Hi guys...ok I know the factory style non-adjustable valvetrain makes a little noise but mine started ticking more than I thought it should, so I pulled the covers for a look and found this...
Noisy 440 valvetrain
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Actually, the factory style setup is supposed to very quiet unless things get worn out. I know a lot of rebuild shops that didn't replace the rockers if they looked good but I always liked replacing them.....unless they looked REAL good! You might want to replace all of yours along with new shafts and if you have any kind of a decent mild cam, I'd recommend going with the MP heavy duty rockers. Also, peel open your oil filter and look for metal particles and drain the oil into a clean pan and inspect it closely. Also check your valve tips too. Looking at that one rocker, the valve tip most likely is worn.
The cause was some of the hold downs did not have the raised nibs and were digging into the rockers, and the affected rockers were sliding from side-to-side quite a bit... no bent pushrods or shaft galling, I've only driven this car about 25 miles so far.. on a couple of rockers I see where they were not centered on the valve stem, so....new hold-downs and rockers and should be ok? Not really wanting to go to an adjustable set up as I don't have a very aggressive cam...(comp 274xe, 230/236 @ .050)
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I would still inspect things....and would still go with the MP heavy duty rockers with that lift. They are stamped steel rockers and look stock but are just thicker and heavy duty.....non adjustable. Do you know what springs are on it? For .490 lift, a 933 (iirc) spring should be on it too.
Oh ya forgot to mention Edelbrock RPM heads... their Springs are rated for up to .600 lift, and I'm using the lifters that came with the cam
MP rockers would be a good idea thanks cranky!
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You're a bit on the heavy side for a .490 lift cam then imo. If you have an engine shop close by you might take a few of the Eddy springs and have them checked. I've always heard that Edelbrock was a bit on the 'happy' side when it comes to rating their springs so you might be just fine with them but I've never liked putting too much pressure on a juice cam......
Garys1969RR
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Good point... easy enough to do, and I do have the recommended comp Springs in my cabinet, so I could always switch to those... Thanks again Cranky! By the way, I've been looking for those MP arms and nobody seems to have right AND left
What kind of noise was your engine making? Mine has always had a sort of rumble/rattle inside it at idle that I've never figured out. Goes away at slightest throttle movement. The shafts were a installed upside down by the PO so I replaced them but didn't really look closely at the rockers at the time.
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Not even MP?
Good point... easy enough to do, and I do have the recommended comp Springs in my cabinet, so I could always switch to those... Thanks again Cranky! By the way, I've been looking for those MP arms and nobody seems to have right AND left
Lots of ticking.. like the sound of the rockers smacking into eachother from the side
I did check the MP site, they have a set for small blocks but the only big block rockers were the aluminum adjustable kind...mancini has some stock-style, they don't say if they're the better MP ones..
So I was browsing the spec sheets....Comp shows, for their 911-16 springs a seat load of 122lbs @ 1.9 installed height and open load of 309lbs, the edelbrocks are 140 @ 1.88 height and 317lbs open load (.500 lift), a tad stronger all the way around...I don't know, is that a big enough difference to change them to the comps?
And another thing I was pondering here...the rocker shafts are removed, the pushrods are resting in place on the lifters. I held a rocker in my hand on the pushrod and leaned on it and noticed no lifter movement...is that OK? I thought maybe there would be a little compression but maybe I'm wrong and because they're bled down their not squishable at all by hand?
And another thing I was pondering here...the rocker shafts are removed, the pushrods are resting in place on the lifters. I held a rocker in my hand on the pushrod and leaned on it and noticed no lifter movement...is that OK? I thought maybe there would be a little compression but maybe I'm wrong and because they're bled down their not squishable at all by hand?
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Garys1969RR
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You won't be able to compress a lifter plunger by hand, as the oil under it won't compress. The lifter plunger adjusts with oil pressure, as the lifter moves up and down while the engine is running.
OK good to know thanks Gary! By the way on the hold-downs....none of the smaller ones (3 on each head) had the upturned nibs...the wrong ones must have been used and I didn't know enough to question it, the engine was built years ago and before I fired it recently, I only pulled the covers to verify priming and check torque but didn't catch that...lesson learned!
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