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1939 Chevy coupe

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  • Originally posted by 1946Austin View Post

    No money, or patience Dan! I have considered calling up the upholstery shop and thanking them for pushing me over the edge! Maybe I'll just drop off a thank you card in their mailbox, since they're less than a half mile away!
    careful, they'll try to hire you.
    Flying south, with a flock of bird dogs.

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    • Originally posted by Beagle View Post

      careful, they'll try to hire you.
      I'm a flake, and can't work well with others. Plus I can't be held to a specific schedule, and only want to work if I feel the urge. Doubt anybody wants my type corrupting their good employees!

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      • Originally posted by 1946Austin View Post

        I'm a flake, and can't work well with others. Plus I can't be held to a specific schedule, and only want to work if I feel the urge. Doubt anybody wants my type corrupting their good employees!
        At the price and timeframe they quoted I doubt they HAVE any "good employees"!

        Dan

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        • Well, that description covers quite a few of my millennial counterparts at a couple of different places I worked recently. It may qualify you for more pay or a position in management!
          Flying south, with a flock of bird dogs.

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          • I've been fighting an issue ever since I first fired up the SBC roller motor in my '39. I adjusted the lifters like I've always done, but soon after starting to drive the car I found some were too tight. I readjusted them, and then soon began to have some lifters ticking. So adjusted them again, and again, and soon decided something just wasn't right.
            So I called up Howard's Camshafts and asked them what they recommended for oil viscosity on their roller camshafts. He told me no heavier than 10-30 wt., and 5-20 would be even better!
            Well being an old fart whose never built anything but flat tappet Chevys in the past, I put my usual 20-50 wt. Valvoline Racing Oil in the engine! And I just did the first 500 mile change about 50 miles ago too! So went to the parts store and got 5-30 wt. oil, and came home and put that in it. I drained the oil filter, and refilled it with the lighter oil. Wasn't going to toss a brand new high capacity filter at 50 miles!
            Started the engine up, and no lifter noise at all! Amazing! Always great to learn something new at any age, but at my age it's really great! Never dreamed heavy oil would create such issues, but the tech at Howard's said these roller lifters have tighter tolerances, and they can restrict heavy oils, which stops them from properly functioning, so lash can change as the engine is either hot or cold. He went on to tell me they can also get plugged by heavier oils, so they need the lighter weight oil to ensure they flow well, and stay clear.

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            • Got an early start before it got too hot today. Wanted to finish up some loose ends on the interior work. I got my weatherstrip material in the mail, so installed that along the door opening edge. Pretty easy since it's self adhesive, and just needed to clean the edge and pull the tape backer off and stick it down.



              Then I got the 30 ft. of windlace and began the process of installing it also. The '39 has channels it fits into from floor to top of dash, but it's not a really tight fit. So I put weatherstrip adhesive in the channel, and then doubled over the flat material along the windlace, and used a small putty knife and a hammer to tap the doubled material tightly into the channel. It went in very tightly, and the glue should hold it. For the rest of the opening I glued it again, and used the putty knife to force it up behind the metal strips that hold the headliner around the door opening. Then down the back edge I loosened the interior 1/4 panel cover and glued it in place behind it, then reinstalled the screws to tighten the panel against it.




              Not sure how it's all supposed to be done, but this seemed to work, so it's done now. I just need to run the larger horizontal rubber weatherstrip along the bottom edge of the door. But the doors close so tightly now that I need to keep them closed until the weatherstrip relaxes for a day or two. Then I can go back and do that lower piece.

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              • My valve noise came back on the 350 SBC engine. Tried adjusting the lash again, but it just wont go away. Almost sounds like a bad valve, or broken valve spring, but I doubt it's either after today.
                I pulled the valve covers again, and did a compression check, and all are within 5psi of 150 psi with best around 153 psi, and lowest 148 psi. On a stone cold motor with my compression it's great. Did a bleed down test on all cylinders, but everything held fine.
                Pulled the rockers off and checked all rockers, and all valve stem ends, and no issues. #6 cyl. is the culprit, so I pressurized that cylinder and pulled the valve springs to check for broken springs, but no problems there either. The next step is to pull the intake and check the roller lifters to see if anything is wrong visibly. I've got a new set of Elgin roller lifters, so regardless of what I find I'll put them in while I've got the intake off.
                Baffling so far, and I actually hope I do find a lifter issue, just so I can feel better about reassembly. I did find one tiny thing that disappointed me with the machine shop that built my heads. On #6 exhaust valve I found a old cheap ass valve stem seal that was one of the single spring reddish colored seals. Intake had a nice new blue seal with double springs. I removed the cheap one and replaced it with a good one from a gasket set I had here. Have to check all the others with a flashlight, and see if I find any more he cheaped out on, and didn't use good seals on.
                I'm questioning whether I got the high performance .550 high lift valve springs now. I've got a full set of .550" springs, so I'm going to pressurize each cylinder and swap out the springs regardless. Just to make sure my issue isn't spring bind that could lead to other problems later. My cam is .525" lift, which is too much if he used stock OEM type springs. Hate having to fix things I paid others to do already!

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                • I had a Buick 231 once that ticked almost like a rod knock - turned out to be just a little a chunk missing off of one tooth on the cam's timing gear... so I replaced it. With a 350 SBC... never ran better. How did you come up with #6 being the culprit?
                  Flying south, with a flock of bird dogs.

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                  • It was pretty easy to determine it was #6 cylinder. Started out using my stethoscope, and then put my open top valve cover on and began adjusting as I ran the engine. The click goes away as it comes off idle, bu it also begins to go away if I back off the lash on #6 cyl. exhaust valve. But at a certain point before it fully goes away the rocker begins to click instead. And if I shut the engine off and check lash on that rocker it's way too loose to get it to stop clicking.
                    I really think a lifter isn't pumping up at idle, or has some restriction in the oil passage. I suppose it could be in the OEM lifter retainer plate, but I think that's unlikely. More likely it's a bad lifter. Kinda kick myself because I had the new Elgin lifters, but was told these lifters were new too. So I figured I'd keep mine, and use what was in it. I should have used mine, and put what was in it in the package, and put them away, never to need them!

                    I'd heard that OEM lifters had some issues, but wasn't sure if these were OEM, or just "OEM style". I've had good results with Elgin, and they're one of the largest lifter manufacturers in the world. They supply to most of the major cam makers.

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                    • Originally posted by SuperBuickGuy
                      I ever tell you about the time I thought I had a valve problem and it was loose torque converter bolts? I said a few words, maybe more than a few..... that said, GM rollers lifters can have issues and those are well documented.
                      I was thinking it was a loose header bolt, and it was an exhaust tick. But nothing loose, and of course adjusting the rocker told me I was on the right track. Just hate having to pull the intake, but no getting around that at after not finding anything else to cause it.

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                      • My first real headers were on the 57.. Don't count the LUV.. Had one port blown and to my deaf ears it sounded like a rod knocking on the pan..it was a mess!

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                        • Originally posted by Beagle View Post
                          I had a Buick 231 once that ticked almost like a rod knock - turned out to be just a little a chunk missing off of one tooth on the cam's timing gear... so I replaced it. With a 350 SBC... never ran better. How did you come up with #6 being the culprit?
                          The Buick V6 (both even fire and odd fire) were famous for timing chain issues. Change it out the set and make sure the new set has a steel cam gear and they'd run forever. Did plenty of them in my Buick dealership days.

                          Dan

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                          • Engine is torn down as much as I can to this point. Got the intake off, and no visible lifter issues. Guessing maybe some debris got into one lifter causing it to not pump up. Have the new lifters soaking in Marvel Mystery Oil for a few days until my new valve springs arrive.
                            I did get a chance to fix a stripped thread on the intake at the thermostat housing. I had to use an over length bolt to get down to good threads before, so I drilled and tapped for a helicoil insert, and fixed that while it was off. Should have my parts Fri. or Sat. and then I can start swapping valve springs, and reassemble. I'm going to swap to steel roller tip rockers while I've got it apart also. Might as well make it a little better while I've got it this far apart.

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                            • Got a 7:00 a.m. start to avoid the heat in the shop, and got all the .550" lift valve springs installed. Also got the forged steel roller rockers swapped on, and adjusted. Did the roller rockers as an upgrade, since it was this far apart, and they're not that expensive. By not going full roller rockers I can still use my old school valve covers with the steel roller long slot rockers.





                              Maybe if it's as cool tomorrow as forecast, I can get the intake back on and button it up.

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                              • It's alive! What a PITA those valve adjustments were!
                                I set the rockers at zero lash cold, so after adding coolant and firing it off, I could immediately tell they were too tight. Not enough oiling on the rockers, so I shut it off and began readjusting them while the engine was hot. The lash was probably close to a full turn tight, so backed them all back to zero, and added 1/8 turn preload. Restarted it, and she sounds great again!
                                Putting the old lifters away and see if this winter I can make up a fixture to hold the roller lifters while I compress them to disassemble and clean them. Need some sort of a flat plate, and tube to hold the roller end, so I can compress them while holding them straight up. Just a winter project when I'm bored and need something to play with.

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