My 350 is angry at me/why wont it stay running? (1 Viewer)

[theo]

I bought the intake used therefore it came with no directions.

On another forum a guy said to spin the push rods and once they don't spin tighten them another 1/4 turn.

WHO DO I LISTEN TO?

If I get multiple people telling me to just stop once they stop spinning then thats what i'll do. but until i hear from people one way or the other i might not do it. Not trying to be disrespectful.

Small block Chevy uses hydraulic lifters. You need to add some pre-load to them; there is no "gap" to set. The guy on the other forum is right - rotate the cam until the lifter is on the heel of the lobe, bring the adjustment down until you have zero clearance, then go another 1/4 turn. Anything from 1/8 turn to 3/4 turn should be fine. My own machinist/race builder goes 1/2 turn on stock GM hyrdraulic lifters.

The tricky parts are rotating the cam to the right place and finding zero lash. Also, the lifters are collapsible, so you need a soft touch when you're spinning the pushrod. You should also be feeling for lash (up/down movement) and going slowly. HTH

 

[inkpot]

Small block Chevy uses hydraulic lifters. You need to add some pre-load to them; there is no "gap" to set. The guy on the other forum is right - rotate the cam until the lifter is on the heel of the lobe, bring the adjustment down until you have zero clearance, then go another 1/4 turn. Anything from 1/8 turn to 3/4 turn should be fine. My own machinist/race builder goes 1/2 turn on stock GM hyrdraulic lifters.

The tricky parts are rotating the cam to the right place and finding zero lash. Also, the lifters are collapsible, so you need a soft touch when you're spinning the pushrod. You should also be feeling for lash (up/down movement) and going slowly. HTH

Howdy! I agree there is no gap on hydralics. There IS a gap on solid lifters, as that is what creates the rattling sound on them. Still sounds like a vacuum leak. Did you use the 4 piece gasket set for the intake manifold? If so, the small section on the front and rear are a royal pain to get on just right. BTDT, x3. Also, as mentioned, there are different intakes for different carbs. Are the throttle plates hitting the manifold on the primaries? You may need an adapter plate to mate these up. John

 

[cruiserbrett]

Adjust them using a feeler gauge. It's pretty simple. get your Factory specs and it should have an order in which you adjust each rocker arm. FSM's are nice to have.

He's got a 350 chevy which likely has hydraulic lifters, so no feeler gauge.

I almost always tighten to the rocker nut until the pushrod doesnt spin, then go 1/4 - -1/2 turn more. you have to do with like a normal valve adjust, so it has to be in the right spot: TDC 1 or rotated 360 degrees.

Since yours was a running motor, thats about all you need to do, if you put a new cam and lifters in I would remove the valve covers, and tighten down when running, until the clacking goes away, then 1/4 turn more.

 

[peesalot]

just because no one else said it ...
Are you sure it was a spread bore manifold ????

 

[inkpot]

just because no one else said it ...
Are you sure it was a spread bore manifold ????

Howdy! I think that's what I said in post #22. John

 

[theo]

. . . Did you use the 4 piece gasket set for the intake manifold? If so, the small section on the front and rear are a royal pain to get on just right. BTDT, x3. . . . John

x2. Easy to mess up the gasket install and create a vacuum leak.

 

[pb4ugo]

If the dizzy was off 180, it would not run. Check the timing. WD40 is NOT a good idea for finding vac leaks. Use carb cleaner or starting fluid. Make sure you have the proper carb base gasket. Some carb / intakes combos require an open gasket, others need one with 4 holes, 1 for each port. The instructions with the intake will tell you what you need.

Do not tighten the rockers, you may have them too tight now. Spin the pushrod between your fingers, and tighten the rocker until you can not spin the push rod, that's it, no more. You do this when both the intake and exhaust valves are closed. You will need to rotate the engine for each cylinder. I assume you have hyd lifters, and not solid.

Shawn

The engine will run if you install the distributor 180*, you just have to put the timing light on #6 cylinder to time it. #6 cylinder is #1's companion cyldr. When #1s at TDC on the compression stroke, #6 is at TDC on the exhaust stoke.

Adjusting the valves after you can't spin the push rod, IMO is wrong. The adjustment should be made after the push rod has no up and down movement then tighten 1/4 turn or whatever, up to 1 turn. They all need to be adjusted the same amount.

You can adjust as stated above w/it running. Back off the rocker nut until it starts clapping. Then tighten until the clapping just goes away then make your 1/4 turn adjustment. This way is very messy. Oil tends to spray every where, do 1 side at a time and put a valve cover on the side your not adjusting.

Did you use glue on the intake gasket? If you did you may have created a vac. leak. Glue only goes on the ends of the lifter valley.

Good luck!!

 

[peesalot]

no, you said " are the throttle plates hitting " and " there are different manifolds"
I did not read in any post where a "spread bore" manifold was mentioned and that is what the Quad needs. To simply say there are different manifolds leaves them still guessing. To ask if the butterflies are hitting does not tell them why. Now , if the poster was to ask or determine wether or not it was a spread bore manifold it would answer both questions.

 

[NeverSummer]

Brian,... out of sheer morbid curiosity I am going to rebuild my quadrajet, my holly truck avenger, and my edelbrock carb then will adjust all of them to make sure they are all working in tip top condition. Then I'm going to take them out on an obstacle course, and see who performs the best. I will get back to you on the results.

 

[inkpot]

Brian,... out of sheer morbid curiosity I am going to rebuild my quadrajet, my holly truck avenger, and my edelbrock carb then will adjust all of them to make sure they are all working in tip top condition. Then I'm going to take them out on an obstacle course, and see who performs the best. I will get back to you on the results.

Howdy! This test was done by one of the major 4x4 mags a few years ago. To sum it up, the Holly had more power, but it was a gas hog and did not do great on extreme angles. The Quad was milder on the heavy power mode, but smoother running in general, and more economic. The CarterBrock was similar to the Quad, but not as good on the extreme angles. They did have the spring loaded floats in it, but they did not block off the equalizer tube between the two float chambers. That mod costs about 2 cents and 15 minutes, and it makes a great deal of improvement. The Holley was not quite as expensive as the Quad, but the Carterbrock was nearly 1/2 the price of the Quad. I'll have to look around for that article, as I think I did clip it out. John

 

[madoc1]

valve setting

i agree with 4 posts above(forgott hi handle) +initially set a dry engine as stated with topof the cam-twist the pushrod - then 1/4 turn . put on both valve covers and start the sucker. THEN pull one side and usinga 5/8 socket back off each rocker until it rattles. then back it down until the rattlle stops and go whatever is you choice1/4-1/2? racers seem to like 1/4-street guys 1/2. either works..


if you have a 2101 edelbrock man. you may need an adapter to the quad. jim

p.s. they do make little clips that go on chevy rockers. these keep the oil from flying everywhere. tip--don't rev the engine with these on

 

[moomtazz]

Edelbrock Carburetor, Holley Carburetor, and Off Road Carbs - 4-Wheel and Off-Road

Here is a test of some carbs

 

[ibinazbass]

I GOT HER TO RUN ON HER OWN!!!! Last wednesday my mentor came over and we adjusted them. It runs great now! More get up and go, sounds sweeter. i love it. thanks for the help guys

 

[NeverSummer]

Let me know I would love to get a copy of it.