Hi,

I'm not very experienced working on cars yet but I have already fixed numerous electrical things on my C3 and I just love messing around with it. I'm trying to do everything as perfectly as possible and I enjoy turning wrenches in my garage myself rather than leaving my C3 to some mechanic.

I want to get my C3 into a perfectly driveable condition for the Summer and I need to check if there is a problem with the head gaskets (I have my doubts about them), inspect the cyl. heads and perhaps replace the hydraulic lifters. Occasionally I can hear ticking noise coming from the front right side of the engine and I was told this is likely a problematic lifter that's got some dirt in it. So I want to replace the lifters, too. I have a mechanic who is able to take this job, however I would really love to do it myself and save the 500 bucks for something else.

Today I drained the radiator, removed the upper hose which I will replace and removed the thermostat housing. I also disconnected the required vacuum hoses and removed the valve covers. Nothing seemed wrong or broken to my untrained eye. I don't know how much more is involved in reaching the head gaskets or pulling out the hyd. lifters, but I assume the rocker arms need to be removed, then the carburetor pulled off, then the intake manifold off and then reach the bolts of the cyl. heads? Am I right so far?

And ofcourse this probably seems a bit easier to me than it really is. The most I'm worried about is how to handle the valves, rocker arms and all those. I know they are calibrated and I think I'm not smart enough to do this myself. Is it very hard to assemble it back and make it work?

I'd be very thankful for any sort of assistance in this.

P.S.

If I want to re-paint the valve covers into the factory blue, do I have to use some special engine paint or can I just buy the regular car paint spray? I don't know how much heat the valve covers receive.

 

It's not very hard to do what you are talking about. If you are concerned about the head gaskets you could to a compression and leak down test. But if you really want to tear it down then go ahead. It will certainly give you a better idea of the health of the engine. Setting the valves is easy so don't worry about that. I would recommend rotating the engine (using a socket on the crank bolt) until you get #1 cylinder at top dead center before you take it all apart. It is easier to set the timing upon reassembly. Do you have a torque wrench or can you borrow one? That is about the only special tool you should need.

Make sure you get a diagram that shows all the cylinder head bolts. The two at the ends and the bottom row (on the outside of the engine) are easy to miss if you don't know what you're looking at. Overall the job is pretty simple.

As for valve cover paint there is no problem using regular lacquer or enamel automotive paint. I do it all the time when I paint my engine the same color as the car. It works fine and holds up well.

 

I think I can get a torque wrench from somewhere. I don't know if it's a very expensive tool, but if not then I will buy one. Will probably need it sometime again anyway. Can you please explain in more detail the part where you rotate the engine and get #1 cylinder at top dead center?

I'll try to get the engine diagram. I have the 79 Shop Manual, I'll check if there is a diagram in there.

 

A beam type torque wrench is pretty cheap. Maybe $15 here is the US. A cheap click type is maybe 2 or 3 times that and a high quality click type is 10 times that. A beam type is more than adequate but a click type is more useful.

Since you already have the valve covers off it should be a little easier to set to top dead center. First remove all the spark plugs. While you don't have to do this it makes it a lot easier. In the center of the crank pulley is a 5/8" head hex bolt. Put a socket on it and with a 1/2" drive ratchet you can rotate the engine (rotate it the tightening direction so the bolt doesn't come out). I find that a 5/8" socket with a 2" extension is the perfect length for the depth of the pulley. Make sure you are fully engaged and straight on the bolt with the socket because you don't want it slipping off when you are putting a lot of force on it. As you rotate the engine you will see the rockers moving on #1 cylinder. Watch for the timing mark on the harmonic balancer and as it approaches the zero timing mark check the rockers. The intake rocker should be closing (moving the valve spring up) and be fully closed before you get the timing mark within 90 degrees of the zero mark on the tab The other valve should not be moving at all. Rotate the balancer mark to line up with zero on the timing tab. You are now at top dead center on #1 cylinder.

Once you get the engine there you can remove the cap on the distributor and mark with a pen where the conductor on the rotor is pointing on the body of the distributor. Basically a straight line down from the rotor to the dist. body. Also mark on the intake manifold or cylinder head where the vacuum canister is pointing. These two steps are so you can get the distributor back in with about the same ignition timing as before.

 

If I were you I'd just repaint the valve covers " if it ain't broke don't fix it "

 

Do a compression check and a leak down test. If both are OK leave it alone.

 

For stuff like this I recommend using a few more resources before "winging it". These books were very helpful to me when I first tore into my 350 (along with my shop manual).

How to Rebuild Your Small-Block Chevy by David Vizard

How to Build a Small Block Chevy by Jim Richardson

David Vizard also has several more books out there that I enjoyed reading and learned a lot from as a beginner as well.

 

I do commend you for wanting to tackle this yourself but, even though a fairly simple job, If I were you, I would not attempt this on my own. Get a buddy with some experience to help you. Bring it to a good mechanic first and have him at least do the leak down test and compression test. He will be able to tell you the condition of your engine. If there is a problem, then try to fix it on your own but get some help. Once you do it once, you will know how to do it, the next time.

 

Thanks for all the help, guys. I got a new radiator hose so I'm going to try to fit this in and then I'll probably paint the valve covers. I wonder if I need to sand-paper the surface first or just spray it on?

Actually it might be a good idea to just leave it alone right now, perhaps run some cleaning oil through it and consider it okay. If this tacking sound comes back though, I might not feel too good when driving it. Will see. I know that the engine has not been fixed or rebuilt when it has been in Estonia for those 2 years and since the valve cover gaskets and some other gaskets I found look very new, and the paint on the intake manifold etc seems to be new, I'm guessing that the engine might have been already overhauled in USA. This is just my assumption.

 

You are about to embark on a wonderful adventure. You will go through all the human emotions. Not to mention you are gonna bleed. If you are like most, if not all of us on the forum, you will love it.

 

Keep in mind that replacing just the lifters (assuming this is a flat tappet type cam) could casue more problems than it fixes. The cam and lifters wear together, and this could lead to a flat cam lobe (and possibly a whole new engine). If you replace the lifters, replace the cam too.

 

I always bleed when I finish something more complicated on the Vette

What do you guys think, even if the rocker sometimes clacks, is it really anything bad? What would happen if I keep it like this and don't replace it?

By the way, perhaps it's also possible that the klacking is really caused by a small exhaust leak in the exhaust manifold. In this case I'm just not very sure why it would come and go. Expansion from heat?

 

An exhaust leak can sound exactly like a ticking lifter. If parts are painted an gaskets don't look like they are 20 years old then maybe it was rebuilt.

Make sure you don't have solid flat tappet cam in there as it will tick normally.

Also you could take it to a mechanic and have him adjust the valves and if they were out of adjustment the ticking will go away.

 

Thanks. Is this adjusting the same thing that has to be done after assembling the engine together, had I pulled the heads etc? I should better leave the adjustment also to a mechanic instead of doing myself?

The valve cover gaskets looked like a cork from a new wine bottle - totally clean. The gaskets also have some blue stripes printed on them at an angle, perhaps a design used by a certain producer of those.

 

Yes, the valve adjustment would be the same. If the noise comes and goes then I don't think and adjustment will fix it. Check for an exhaust leak and tighten up all the exhaust manifold bolts. Does the sound happen when the engine is cold and not fully warmed up? That could be a sticky lifter otherwise it is probably and exhaust leak. How does the top of the engine look under the valve covers? If it looks clean with no gunky deposits on things then you probably don't have a sticky lifter problem.

Blue stripes on the gaskets mean they are made by Fel-pro. They are a quality performance gasket maker here in the US.

 

I was thinking a sticky lifter too but not if it has been rebuilt. Exhaust leak will come and go while an out of adjustment lifter will be there all the time.

Still have to make sure someone didn't change to solid lifters though

 

I'm not really sure about the solid lifters deal and I guess the only way to find it out is to take the engine apart?

Everything under the valve covers seems very clean, just some oil here and there which must be normal. I'll try to capture some photos soon.

The ticking sound is not there when the engine is cold and it tends to come and go once it has warmed up and after having done some driving. I have also had it appear with a moderately warm engine but then it slowly disappeared in about 5 minutes when I ran the engine on idle. I must check the exhaust manifold bolts, but it seems like most of them are not very easy to reach. I hope I have the tools which fit in there.

 

Alrighty, some updates now with pictures

Here's what the valve bays look like:





These are the valve covers - those gaskets look quite fine to me:



Since I'm sure I do have an exhaust leak somewhere near the right side cylinders, I'm thinking that the tapping sound could be perhaps the exhaust leak itself, not a lifter. I browsed several threads in this forum about such noises and most of them ended up being the exhaust gaskets or loose bolts. In my case, once the engine has warmed up and idles normally, I can hear the "Harley Davidson kind" of bam-bam-bam sound near one cylinder when I give some throttle. Such sound can perhaps only escape through a large leak, but I hope the tapping also comes from there.

Here's one potential point which I found to be a bit questionable. The inner bolt that goes against the exhaust manifold seems to be somewhat away from the manifold. Unfortunately it's such a poor location that I wasn't able to find a wrench that would fit in there.



What do you guys think - should I go for the lifter replacement and cylinder head check before this Summer or better not fix what's "not broken"? Is it correct that even if a lifter is sometimes sounding a bit louder, nothing bad would happen if I drive it like that? I certainly have more places where I could put this money into, like headers, true duals and some interior components.

Also, I must run some engine cleaning oil through it. Perhaps it will loosen some dirt. I was told to use a new dedicated air filter for this job and replace it again after putting in real oil.