foothilltom 33 Report post Posted October 12, 2009 (edited) Hey guys, just wanted to follow up on the latest saga with my 20 year sleeper coupe: the bent push rod and pushed out rocker stud. The chronology of how this all occurred seems pretty clear to me now: * Stuck valve (either from 20 years of sleep or perhaps aggravated by the crappy red fuel from the bad tank seal job). * During my 7 mile maiden voyage drive, I began to hear the clanking. I probably bent the rod and pushed out the stud during this episode as the clanking was *really* bad by the time I limped home. * Carb popping symptom threw me off the scent for a long time, but was always probably always related to this stuck valve. * Aggressive SeaFoam treatment ensued: some down the carb, some in the crank case, some in each cylinder port, some in the gas. * At some point, the valve "unstuck" and the popping stopped, but the clanking continued (now I know why). * Finally got smart and listened to advice and pulled the covers and saw the real suspect. I decided to go the "cheap route" mostly because money is tight right now. I verified that the valves open correctly and bought replacement push rods for my #5 cylinder. I followed Slimey and Print Dads advice and surgically pounded the rocker stud back down about 1/4" which was the amount it had pushed out relative to the other. It took about 30 careful whacks with a mini-sledge and careful measuring with a scale to realize I was making some progress. Long story short, I was able to get them back in...for now. I replaced the bent rods, re-installed the rockers, and adjusted them as best I could. Slow hand-cranking, then cranking with the starter revealed a happy valve train...for now. I replaced the covers and fired her up and the noise was gone! Huzzah! The smoking out the one side of my exhaust disappeared and the engine ran smooth and quiet. I realize this is a band-aid so I'm resolving to keep a keen ear trained on any noise that might emanate during the next few months of projects. I have so much to do still, I have no plans to drive it more than around the driveway and possibly to a friends house, but if I hear any "ticking", I'll know it's on its way back out and trouble is coming. At that point, I'll revisit the next step (re-build heads or new heads). I feel like I've graduated to at least 8th grade auto shop status now, thanks to all your knowledge and input. I learned a helluva lot this weekend. Right now, the car runs pretty damn good, and I can move it around as necessary. I'm sure my story will continue, but until then... THANKS A WHOLE BUNCH. Tom Edited October 12, 2009 by foothilltom Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SlimeGold 69 15 Report post Posted October 12, 2009 (edited) Glad it runs OK, just keep a ear open to noises like you said. If it starts clanking, try not to run it. If the rockers start flopping around they could hit the wrong place on the valve(retainer instead of the tip), pop the spring loose from the valve and it's all over. If your lucky it may never hapen again, but you should plan in the future when money is there, to get some screw in studs and have the heads checked. Things like spring pressure and coil bind, cam specs, piston to valve clearance should really be checked because of the problem you had. That's one problem of having a engine that someone else built. You can't be sure of what's inside if they don't provide some solid info on stuff like cam and valve spring specs, if they installed bigger valves, etc. It could have been some stiff valves that caused it or the PO had problems keeping the studs in the heads also and that's why they stopped driving it. It could have just slipped his mind when he sold it to you:shifty: and he left out that important fact. I would think that if a valve was stuck enough to pull press in studs out and bend push rods, you would have felt some major resistance when you where turning the engine over by hand before you fired it up. But it's just hard to say for sure. Edited October 12, 2009 by SlimeGold 69 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Print Dad 58 Report post Posted October 13, 2009 Hello Tom, Glad to hear you are going for now. Maybe just maybe if you live right the rocker will never be an issue again. Ss advised, keep an ear on it. Be extra careful the first few drives. Then always be aware that it could loosen. My hope is that it won't. In my opinion Tom, you have graduated to grade 10 at least. I think you have learned a lot since this project started so I say. "Cheers". Well done grasshopper...... Print Dad Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
