I removed the intake manifold because I have a bad coolant leak to fix. When I removed the manifold I found a push rod out of position.



When I removed the valve cover I found a real mess. The spring on #2 cylinder is broken, pieces all over, rocker arm out of position, and who knows what else upon further inspection.




First question is: What should I have noticed when this happened?

Second question is what do I need to do?

Can I get just one spring assembly and maybe one rod and replace what is broken?

Or do I need to replace all of them as a set?

I will start some research on the forum as well as youtube but I wanted to get this out here right away. I'm not to happy to find this and am still hoping to get car on road soon.

 

Should have noticed immediately when that spring broke.
Would run very poorly. Be thankful the valve didn't drop.
Good news, easy fix.
New spring assembly and push rod and you should be good to go as long as the valve didn't get bent.

 

Unfortunately if the valve has not dropped into the bore then it is bent....
The head must come off and the bent one removed and a new one installed.....the seat should be stoned or cut and the valve re-lapped.
Yes you can by one spring.......try Elgin for the 1.250 springs I see here......

But....if it was me.....I would install a whole new set of springs.....the Z-28 Elgin springs come in at $60......check the seals and anything else while you are in there.....

Buy a head gasket and re-install.........

Jebby

 

Thanks Jebby, not what I wanted to hear. Your are right Hammerhead, I'm lucky the valve did not drop into the cylinder are really screw it up.

I tried to push the valve stem down and pull it up but it will not move by hand. Does that tell me it is bent?

 

yes it`s bent, you sort of got lucky, I heard about a pretty good machine shop in Butler, not NVR the other guy.

 

Inspect the piston deck for damage as well....clean it off and look for cracking....
Now would be an excellent time to put a pair of modern heads on this....it would save a lot of time and hassle if your budget supports it.....

Good luck,
Jebby

 

What would you figure the odds are that the piston and valve had a head to head meeting? If not how did the valve get bent, Mayne after the valve bend and the spring break?

Op: what are the circumstances leading up the event?

 

If I ever blow my 383 im getting that GM Crate CT525. I think your bent rod is a sign to buy that bad boy.... J/K

 

It does look pretty mean bit there areeager engines to be had.

 

Bluedawg - I think this may have happened about 300 iles ago. I have a leak in the intake manifold at the front passenger side corner. I took the air pump off to get a better look at it. Found a snapped bolt. Been that way for a long time. I wanted to drive it and I connected the two hoses that run from the air pump to the exhast manifolds together. It ran horribly. At one point there was something like a backfire as I turned a corner. That is probably when the spring broke? I reinstalled the air pump and it ran ok but not great. I attributed the rough engine at low rpm to the intake manifold leak. Clearly wrong on my part.

My winter project is to remove the engine to detal it and the compartment, replace a/c coil etc. I guess I'm going to start that now with a more serious reason and task.(lots of bad words here).

I'll remove the head and have some more expert person look at it. Look at the piston and cylinder for damage too.

This is a street car. Doesnt see 70 mph very often and I dont drive it spirited. So stock is ok and I would like to keep the numbers correct staus. But if the heads need a total rebuild I will probably look for an upgrade as it might be cheaper to get a better set of heads.

For now I am going to start removing the engine cuz I planned on it anyway and see what I have. Best case is I need $50.00 in parts. But I am preparing for more.

Redvetracr - my office is in Butler! That is where my car is now in my warehouse. There is a shpo on 124th st. Cant remember the name. Drive by it every day. And Corvette connection but I dont think they do any machining but they are good people and pretty helpfull.

 

Good luck, if you heads a trashed I think i have a set of 882's that I'd give ya, you pay shipping, I'd have to see, but if I do your welcome to them. They would need to be checked as they have crack prone areas and rebuilt, but it would keep you in the numbers matching area if yours came with that head.

 

They don't always drop and/or bend - but that is the most likely outcome.
I'd verify first.
I've had two different springs fall apart in the past.
In neither case did the valve drop.
Luck? Absolutely!
BUT; I noticed immediately that the motor was running very poorly and stopped within a few miles in both cases.

If' it's bent it'll be very difficult to impossible to spin or push the valve stem. If that works then compressed air through the spark plug hole will tell the final tale.

 

Unless u really want to I wouldn't remove the whole engine. That has the domino effect of rebuilding the whole engine. Unless u suspect a cracked block/water leak u will soon have an elephant to eat rather that one meal - R&R just one head. I'm guessing you have never adjusted the valves before and that is a basic operation u need to learn before any major block work.

Just call up a local cyl head shop and get a $200 rebuilt replacement head. That's all u need and all it will cost you to learn how to adjust the valves/lifters. The saves u the effort and resources if you're vlv adj technique fails and you wipe the cam.
Something else you need to check is the cam lobe of the broken spring maybe damaged and you need a new cam also.

Hope this can help.

 

Thanks Cardo. You are correct that I have never adjusted valves before. Heck I just got a timing ligh t a few months ago. I was planning on taking the engine out this winter but only to detail it and the compartment. Now its a whole new ball game. I need to get an experienced mechanic to look at this in the flesh and either fix it for me or help me fix it myself. Going to make a few phone calls and see if I can drum up some help. I recognize that this is over my head by myself. If there is any good news out of this, my car is in my heated warehouse with a lift, fork truck, air compressor, refrigerator and bathroom!

 

I removed the head. First look at the underside of the valve with the broken spring.

The exhaust valve with the broken spring definitely kissed the piston. You can see that it is out of position.

Next, look at the piston.


It does not seem to be a real big gash in the piston and there doesn't seem to be any distortion on the face of the exhaust valve.

Could this be a burn out hole waiting to happen?

Tomorrow or Friday I'm going to take it to a shop for a professional look at it. I've been thinking a lot about what I might want to do. It appears to me that the damage can be fixed with a new valve, spring and seal. I will have them check it for warp and cracks. I hope that it is all OK as I don't really want to replace the heads.

I welcome everyone's thoughts regarding potential repair.

Thanks

Jim

 

Steve at AMS in West Allis is very good and very honest. About a mile from state fair park.

 

That is the intake valve. The smaller valve is exhaust.

 

Assuming there are no cracks in the head should be easily fixable. Wanna clean that piston top good and inspect for any cracks starting.

Real easy to burn up the visa and put a stroker iin that thing not like Im trying to plant a seed or nothing

 

Well an L82 has forged pistons. I wouldnt worry over that small damage but just be sure to smooth that area out. Those are smog heads and should be cheap to find and replace - but only that one head. I would just smooth out that piston scar and replace one head. Might as well replace the vlv springs on the other head also but not necessary.
Yes that was the intk vlv that smacked the piston but not really an issue now just something to be aware of.

Hey its a small block chevy. Have some fun for cheap.

 

I took the head to CS Performance - I think this is the place Redvettracer was referring to - as they are three blocks from my office. Gone by the place almost everyday for over 20 years and have never been there?

They didn't see anything alarming that would trash it. They strongly suggested I bring in the other one as well. The second one won't cost as much as the set up time is already completed etc. In for a dime in for a dollar I guess.

Then for the ultimate "as long as I'm there" disease. Do I have them re-ring the block, bore it etc? Won't hurt to ask.