Loud valve train on a stock engine???

Lanky said:

I'm at a loss and figured I would come to the best forum on earth for a few suggestions.

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Your the man!! ;D

Yea I have heard it and unusually loud?

Do you think it could be bent pushrod's?

My buddy has the same problem in his stock 65 RHD Notch. He has done the same as you, adjusting his valves numerous times and still has the valve tap noise.
I do not know what the solution is, but I would start with the parts that are the easiest to change and least expensive, one at a time to eliminate which one is responsible. Rocker arms-push rods ect.
Good luck.

Maybe excessive side clearance on the rockers? I know on solid shaft or ratios this will make noise.

They are stock rockers and none of the washers appeared to be broken, I'm at a loss on this one.

Alittle WD40, fix ya right up.

Is the click-clack coming from both sides?

I didn't think that both sides were doing it, but now I think they are. Are you joking about the WD? lol

check the push rods

From what I've seen, experienced and heard, setting the valves at .006" on the exhaust and .004" on the intake, they will make a bit more racket. Setting them both at .004" might help. I didn't have any noise before I did my valves, but now I do.....that said, they're at .006 and .004.

Try setting them at o and see if the noise goes away, you might have a noisy wrist pin or 2

I know the car in question is gone but i have seen high milage engine can have worn valves. I have seen where the tappet pushes on the valve to be concaved. This will give you a false valve adjustment somewhat. I all ways move the rocker to check the clearence after i adjust them. I have seen this issue more than once. Has anyone else seen this? Greg?

I was thinking excessive lifter wear too, what do you guys think?

Lanky said:

I was thinking excessive lifter wear too, what do you guys think?

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It could be any number of things. How many miles are on this engine? Is this a slow gradual increase in noise over time or did it just come on out of nowhere? Check the simple things first ~ your springs (they may be worn) push rods (could be bent) rockers (may be loose) etc. If you're able to rule all of those things out, I would definitely dig a little deeper in the motor. Your valves could be wearing out, could be the lifters / cam, etc. Unfortunately it's very hard to diagnose a sound by simply reading about it. Do you have access to a video camera that you could record the engine running & post on youtube so we can hear it?

Worn lifter bores will also result in a loud valve train.

I don't have the engine any longer but my I'm trying to help the guy out who has it now. I adjusted the valves, checked the side to side clearance on the rockers, pushrods are straight, and I'm not sure on the valves or springs. It doesn't start getting loud until the motor is warm.

I still think it may be the con caved valve stems. I grab the rocker and tap the valve's when i am done adjusting them to feel for excessive play. If it feels funky i inspect the tip of the valve with a light without even removing the rocker assembly. To get a quieter operation while running you would need to adjust the valve or valves in question by feel and compare them to the none affected ones. It will settle the noise right down. Obviously this is a band aid on an open wound.