[DZAUTO]

Yesterday I had a sudden ticking, then loud clicking and poor engine performance develop. I limped to the house and determined the noise was on the right bank. Jerked the right valve cover and discovered a broken rocker stud, lifter out of it's hole laying in the valley and about 2in of a previous broken pushrod.
About 6mo ago, I had a pushrod bend or break and it took out the pushrod next to it on number 2 cylinder. So I removed about 1 3/4 pushrods. The remaining 2in of the broken one was down under the intake and could only be retrieved by removing the intake. I rolled the dice and decided to leave it. What could it hurt? Now I know. Fortunately, the damage was limited to a broken rocker stud. The pushrod and lifter were OK. But, I have rolled the dice again. The intake came off so clean that I put it back with some brush on gasket sealer on the old gaskets and fresh RTV on the ends. What do you think?

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Tom Parsons

 

[richr]

Tom,

I found your roll the dice amusing. I would have to say your brave. I would never take the chance after all the cost for new intake gaskets is cheap enough to avoid any worry of vacum leaks etc.

I guess you'll know when you start her up and she is running for a awhile. To tell you the truth though it will probably be ok.

Good Luck

Rich

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70 SS - L34
Eatontown, NJ
Member # 442
www.chevelles.com/showroom/richr1

 

[Gene Chas]

Tom, when we pulled the intake off the ol 427 we found a round piece of metal just sitting in the lifter valley. Man we searched, and searched, for a broken part. Well, it must have been one of the bottoms off the old set of lifters ( core shift had wiped the cam in minutes and Crane did up a special offset grind so the lifters spin properly).

That damn piece of metal had been in there for about 15,000 HARD miles ( 135 mph, locking up the brakes, allot ) and by the grace of God it didn't chew anything up.

Said hi to your guardian angel lately?

Merry XMAS.

 

[SoCalRat]

Hey DZ,
That happened to me a while back, but the lifter didn't fall out. My uncle used to race circle-track & one day they put a ratchet & rag in the lifter valley. They fogot to take them out of the valley & put the intake & carb over it. My uncle said he heard this clanking noise the entire race. He got 1st in the race & then they found the tools immediately after the race. He got real lucky that it didn't mess anything up.

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Jay W.
In-the-works 67 Malibu
surferwagons.8m.com

 

[drptop70ss]

I definately wouldnt take a chance using old gaskets, if it works, great but get a leak and its a pain in the arse to have to do it again for the price of gaskets..Im suprised you left the original piece in the valley, with all the valvetrain movement it easily could of been filed down to shavings, which could wipe out the whole engine...as I was told theres never the time or money to do it right the first time, but always time and money to do it the second!

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70 chevelle ss396 conv
66 chevelle ss396 hdp/conv
55 chevy prostreet

 

[DZAUTO]

The reason I left the broken piece of pushrod in the lifter valley the first time is because we were on the road to a car show. So I got a couple of pushrods at a nearby NAPA store, put themin, adjusted the valves on #2 and went on to the car show. Since then, everything had been fine, until yesterday. And this time is the cleanest I have ever seen an intake come off. Soooooooooooooooooooo-

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Tom Parsons

 

[Gene Chas]

DZ that was your question, the gaskets??? Hell yes, in the chas clusterfutz world I'd probably drop a piece of gunk down an intake port. Hell, she'll lay down right where she came off. KISS. goop and button it up man.

[This message has been edited by Gene Chas (edited 12-23-1999).]

 

[GlennLS-6]

I've seen guys remove 1 cylinder head without pulling the intake, not my cup of tea but when cutting time it can be done. By the way Tom, you might want to check your rocker to stud clearence, I have had stock big block rocker studs fail on there own.I highly recommend a set of ARP studs, they are way stronger.

 

[drptop70ss]

DZ why didnt you say so? I would do the same thing if I were stuck on the side of the road, but I would have to take it apart when I got home cause I would always be thinking about that piece, wondering when it would cause a problem (usually in the rain or snow in the middle of the night in the middle of nowhere!)

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70 chevelle ss396 conv
66 chevelle ss396 hdp/conv
55 chevy prostreet

 

[DZAUTO]

I drove it about 40mi today. So far, so good. Timing is advanced just a tad too much (turns slow when first starting, EASY fix), runs great, no oil dripping from the back or front of the block and no strange noises. DAMN, I do good work!

Glen,
By the way, MANY years ago at Downtown Chev in OKC, I saw a car that a mechanic was working on, with one head off and the intake slightly proped up. I would never have believed it if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes! Over the years my uncle has shown me lots of shortcuts they used to do at the dealer. The sooner a mechanic gets one out, the sooner he can get another in.

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Tom Parsons

[This message has been edited by DZAUTO (edited 12-23-1999).]

 

[Joe G]

Tom,

I worked at a Chevy dealer for two years back in 74 & 75. That was standard practice for removal of one cylinder head. The intake never came off, and I never had one comeback due to gasket sealing. I'll also take this one step futher, when you take the head off, don't loosen the rockers. After you've removed the intake bolts on the side to be removed and proped up the intake manifold and removed the exhaust manifold bolts. Take out all the head bolts and pop up the head slightly. Now you can remove the push rods in order and use the rockers as a handle to remove the head. After you've resealed or replaced the head, reinstall the push rods in their respective positions, line up the rocker arms and torque down the head. No valve adjustment necessary!!!! Once you get good at it, you can replace or reseal a cylinder head in about 45 minutes. That's about the only way to beat the flat rate.

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Joe Giniel
72 Chevelle SS
Team Chevelle #143
Aces #03056
West Bloomfield, MI

 

[DZAUTO]

Joe,
You sound just like my uncle.

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Tom Parsons

 

[70 SS 454]

ok...here we go...i used to work at a dealership...one of the mechanics there "taught" me how to do a fast valve job.. seats were ground and valves refaced using the usual stones/valve refacing machine then instead of lapping, the vavles were slammed up and down thru the guides against the seats, hard, 3-5 tims until a "line " appeared in the valve face from the banging against the seat...i was appalled that such was the way of the world...i was just a kid!

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Rich
Cocoa Beach, Fla
Team Chevelle #380
[email protected]
www.chevelles.com/showroom/70_SS_454.jpg

 

[70 SS 454]

ok...here we go...i used to work at a dealership...one of the mechanics there "taught" me how to do a fast valve job.. seats were ground and valves refaced using the usual stones/valve refacing machine then instead of lapping, the vavles were slammed up and down thru the guides against the seats, hard, 3-5 tims until a "line " appeared in the valve face from the banging against the seat...i was appalled that such was the way of the world...i was just a kid!

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Rich
Cocoa Beach, Fla
Team Chevelle #380
[email protected]
www.chevelles.com/showroom/70_SS_454.jpg

 

[Gene Chas]

Well, other than Rich's "valve S-lappin'" story, I'm genuinely impressed. 45 mins. That's moving!

 

[Philip]

I've done all of he above while working flat rate. I prefer the way I do it now which is by the clock hour and apparantly so do my customers, they could get their cars fixed cheaper but still come to me.
While on vacation I sucked a piece of carb linkage (the little rod that sits on top of a thermoquad) into the engine. I pulled to the side of the road, removed only the 1 head, removed the linkage from the cylinder and put it back together with all the same gaskets and went on---for years! I was going to fix it right when I got home but it ran fine.

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Philip Valentine
Lakeside, AZ
Gold Member #42
"Perseverance is not a long race; it is many short races one after another."
[email protected]