First off, i don't know for sure what is in this motor, but i do know what i was told when i bought it. Complete swap, its a pre-86 block, vin says the car came wtih an LG4. He says it has Edelbrock Performer RPM cam, heads, intake, carb, retro roller rockers , forged crank/rods/pistons (10.5:1, Fed-Mogul). 350 cid.

I only know for certain that it has the intake, carb, some headers (maybe 1 5/8") and Edelbrock aluminum heads of some type. It's been running great outside of some lack of power at the top end, and I always chalked it up to the motor pushing through a single 2.5" or 3" cat. Later on I noticed that the header coming off the no 1 cylinder is a diff color than the rest and the plug is a little oily (rest are nice and amber).

Then today I looked through the hole for the breather while it was running and the rockers (both int and exh for no 1) right under it wasnt moving. I could see a rocker for no 3 going fine, but nothing else.

So while I wait on my check and some gaskets, what should I look for or try, any opinions/advice? This is my 1st small-block, and it has ran pretty well for 1-2 months, and it moves pretty well, but I don't know what I should do. Please Help.

 

well. the first thing I might do is pull the valve cover off on that side. and start the engine and see if it actually is moving or not... if it is not... then you have problems.. could be bad lifters.. but even with bad lifters you would think it would move a little.. which leads to the cam it's self.. if the lifters check out then the cam is more than likely destroyed on the cylinder one. which would require a tear down to get the cam out and look at it... never a good thing when things are not moving when they have no logical reason not to move since they are supposed to move... alot...

 

If that cam is dead, then the whole engine needs to be torn down and checked for damage, too.

 

Alright, thanks. At least I have something to look for when I pull the cover off. I know the intake is for sure messed b/c I can wiggle it while the motor is running. We'll see what it looks like this weekend.

 

Years ago my brothers Pickup had the same problem. Anything above 4500 rpms and the power would fall off and you could hear a popping through the exhaust. Then after a little while we started to hear a tapping, sounded like the valve train so we pulled the valve cover and noticed some of the rockers weren't working hardly at all, and others only slightly. Wiped cam lobes. Although a complete tear down would have been the proper way to fix it as usual we were all short on funds so I installed a new cam lifters and timing chain set, and to this day it still runs great.
I recently read an article in a car mag called when good cams go bad, and I don't remember much about it other than that alot of the standards for motor oil has changed. Before if it had the starburst seal on it then it was always quality oil but now most oils are recieving less and less additives. Some of these additives are crucial for flat tappet cams and not as necessary for modern engines and or roller cams. What I remember is that Shell or Rotella motor oil scored the highest on the list for these additives, and would be a good choice of oil for non roller motors. Has anyone else read this article?

 

Alright. Here we go. Upon pulling the valve covers, I found that:

Intake Lifter + Pushrod = GONE
Intake Cam lobe = Didn't look chewed or anything.
Intake Rocker = there, tight, but pointless...
Exhaust Lifter + Pushrod = there, pushrod is fine, but....
Exhaust Rocker = so loose nothing was happening...
Exhaust Cam lobe = doubt its pretty, but idk


I removed the intake rocker, tightened/adjusted the exhaust rocker, but the valve cover back on, and the lifter began ticking really bad, so that lifter is definitly bad. So now im gonna take the other rocker/rod/ maybe lifter out so I can drive along until I do something about it.

So, I'm thinking one of those lifters went bad, but they're (according to him, didnt think to check) retrofit hydraulic rollers, so only available in sets of 16 at 400-500 dollars. So he pulls the intake lifter/cam, I have no ****ing clue what happened with the exhaust, but now im kinda screwed into 7 cylinders.
The Question: Do I replace the cam/lifters with plain hydraulic (400), buy a set of 16 retro hydra rollers and possible cam (500-720), or trash this ****ing thing for a new 383 in a couple years?

Any other opinions/etc. would be very welcome. Thanks for the responses so far.

 

have you removed the intake manifold yet?

i'd like to see a pic of the rockers, and more importantly, the lifters.

you said edelbrock RPM cam... I thought that's a flat tappet model. Are you SURE you have a roller cam? (you said retrofit roller ROCKERS so..)


also show a pic of your lifters for that cylinder. side by side on a white piece of paper if you can.

If it's a flat tappet cam, you cam is wiped. If it's a roller, perhaps it's just a lifter, but I still kinda doubt that. And yea, you can just buy one or two lifters.

 

Were you adjusting it with a feeler gauge or with the motor running a screw driver and a wrench/socket? Because if they are too tight you will hear ticking. The screw driver is to transfer the sound while you adjust you tighten/loosen just to where the noise goes away while the car is running. I'm having similar issues with my valve terrain. My dampener springs are toast. My buddy came out from 60 miles away to help set the lash on my car. I got the covers off and there were pieces of valve seals and retainer springs sitting in the top of the head loose. So needless to say we didn't touch the rockers so I still have some wheels. Having one car sux. So now I'm trying to find the right set of springs for an LT4 non hot cam to use in my L98.

 

ok.. so.. possibly the cam is shot.. uh.. but where did the pushrod go... by GONE i am guessing it was not there at all.. so what happened to it????? that would worry me a great deal until i found said pushrod...

 

Probably in the oil pan. Broken pushrods usually like to make their way down there through the drain holes.