I have a valvetrain noise on my 351W that I haven't been able to figure out. I'm looking for advice to point me in the right direction.
The engine is pretty quiet during cold start-up. Once the engine warms up, I hear a ticking coming from the passenger side valve cover area. The sound increases with engine RPM and I can hear a slight metallic ping in the passenger side exhaust. I've pulled the valve covers and adjusted the rocker preload using the method: loosen rockers until tick starts, tighten until quiet, put a 1/2 turn additional for preload. This process hasn't helped reduce the noise. I've also noticed that the rods will feel slightly loose again after I've just made the adjustment and the rockers almost feel sloppy when I rock them side-to-side.
I had a buddy look at the engine last week and he though the rods looked short, causing slop on the valve-rocker placement. He also suggested I look into roller tip rockers for a smoother operation. I found an article on checking rod length, which said to mark the valve with a sharpie and check where the rocker contacts the valve. I tried this method, but don't really know what to make of the results. Last two pictures show marking from test, thoughts?
The rockers look ok, the fulcums seem a bit worn. Should I spring for new rockers as a fix? It appears there are already 3/8" studs threaded in the heads. Worth going full roller rocker with hardened rods? or roller tipped rockers and check rod length? Or should I start elsewhere like lifters?
Video of engine running:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3okydVMk4-Y
The engine is pretty quiet during cold start-up. Once the engine warms up, I hear a ticking coming from the passenger side valve cover area. The sound increases with engine RPM and I can hear a slight metallic ping in the passenger side exhaust. I've pulled the valve covers and adjusted the rocker preload using the method: loosen rockers until tick starts, tighten until quiet, put a 1/2 turn additional for preload. This process hasn't helped reduce the noise. I've also noticed that the rods will feel slightly loose again after I've just made the adjustment and the rockers almost feel sloppy when I rock them side-to-side.
I had a buddy look at the engine last week and he though the rods looked short, causing slop on the valve-rocker placement. He also suggested I look into roller tip rockers for a smoother operation. I found an article on checking rod length, which said to mark the valve with a sharpie and check where the rocker contacts the valve. I tried this method, but don't really know what to make of the results. Last two pictures show marking from test, thoughts?
The rockers look ok, the fulcums seem a bit worn. Should I spring for new rockers as a fix? It appears there are already 3/8" studs threaded in the heads. Worth going full roller rocker with hardened rods? or roller tipped rockers and check rod length? Or should I start elsewhere like lifters?
Video of engine running:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3okydVMk4-Y