Christmas Day, 1979. I'm driving out to a friend's farm for Christmas dinner. I stop at a light, still in the city, and hear the 'tick tick tick' so common to small-block Chevys in those days. There's a Chevy truck in the next lane, stopped at the same light, and I think 'Those 350s always do that'. But at the next light I'm alone, and the same noise is still there. Oh oh, it must be coming from my car (a '68 Impala with a 307, with 149,000 miles on the clock).
Over the next few months I add various herpetological lubricants, all to no avail - the ticking persists.
The next summer a much more mechanically-talented friend helps me do the work. The car's now up to 160,000 miles. We take off the intake manifold, loosen up the rocker arms, pull the pushrods, and start to pull the lifters. He looks at the first one, and says "No way - I don't think that's supposed to be like that!" We pull a 2nd one, and I see what he means.
He had bought a '68 Pontiac for the drivetrain, and was going to rebuild the 327 for a hotrod anyway, so sold me the lifters for a really good price.
I had a Chilton's which said to tighten down the rocker arms until the lash in the pushrods was gone. I interpreted this to mean that the pushrods had to be so tight that they couldn't be rotated. The engine would barely turn over. We broke for supper, and I realized that 'lash' meant up and down movement, and that the pushrods were likely way too tight. I backed them way off, and the engine started fine and ran well.
The photos are of the best and worst of the 16 lifters. Several others had worn case hardening, but only the 'shorty' had worn right through.
Over the next few months I add various herpetological lubricants, all to no avail - the ticking persists.
The next summer a much more mechanically-talented friend helps me do the work. The car's now up to 160,000 miles. We take off the intake manifold, loosen up the rocker arms, pull the pushrods, and start to pull the lifters. He looks at the first one, and says "No way - I don't think that's supposed to be like that!" We pull a 2nd one, and I see what he means.
He had bought a '68 Pontiac for the drivetrain, and was going to rebuild the 327 for a hotrod anyway, so sold me the lifters for a really good price.
I had a Chilton's which said to tighten down the rocker arms until the lash in the pushrods was gone. I interpreted this to mean that the pushrods had to be so tight that they couldn't be rotated. The engine would barely turn over. We broke for supper, and I realized that 'lash' meant up and down movement, and that the pushrods were likely way too tight. I backed them way off, and the engine started fine and ran well.
The photos are of the best and worst of the 16 lifters. Several others had worn case hardening, but only the 'shorty' had worn right through.
