any future issue if something like this happens again. One of us may have already been there and done that.
Good luck.
Melting Slicks
Joined: May 2006
Posts: 3,438
Likes: 41
From: Raleigh NC
St. Jude Donor '13-'14
Where did you get those valve covers? I have not heard of aftermarket L46 valve covers causing interference with the rockers, especially enough to compress valve springs.
What did you do for a PCV? Do you have a picture of your engine bay with it all assembled?
What did you do for a PCV? Do you have a picture of your engine bay with it all assembled?
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Burning Brakes
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 893
Likes: 7
From: Orange Park Florida
Same problem with my stock 350 ('72 with new valve covers). I was going to Fla in my car - an 8 hour drive - and I decided to tighten up everything under the hood. My valve covers must have been too close to the valve train and I noticed a noise. Determined that the valve covers were touching the rocker arms, so I purchased the thicker valve cover gaskets - almost 1/2" thick - installed them and resolved the issue. You should check you local hotrod shop for the gaskets.
