Kid_Again
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jul 6, 2004
- Messages
- 1,171
- Location
- NJ - Which exit you from?
- Corvette
- 65 SB Roadster, 66 BB Coupe
OK, so I bought a ZZ454 since I lunched the original 427. That's sitting in the basement, waiting for the new owner.
When I told a buddy that I went the crate engine route, he told me about the crate engine he put in to a customer's car. Seems that he pulled the valve covers before he fired it up and found a socket sitting on a rocker. He's a no nonsense guy but I basically blew it off as urban legend.
So, being VERY superstitous (and trusting NO ONE), I pulled the valve covers and darned if I didn't find a loose washer sitting on the top of the head. Not a good sign.
So, I broke in the new engine per the General's instructions and the engine ran well. My only impression is the factory cam is a bit lame - I'm used to a solid lifter cam that has a BIT more upstairs. But I digress.
So, I'm driving home from View Nam Vett's about 3 weeks ago and I begin to hear a squeeling noise. A rough approximation of my response was "Gee Whiz", another engine with fried bearings, just great. Yeah, I overreacted but I have NOT had the best of luck with the coupe. The sound ALMOST sounded like a loose belt but not quite. It did not change pitch when I gave it gas.
I rebuild my own alternators so I figured maybe I screwed up (I had a bad batch of front alternator bearings). So I went through it one step at a time. Pulled the alternator belt. Still there. Pulled the AC belt. Still there. Since the water pump was the only component that transferred from the 427 to the 454, I swapped out the water pump. Still there. The sound persisted whether the clutch was in or out. It sounded like the squeel was coming from inside the engine. I COULDN'T have fried the bearings, I have 60# oil pressure damn near ALL the time. Gee gosh, gee darn. (Yet another approximation of what I said).
Damn thing was driving me crazy. This morning, I got up early and changed the oil. Perfect. A little bit of peach fuzz on the drain plug magnet. Nothing to worry about. I cut open the oil filter. Looked like a new filter.
I was out of ideas and decided to try and adjust the valves. Long story short, when I got to #4 intake and backed off the nut, the squeel disappeared.
I noticed something that I'd appreciate your comments about - especially from JohnZ - but all are welcome. For years, I've adjusted hydraulic lifters by backing them off till they clatter and then tightening down till the noise disappaers and then adding one-half turn in one-quarter turn increments. That's what I did here. However, that resulted in me ultimately BACKING OFF about one-half turn on each lifter from the factory setting. The car now runs fine with no noise. I also noticed that the push rod guides are VERY close to the push rods - closer than I remember seeing before on any engine I've worked on. The push rods have a lot of space around them where they go down into the lifter valley. So I guess I had a push rod scraping against a guide.
But why would the factory set the valve train that tight?
Thoughts?
Now, I suppose, crate engine valve covers all over will be removed looking for that legendary extra hardware.
When I told a buddy that I went the crate engine route, he told me about the crate engine he put in to a customer's car. Seems that he pulled the valve covers before he fired it up and found a socket sitting on a rocker. He's a no nonsense guy but I basically blew it off as urban legend.
So, being VERY superstitous (and trusting NO ONE), I pulled the valve covers and darned if I didn't find a loose washer sitting on the top of the head. Not a good sign.
So, I broke in the new engine per the General's instructions and the engine ran well. My only impression is the factory cam is a bit lame - I'm used to a solid lifter cam that has a BIT more upstairs. But I digress.
So, I'm driving home from View Nam Vett's about 3 weeks ago and I begin to hear a squeeling noise. A rough approximation of my response was "Gee Whiz", another engine with fried bearings, just great. Yeah, I overreacted but I have NOT had the best of luck with the coupe. The sound ALMOST sounded like a loose belt but not quite. It did not change pitch when I gave it gas.
I rebuild my own alternators so I figured maybe I screwed up (I had a bad batch of front alternator bearings). So I went through it one step at a time. Pulled the alternator belt. Still there. Pulled the AC belt. Still there. Since the water pump was the only component that transferred from the 427 to the 454, I swapped out the water pump. Still there. The sound persisted whether the clutch was in or out. It sounded like the squeel was coming from inside the engine. I COULDN'T have fried the bearings, I have 60# oil pressure damn near ALL the time. Gee gosh, gee darn. (Yet another approximation of what I said).
Damn thing was driving me crazy. This morning, I got up early and changed the oil. Perfect. A little bit of peach fuzz on the drain plug magnet. Nothing to worry about. I cut open the oil filter. Looked like a new filter.
I was out of ideas and decided to try and adjust the valves. Long story short, when I got to #4 intake and backed off the nut, the squeel disappeared.
I noticed something that I'd appreciate your comments about - especially from JohnZ - but all are welcome. For years, I've adjusted hydraulic lifters by backing them off till they clatter and then tightening down till the noise disappaers and then adding one-half turn in one-quarter turn increments. That's what I did here. However, that resulted in me ultimately BACKING OFF about one-half turn on each lifter from the factory setting. The car now runs fine with no noise. I also noticed that the push rod guides are VERY close to the push rods - closer than I remember seeing before on any engine I've worked on. The push rods have a lot of space around them where they go down into the lifter valley. So I guess I had a push rod scraping against a guide.
But why would the factory set the valve train that tight?
Thoughts?
Now, I suppose, crate engine valve covers all over will be removed looking for that legendary extra hardware.