340 in and kickin' and tickin!

[72brcda]

So the 318 in my '72 Barracuda finally bought the farm after many years of rock solid service. Not to worry though, I had a '69 340 that's been bored .030 over and the crank ground .010 just waiting for this day. While the 340 was waiting, I assembled some stuff. Edelbrock Air-Gap intake, Holly Street Avenger 670, not-too-radical cam, hydraulic lifters and timing chain from Hughes Engines and miscellaneous other goodies. Let me pause here as a testament to the rock solid service of my 318, that I don't have a regular mechanic. So on this fateful day that the 318 bought it while I was on my way to work, I found a shop close to where I live and the owner there told me "Don't worry, we've been makin' em go fast for a long time. All the cars I saw there were Toyota Corollas and boring stuff. I delivered the 340 (x heads BTW) and the pile of goodies. He said he wanted to plastiguage everything and send the heads out to be looked at so that he could feel good and right about the job. Many months pass along with many, many dollars and it's waaaaaaaay quicker and faster than the 318, but it ticks! It ticks like my 318 did if it was about a quart low. The "mechanic" said "I don't know what that is." I'm tellin' ya that in the months and money that the job took and how many times I picked the car up only to drop it back off the next day with some weirdness like the throttle being stuck wide open (it's a simple linkage) that I WILL NOT take it back even with all the $$$$ spent. I just want it to run the way it's supposed to. Motor is not low on oil and on the mechanics recommendation, I drained a quart and replaced it with a quart of tranny fluid and drove it for 40 miles then changed the oil. No Luck. Header bolts are tight. Valves? Are they adjustable? Bent pushrod? Rockers? Lifters? I'm not much of a mechanic myself and can only perform the basics.
 

[farmertan]

in the old days we would take a 3ft long 1inch wooden dowel to listen to the engine,put one end on the valve cover one end in your ear, now they have stetha scopes like the doctors have, i think your so called mechanic knows he just dosent want to deal w/it. the tranny fluid trick works real good on a old gummed up motor but on your new motor no way should it have any blockage, good luck

[72hemi]

Possibly a lifter. Unfortuneately the stock rockers aren't adjustable. I had a ticking noise in one of my engines and turned out to be a lifter. I installed a set of adjustable rocker arms and used it as a good excuse to install a new camshaft as well. No more ticking noise.

[Chryco Psycho]

Check your rockers arms to be sure they are installed with the offset the correct way

[72brcda]

Good stuff. I'll take a good listen and look at the rocker arms. Thanks and I'll let y'all know what develops.

[340_6pak]

 

[moparmaniac59]

Hope it's a simple fix. Sometimes a noise that sounds like a lifter ticking can be a small exhaust leak at the manifold. You might want to check that out too. Good luck & keep us posted!!


                                             Matt B.

[oldkimmer]

 ..........Take off the valve covers ans see if the rockershaft oiling holes r facing down toward the head, and that the notch is 2 the front.........kim.......