Alright, First things first, this post isn't about my car or much less a third gen f-body, But I figured someone in this board might have an idea whats going on.

This post is about my brother's 65 pontiac Gto that he inherited from our grandfather, the car had been sitting for a while before he took it and before that it was doing fine, as far as we knew. But now the engine wont go past 3500 rpm (sometimes it reach 4000 rpm but the ticking gets obscenely loud). Its has a 4 speed muncie rockcrusher and the engine is still "limited" by 3500-4000 rpm in neutral. I've spent some time looking for answers elsewhere with no real luck. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you

 

Look at the valve train in the heads. Broken spring, collapsed lifter, etc...

 

Is it a straight carb engine or does it have electronics? Is it making oil pressure. What engine is int the GTO (stock, stock but modded, LSx, some other engine?) The stock red line is something like 5500.

If it has hydraulic lifters that would be my first thought especially since it has sit for a while.

Take a broom stick and press it against your ear and put the end over reach cylinder on the valve cover. You can use this to identify what section the ticking is coming from. Just don't stick it into the belt. Also if you pull the breather filter off the valve cover you should expect alot of blow by. If you can figure out the noise pull that valve cover and feel the tension on each, check springs, and seats etc. Wrench over the engine to see if the valves are working as expected.

Check the timing on the engine, I suppose it could also be something with the timing chain. Also verify the spark plug wires are on in the right order. I've seen an engine where the distributor was 180 degrees out, the car ran badly and would rpm out at about 2500. Also just to be safe check your plugs, make sure they are clean and gaped correctly and none of the wires are burned.

The only thing else I can think of is clogged up exhaust... if its been sitting and a mouse made a home in the header....

If you don't have hydraulic lifters, there are no broken valve springs, and the timing is correct then sadly that would point to a galled cam shaft.

 

Yeah probably valve train - pull the valve covers and check for spongy lifters, broken valve springs, etc.

GD

 

Mechanical advance in the distributor working, moving freely?