Hey guys,

Even though its a 100 degree's with 98% relative humidity here I started putting her back together.

I reinstalled the cam that had been straightened and reground perfectly by UDHAROLD'S grinder AKA Dacaman. The cam wasnt crazy out but then again I wasnt detecting a LOT of problem with it and would never had pulled it for that reason alone. I phased the cam a little different this time. Everything is going good.

I get the cam in and phased, then clean the lifters and give them a oil soak for a few hours and install. One thing i noticed different with the easy roll is there is absolutely NO play at the roller. I mean None they are much tighter.

I cleaned and installed the push rods then i decided to take my Pro Comp rollers inside ( to cool down a bit ) and check them carefully ( for anything that could cause variation in lash when under load...IE Bearing issues ), I then discovered to my horror that exactly half of them had marks where they had been striking the retainer. :(:(:(:(:clonk:

Now I was like what the >>>> I know i checked that because you can still he the paint I applied to them before I mocked up and rotated the engine by hand then later the starter. I knew i had put a shorter pushrod on the intake side ( more than the normal 1" ) because the travel pattern at the valve tip worked out better. I checked this more than once during the very initial build, however I have not checked it since. There are variables because when i first built the engine, I was using much more lash ( especially cold lash ). The fact I went from .012 cold to .006-.008 cold might have made them touch till it warmed up. I guess RPM could be another factor with deflection coming into play. At any rate a good find making there be just one more reason im glad i tore it down to do the upgrades. The thought of dropping a valve at 7000 RPM in a freshly built BBC make my stomach turn. I used the intakes as a template and clearance all of them ( in case i forget sometime when i take then off in the future ). Some of you that followed my post may remember that I described my valve train as noisy and attributed some of that to the cam out of round, however its just as likely I was hearing this rocker to retainer issue. Its fairly quite in the car and i can hear the engine well. Even though its egg in my face I wanted to share in case it helps anyone. The increased lash issue ( on the intakes ) when opening the exhaust valve seems to be gone and/or reduced as well. I have to clean off the old gaskets and reinstall the intake. I actually forgot that I have a Pro Street 750 Dominator I could use to start the engine and be checking things out. I would already have had it running had i not forgotten this. :D:D

Hey bud,

Glad to hear you are coming along. It is cool that you found that now, instead of after you got it together and heard almost the same noises, and you would be like "What The @#$% !!!!"

When you said "Even though its egg in my face I wanted to share in case it helps anyone.", that is real cool and shows how you are a true "stand up" guy. Most people would not admit that and blame it on something else. Take care.....

yeah, most guys would just avoid mentioning it at all. But Shawn's a good guy, put it where others can see and learn and the rest of us get to make fun of him forever. :)

yeah, most guys would just avoid mentioning it at all. But Shawn's a good guy, put it where others can see and learn and the rest of us get to make fun of him forever.

HAHA yeah,
I read here a lot even before I ever posted and while I may have a few sticking points like the 4150/4500 debate, I would not be to the point I am now on my car if not for this board and its members. Some have directly helped and others indirectly. I do live by my own code of honor and some of the harsh words ( out of sheer frustration ) about the Voodoo cam and its perceived issue's in my engine may have been my fault and I didnt want others making the same mistakes or assumptions based on any erroneous error's on my part. I am not a master engine builder but I have learned a lot through this process and have enjoyed the adventure up and unto this point. Hey I am just a regular guy that built a Pump Gas low 10 second car in his garage and thats all I ever wanted to be, am I going to make mistakes of coarse I am but I try my best and thats all I can do...... I have Pride, but not so much I cant admit when im wrong.

I figured Ron and Wolfie would have ribbed me about it by now ;)

BTW just cleaned up the intake surfaces and tacked down the new gaskets. Ill let it dry to hold them in place then put the intake on when it cools down. I decided not to change intakes in this step so We can gather data from re-phasing the cam and purchasing the AED Pro Street Dominator.

I did notice the ports on the Dart 4500 Intake I have arent near the size of the head ports. I also noticed the FelPro 1211 which is the cross over gasket for my heads on the AFR website is way to big and cuts off a corner at the top inside ( facing each other ) of each intake port. If the intake was ported to the heads and didnt itself have a smaller port this would have to restrict flow.

Gotta cool down when your over 6ft3" and weight 400 lbs, it dont take long to overheat!!

Shawn

that's really the only way to learn this stuff, get on it and do it. After several years go by and you've made all the popular mistakes at least twice you can claim to be heavily experienced like me. ;) :o

I've done that deal with the rockers hitting the retainers before. We were building Chevy II 4 cylinder midget engines, using BB rockers. The deal needed really long pushrods, longer the BB or 4 cylinder. After awhile the manufacturers started building in these nice little reliefs under there. Then there was the pushrod end hitting the valve covers. Take a new set of Crane Gold BB rockers and by time they were done they looked like they had been through a war.

My buddy stopped by ( the one that built the tranny and welded the exhaust ) so I made him help me set the intake on there straight :thumbsup: last time he will drop by for a while.....also made him sit through some home street racing video's on the 100" big screen!!!!

So tomorrow I hope to get the Balancer installed and Water pump. Then im going to drop the Griffin radiator off you to get cleaned. From there im only ordering a new electric fan away from finishing up and getting her running again......


It will take me about a month to save up for the AED Pro Street 1050 though....

Quote
" HAHA yeah,
I read here a lot even before I ever posted and while I may have a few sticking points like the 4150/4500 debate, I would not be to the point I am now on my car if not for this board and its members. Some have directly helped and others indirectly. I do live by my own code of honor and some of the harsh words ( out of sheer frustration ) about the Voodoo cam and its perceived issue's in my engine may have been my fault and I didnt want others making the same mistakes or assumptions based on any erroneous error's on my part. I am not a master engine builder but I have learned a lot through this process and have enjoyed the adventure up and unto this point. Hey I am just a regular guy that built a Pump Gas low 10 second car in his garage and thats all I ever wanted to be, am I going to make mistakes of coarse I am but I try my best and thats all I can do...... I have Pride, but not so much I cant admit when im wrong. "

Very well said Shawn ......Thanks for update ( one of my pet peeves on here is guys who never report back after a thread that alot have offerred advice on .nobody learns from that )

I have been following your posts on this as I too have an issue with "noisy valve train" also lash opening up on the occasional valve after about a 100 miles or so !! thought I had it solved not so sure now !!! going out to pull a cover and check lash ... again thanks for the update