nic55kel Posted October 2, 2021 Author Share Posted October 2, 2021 Well I found out what the lifter noise is. It looks like the rocker arm stud has pushed out of the head. Have to think and research a bit on what to do about this. The stud is on #3 cylinder so I could just replace the one stud. Decisions, decisions. Bent pushrods: I really like the idea of adjustable valve clearance. Anyway have to give this some thought. Well after 15 minutes of in depth research and looking up parts I decided what to do. I changed out 4 bent pushrods and put a 3/8" washer under the nut on the offending rocker stud - washer is about 50 thou thick. Fired it up with all the covers off and it ran beautifully again. Checked that all the pushrods were rotating and that all the rockers were getting oil and shut it down. After I close it all up I will put some miles on it and see if the stud stays in its new position. It stopped at that point after moving maybe 40 thou so maybe it will happily stay there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nic55kel Posted October 3, 2021 Author Share Posted October 3, 2021 Well after 15 minutes of in depth research and looking up parts I decided what to do. I changed out 4 bent pushrods and put a 3/8" washer under the nut on the offending rocker stud - washer is about 50 thou thick. Fired it up with all the covers off and it ran beautifully again. Checked that all the pushrods were rotating and that all the rockers were getting oil and shut it down. After I close it all up I will put some miles on it and see if the stud stays in its new position. It stopped at that point after moving maybe 40 thou so maybe it will happily stay there. I have decided to name the truck Christine as I swear it is possessed. So I put it all back together and clear away the tools and clean up to take it for a test drive. I get in the truck and turn the key and all I get is the clunk of the starter solenoid. Check all the starter circuit connections to see if any feel warm (poor connection), all feel fine. Pull the engine through a few degrees just in case the starter pinion is not engaging the ring gear. Give the starter a few light taps, no luck just a clunk. Get a short piece of #10 copper wire and jump the starter relay - fires right up. Take it for a test drive and all seems good. So now to find a starter relay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted October 3, 2021 Share Posted October 3, 2021 I have decided to name the truck Christine as I swear it is possessed. So I put it all back together and clear away the tools and clean up to take it for a test drive. I get in the truck and turn the key and all I get is the clunk of the starter solenoid. Check all the starter circuit connections to see if any feel warm (poor connection), all feel fine. Pull the engine through a few degrees just in case the starter pinion is not engaging the ring gear. Give the starter a few light taps, no luck just a clunk. Get a short piece of #10 copper wire and jump the starter relay - fires right up. Take it for a test drive and all seems good. So now to find a starter relay. These trucks are like onions. You peel and cry, peel and cry. But soon you’ll have enough onions for a mess of onion rings! Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FuzzFace2 Posted October 3, 2021 Share Posted October 3, 2021 I have decided to name the truck Christine as I swear it is possessed. So I put it all back together and clear away the tools and clean up to take it for a test drive. I get in the truck and turn the key and all I get is the clunk of the starter solenoid. Check all the starter circuit connections to see if any feel warm (poor connection), all feel fine. Pull the engine through a few degrees just in case the starter pinion is not engaging the ring gear. Give the starter a few light taps, no luck just a clunk. Get a short piece of #10 copper wire and jump the starter relay - fires right up. Take it for a test drive and all seems good. So now to find a starter relay. Oh I know that feeling When rebuilding my truck I replaced all the battery cables & ground wires. It had been starting good all the time for almost 2 years then like you a clunk when I turned the key. I could do this a few times, most of 3 tries, and it would crank & start. One day I cleaned the battery connections and starter relay connections and it worked good for about 4 starts and then clunk! I broke down and bought a new relay from NAPA, top of the line one as they have different levels. Since I replaced it it has started every time I turn the key. The old relay was used and dont remember if it was on my truck or the parts truck but I wasnot going to mess with used parts and hear the other parts store ones dont last and why I went top of the line NAPA. Dave ---- (watch next time I go start the truck CLUNK!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nic55kel Posted October 3, 2021 Author Share Posted October 3, 2021 I have decided to name the truck Christine as I swear it is possessed. So I put it all back together and clear away the tools and clean up to take it for a test drive. I get in the truck and turn the key and all I get is the clunk of the starter solenoid. Check all the starter circuit connections to see if any feel warm (poor connection), all feel fine. Pull the engine through a few degrees just in case the starter pinion is not engaging the ring gear. Give the starter a few light taps, no luck just a clunk. Get a short piece of #10 copper wire and jump the starter relay - fires right up. Take it for a test drive and all seems good. So now to find a starter relay. Oh I know that feeling When rebuilding my truck I replaced all the battery cables & ground wires. It had been starting good all the time for almost 2 years then like you a clunk when I turned the key. I could do this a few times, most of 3 tries, and it would crank & start. One day I cleaned the battery connections and starter relay connections and it worked good for about 4 starts and then clunk! I broke down and bought a new relay from NAPA, top of the line one as they have different levels. Since I replaced it it has started every time I turn the key. The old relay was used and dont remember if it was on my truck or the parts truck but I wasnot going to mess with used parts and hear the other parts store ones dont last and why I went top of the line NAPA. Dave ---- (watch next time I go start the truck CLUNK!) Hi Dave, I guess I shouldn't be surprised, it is a 40 year old engine. Anyway I have now changed the entire ignition system and the fuel pump, luckily parts for these trucks are still pretty cheap so I shouldn't complain. I see there are different grades of relay and I will try to source a quality unit. I just love how easy it is to work on the old inline six. I have had cars where you had to drop the subframe to change the alternator. It is a little uncomfortable having to lean over the grill or fenders but there is not much, in terms of common failure items, that you could not easily do on the side of the road. I am sure the truck will soon have the reliability that the 300s are so famous for. Anyway thanks for the feedback. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nic55kel Posted October 3, 2021 Author Share Posted October 3, 2021 Hi Dave, I guess I shouldn't be surprised, it is a 40 year old engine. Anyway I have now changed the entire ignition system and the fuel pump, luckily parts for these trucks are still pretty cheap so I shouldn't complain. I see there are different grades of relay and I will try to source a quality unit. I just love how easy it is to work on the old inline six. I have had cars where you had to drop the subframe to change the alternator. It is a little uncomfortable having to lean over the grill or fenders but there is not much, in terms of common failure items, that you could not easily do on the side of the road. I am sure the truck will soon have the reliability that the 300s are so famous for. Anyway thanks for the feedback. Well I got and installed a new solenoid and went to start Christine - very rough running on only 5 cylinders. I pulled the valve cover and #3 inlet pushrod is off it's rocker. The stud was obviously working its way out farther: This is why I did not want to do any work on the engine before I had driven it for a while. I wanted to know if there were any issues and I see that there are. I am quite sure that the short block is in great shape and that all my grief is caused by some of the valve clearances being right at the hydraulic lifter limit. This causes excess looseness of the pushrod if the lifter gets compressed when the engine is as rest, making it easy to throw a pushrod out of place on start up. I see I have to pull the head and replace the rocker arm studs with thread in studs. ARP has a nice set, perfect size but you have to use their locknuts that cost more than the studs. I will have to see what other studs I can source. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nic55kel Posted October 5, 2021 Author Share Posted October 5, 2021 Well I got and installed a new solenoid and went to start Christine - very rough running on only 5 cylinders. I pulled the valve cover and #3 inlet pushrod is off it's rocker. The stud was obviously working its way out farther: This is why I did not want to do any work on the engine before I had driven it for a while. I wanted to know if there were any issues and I see that there are. I am quite sure that the short block is in great shape and that all my grief is caused by some of the valve clearances being right at the hydraulic lifter limit. This causes excess looseness of the pushrod if the lifter gets compressed when the engine is as rest, making it easy to throw a pushrod out of place on start up. I see I have to pull the head and replace the rocker arm studs with thread in studs. ARP has a nice set, perfect size but you have to use their locknuts that cost more than the studs. I will have to see what other studs I can source. Well I ordered the screw in studs and locknuts to replace the pressed in ones. I want to make sure that the tap is nice and square when I tap the hole for the stud. Thought about it for a while and decided to make a jig. The construction is pretty obvious. I drilled the critical holes one size undersize and then file fit them. I then clamped the pieces together in the correct alignment and then welded. I am very happy with the fit as it is really snug with no play when in place. I will probably pull and tap the offending stud tomorrow although the parts will probably not arrive until Friday. Pictures: I am just going to change the bad stud for the moment because I want to make sure it works out okay before pulling the head and doing the rest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted October 5, 2021 Share Posted October 5, 2021 Well I ordered the screw in studs and locknuts to replace the pressed in ones. I want to make sure that the tap is nice and square when I tap the hole for the stud. Thought about it for a while and decided to make a jig. The construction is pretty obvious. I drilled the critical holes one size undersize and then file fit them. I then clamped the pieces together in the correct alignment and then welded. I am very happy with the fit as it is really snug with no play when in place. I will probably pull and tap the offending stud tomorrow although the parts will probably not arrive until Friday. Pictures: I am just going to change the bad stud for the moment because I want to make sure it works out okay before pulling the head and doing the rest. Well done! That's ingenious! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nic55kel Posted October 8, 2021 Author Share Posted October 8, 2021 Well done! That's ingenious! Thanks Gary. Pulled the old stud, not surprisingly it came out quite easily. One thing to keep in mind if anyone is doing this is that the hole goes through to the water jacket so drain down the cooling system enough. I knew this and still forgot. The tap guide worked a treat, the stud hole is 1/64 oversize for the tap, so no drilling is required. The GM guys do it all the time on their vortec heads which have the same problem, they even have a special tool to ensure the tap is true. It took sufficient force to cut the threads that I have no concerns about the threads holding. I put grease in the tap flutes to catch the cuttings. It all went very cleanly and no concerns about contamination. After degreasing carefully I used very liberal amounts of threadlocker on the new stud to both ensure it stays in place and also to seal the coolant. Now I will let it sit for a couple of days to really cure. It is supposed to be wet here for the next two days so no big rush to try it out. Pulling the stud: Starting the tap: Finished tapping: New stud installed: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FuzzFace2 Posted October 8, 2021 Share Posted October 8, 2021 Thanks Gary. Pulled the old stud, not surprisingly it came out quite easily. One thing to keep in mind if anyone is doing this is that the hole goes through to the water jacket so drain down the cooling system enough. I knew this and still forgot. The tap guide worked a treat, the stud hole is 1/64 oversize for the tap, so no drilling is required. The GM guys do it all the time on their vortec heads which have the same problem, they even have a special tool to ensure the tap is true. It took sufficient force to cut the threads that I have no concerns about the threads holding. I put grease in the tap flutes to catch the cuttings. It all went very cleanly and no concerns about contamination. After degreasing carefully I used very liberal amounts of threadlocker on the new stud to both ensure it stays in place and also to seal the coolant. Now I will let it sit for a couple of days to really cure. It is supposed to be wet here for the next two days so no big rush to try it out. Pulling the stud: Starting the tap: Finished tapping: New stud installed: Nice job ......... only 11 more to do Dave ---- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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