Dorsai Posted August 30, 2019 Author Share Posted August 30, 2019 I had a good chuckle! STP is cheap insurance that all these fulcrums and pressure points are well lubed on startup. Will a smear of Vaseline do? I keep a little tub of it in my garage for just that purpose. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArdWrknTrk Posted August 30, 2019 Share Posted August 30, 2019 Will a smear of Vaseline do? I keep a little tub of it in my garage for just that purpose. I don't think petroleum jelly has any high pressure additives. Cough up the $3.99 and sleep well knowing that you have done what you can to prevent galling on startup. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dorsai Posted August 30, 2019 Author Share Posted August 30, 2019 I don't think petroleum jelly has any high pressure additives. Cough up the $3.99 and sleep well knowing that you have done what you can to prevent galling on startup. I guess I'll go visit Counter Girl one more time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dorsai Posted September 3, 2019 Author Share Posted September 3, 2019 I guess I'll go visit Counter Girl one more time. So...given that it's less than three weeks until the show and school has continued to be a time suck, I've decided to punt on the valve stem seal replacement effort for the time being. I'm going to finish cleaning and painting the valve cover since it's already off, but otherwise I'm just going to put everything back together - that'll give me a couple of weeks to drive the truck locally in an attempt to shake out any problems before I hit the road. I had previously removed the rocker arms and pushrods from cylinder #1, so I put those back in last night, everything going back exactly where it came from. I torqued the nuts down to whatever Haynes told me to (23 ft-lbs? The book is upstairs), and everything is nice and snug. I tried wiggling the rocker arms and got very little side-to-side motion. This seems good...except that I then decided to wiggle some untouched-by-me arms on the other cylinders, and they seem looser. They're not flopping all over the place or anything, but they're noticeably freer than the ones I just put back on. What's up with that? I checked the nuts on the other arms and they aren't loose. Is this a case where once I fire the truck up everything will re-seat on #1? Or was there some trick to making sure the fulcrums are perfectly positioned that I didn't do? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted September 3, 2019 Share Posted September 3, 2019 So...given that it's less than three weeks until the show and school has continued to be a time suck, I've decided to punt on the valve stem seal replacement effort for the time being. I'm going to finish cleaning and painting the valve cover since it's already off, but otherwise I'm just going to put everything back together - that'll give me a couple of weeks to drive the truck locally in an attempt to shake out any problems before I hit the road. I had previously removed the rocker arms and pushrods from cylinder #1, so I put those back in last night, everything going back exactly where it came from. I torqued the nuts down to whatever Haynes told me to (23 ft-lbs? The book is upstairs), and everything is nice and snug. I tried wiggling the rocker arms and got very little side-to-side motion. This seems good...except that I then decided to wiggle some untouched-by-me arms on the other cylinders, and they seem looser. They're not flopping all over the place or anything, but they're noticeably freer than the ones I just put back on. What's up with that? I checked the nuts on the other arms and they aren't loose. Is this a case where once I fire the truck up everything will re-seat on #1? Or was there some trick to making sure the fulcrums are perfectly positioned that I didn't do? I think that's a wise decision, Matthew. As for the others being loose, it depends on where they are in the cam cycle. At TDC on the compression stroke both rocker arms should be fairly loose. But when holding a valve open that rocker should be tight as the push rod will have the rocker holding the valve open against spring pressure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dorsai Posted September 3, 2019 Author Share Posted September 3, 2019 I think that's a wise decision, Matthew. As for the others being loose, it depends on where they are in the cam cycle. At TDC on the compression stroke both rocker arms should be fairly loose. But when holding a valve open that rocker should be tight as the push rod will have the rocker holding the valve open against spring pressure. Duh...that one I should have figured out on my own. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted September 3, 2019 Share Posted September 3, 2019 Duh...that one I should have figured out on my own. Sometimes we are so close to it we wind up doing a when it becomes obvious. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dorsai Posted September 5, 2019 Author Share Posted September 5, 2019 Duh...that one I should have figured out on my own. Sometimes we are so close to it we wind up doing a when it becomes obvious. After deciding to skip the valve stem seal replacement, putting the truck back together was a snap. That was an awful lot of work for nothing more than a repainted valve cover, but I suppose that's better than nothing: I still think clean parts look weird - I suppose that means I just need to clean and paint the rest of the engine compartment to match. After I got it back together and started up, I had a ticking noise from the front of the engine that was initially concerning. But maybe a mile into my test loop it had gone away, and it ran smoothly and quietly after that point. Assuming no leaks manifest themselves, all I have left to do is an oil change and I'm ready to hit the highway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted September 5, 2019 Share Posted September 5, 2019 After deciding to skip the valve stem seal replacement, putting the truck back together was a snap. That was an awful lot of work for nothing more than a repainted valve cover, but I suppose that's better than nothing: I still think clean parts look weird - I suppose that means I just need to clean and paint the rest of the engine compartment to match. After I got it back together and started up, I had a ticking noise from the front of the engine that was initially concerning. But maybe a mile into my test loop it had gone away, and it ran smoothly and quietly after that point. Assuming no leaks manifest themselves, all I have left to do is an oil change and I'm ready to hit the highway. Looking good, Matthew! And only about 2 weeks to do the little things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dorsai Posted September 5, 2019 Author Share Posted September 5, 2019 Looking good, Matthew! And only about 2 weeks to do the little things. And there aren't even that many little things to do: Oil change Check tire pressure Check lights Wash windows Hang license plate collection Um...??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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