here the basics: I start the car car gets warm lifter start tapping like crazy. I have a flat tapet cam, 266 int and 276 exh with .5" lift. at valve running 1.6 ratio roller rockers... 861( i think) valve springs, and guide plates. I cannot find a reason for the motor to run quite when cold and noisey when hot. Anyt Ideas???

 

Have you tried re-adjusting your valves? (you did do this with the engine warm, right??)

 

so far i've tried it cold, warm running and off. By Chilton with the full turn down and by any other method I've found here on the boards. Like I said dead quite until the motor reaches operating temperature. It makes no sens to me....

 

HHhhmnmmm. This is definitely odd. I would think that adjusting them with the engine running would certainly solve your problems. Also, the noise getting worse as the engine gets warmer is really odd.

What does you oil pressure look like as the engine warms up?

 

going by the factory gauge 30 + psi at idle. when it's fully warmed up i have no less than 30 but typically 45 PSI. then again it's the factory gauge. haven't had the time to run a secondary gauge on the motor, but it has been rebuilt less than 10 K ago...

 

Ok, now, just a shot in the dark here.........

Is this a TPI engine? Are you sure it is not injectors ticking? (no insult intended here..... this is voice of experience...... )

 

HAHAHA... its funny you say that my lasy car was a TPI, but this is a carbed motor... and I'm Absolutely sure it's not the Mixture control selenoid as well... But yeah those injectors can really play with you head when you are listening for ticking lifters.

 

So much for that thought..... Had to ask though.

Do you have the cool little clips for the rockers, so you can do a valve adjustment with the engine running, without making too much of a mess? If so, run the engine up to operating temp, and readjust them. (I know, I know.... ) If they stay quiet, all well and good, if they do not...... may be time for new ones.

 

I have quite a bit of ULTRA HIGH MILE engine experience. When my long timers start to do the things that you're talking about, that means that as the oil gets hot and thins out, it starts bleeding out of the bottom end at the rod and main bearings and doesn't have enough volume to get all the way to the top. When the engine is cold, the oil is too, and that helps take up the slack when the oil is moving in the engine. If your engine was rebuilt with tolerances on the "wide" side, you may have this problem. Some guys, especially small block ch**y guys, like to run em wide on the clearances so that when they really whip on it and the bottom end tightens up, everything stays free and happy. The down side is that when you run a "loose" engine under normal conditions you will get exactly the symptoms you describe. Sometimes old timers will run thicker oil to get them by and they are fine with that. I used to do that in "bomber" dirt track cars and it worked well there, too. I know you said your engine was fresh, but do you know the tolerances? Maybe you're a little loose on your reconditioned bottom end. Just a thought.........

 

with the rockers I adjust them using a set of mutilated factory covers... so the headers stay nice and dry

I dn't doubt this motor is on the loose side, it's a jasper rebuild so there isn't much that would surprise me. I was going to try straight 30w from castrol, can you think of somethign that may be better to try? also Am I doing any damage by letting make noise? If not then I am certain the blower I have sitting in the basement will dround out that noise fairly sufficiently. if it is doing somethign will switching to solids help? Its a weekend car so it might see 5K on a really busy summer...

 

Just my own rule, but if you're hearing noise you're running without oil. THAT'S BAD!! If the whole engine is jasper, you may have a wiped out set of lifters or cam. I've seen jasper do this alot. A good friend of mine here in Indiana had a brief tour of duty at the main engine plant and the stories he tells are not good. Don't be afraid to run really thick oil in there for awhile to sort of "test" your theories. If thicker oil makes the noise go down, you may want to consider putting in a high volume aftermarket pump. You can always use the pump on your next engine, too. I would go to the parts store and get some straight 50w. Your Jasper engine won't care, believe me. It's a cheap test that will tell you something, I'm sure. Most of the machining at Jasper is pretty good, but they will get by with a lot of mismatched parts inside that you'll never know about. Now is the time to start searching the classifieds and to buy that old Impala or Chevy truck with the factory 400. Swap the long block with what you've got and sell the donor car. I did it with a friend's firebird and he's never been happier. If you sell the car with your jasper, let your new high volume oil pump that you have to buy go with it! Buy another one for your 400.

Just my budget minded two cents........

 

cam and lifter have been swapped already. Now I'm a bit hesitant to run the camden Blower I have since it pulls off the oil system. I was planning to the motor cooler. I noticed the other day if I rig the fans to run non-stop the motor is perfectly quite... I was honestly planning t use this motor as is until I can afford to pick up some thing to build a more serious performer out of. Hmm this gives me some food for thought, i'll have to do more testing to see if she quites down. I wonder if an external oil cooler will help.