Loose Rocker Arm??

[mstark]

Alright, thanks. I'm gonna run to Advance and grab the stuff I need to put on my intake then see what else I can do.

 

[JWMcCrary]

I would change the oil when you get it back together...you will have ani-freeze/water in it from when you pulled the intake.

 

[mstark]

Ok, so I stopped by the local machine shop, and the guy ended up giving me a free push-rod and his card, which I probably won't use (guy seemed like he enjoyed working intoxicated). We talked for a long time, and he said that the lifters had nothing to do with the bending of the rod, which I don't believe because it logically makes sense. So I got home and installed everything and put the valve cover back on. Now time to tackle removing the gasket from the intake, no luck there. I'm amazed, it's like the gasket is growing out of the intake. I've soaked the gaskets in brake cleaner several times (the guys at advanced reccomended this, they did not have gasket remover) and tried using the gasket scraper to no avail. Also I'm kind of worried about my intake, it's not very clean on the inside and looks like it has a lot of junk in there, so I'm attaching some pics. Oh, and they didn't have any of the fancy-shmancy gasket types some of you guys mentioned. They only had regular RTV, so I just got some of that.

 

[saxman]

You are right. It looks like that intake might be giving birth pretty soon! It is very colorful too!

I am not sure how hard that would be to clean up. You might try finding a newer intake that is used in your area or in the u-pull-it yard.

Could he use a wire brush on the intake guys?? It concerns me that he is already soaked the gasket and it is not coming off.

 

[Mark]

My local Owen's Auto Parts has a machine shop that you can bring in your intake, manifolds, etc. and they have a machine that they "bathe" the part in and it comes out very clean.

 

[Jeepster]

Sometimes the gasket gets pretty smuched on there. Look very carefully around the edges or port openings to see where you could get a small razor blade (carefully)or small screwdriver (again carefully) between the metal and gasket. If you can get it started, it might come off in 1 piece. If your lucky. You want to be careful that you dont gouge the metal. Try this and be patient. I'm sure you funds are limited so be persistant it'll clean up.

 

[bmc69]

Intake lookls fine to me..normal condition/appearance for an engine with some miles on it. A very sharp wood chisel is wht we use for gasket scraping..just take yr time and be patient so you do not slip and gouge the gasket surface ..or yrself. For final cleanup of heads and intake mating srufaces, we use the 3M rotary rubber 'brushes' on a dir grinder or HS electric drill. I do not recommend using a wire wheel on the gasket surfaces, but if you do, make sure its a fine one and not a coarse one.

That tipsy mechanic was correct about the lifter in the sense that, if the lifter was OK, then the lifter did not cause the pushrod to fall out and bend. It's looking more like a sticky valve caused it...since nothing else has been found to be badly worn that would explain it.

This can happen 'randomly' too..I lost a pushrod in a brand new 304 IHC motor not long ago..looked just like yrs when I pulled it out. Checked everything, found nothing wrong, and put a new one in (the one that bent was new too..) and it has been fine ever since. *shrug*

 

[mstark]

Well that's good, I just got off the phone with the guys down at a machine shop in town, and they said they'd clean up the intake for a few dollars if they've got a load going in the machine, and about $30 if it has to go in by itself, so I'm gonna drop it off. I'm also nervous about gouging the gasket surface, so I'm gonna see how much it would cost for them to remove what's left. I've gotten almost all off on one side, and about half on the other side.

 

[Skiddy]

That's what I was thinking, if has not been running in a while it could very well had a stuck valve, so you might put it back togather and be fine.

 

[BroncoJAK]

Had a call from Mike earlier today. Sounds like he got it back together fine and I could hear it running in the background. I'm sure he'll be on here tonight to catch us up on his project.

 

[bax]

thats cool, hope he had good luck. I know he learned a bunch.

Bax

 

[mstark]

Yup, as yellowrouge said I got everything together, I think it's all in good working order but not 100%. It would stall out after a while and sometime's bring itself back up, I think this is just because it hasn't been started in about three or four days, both of our Bronco's are not very good in the cold. Dad's worried I'm gonna mess something up by letting it idle (with the choke on) at 1500rpm's which I had it doing for about 10min. He's scared I'm gonna mess my gaskets up. So I didn't have enough to time to let it fully warm up, but I think it'll do fine in the morning. I went to Advanced Auto parts a few minutes ago and picked up a universal throttle return spring since I had lost mine sometime during the job. Anyone have a pic of there throttle return spring? I can't remember how it goes on, I can probably figure it out in the daylight but a pic would be very helpful.

 

[mstark]

Ok, so there was vacuum leaks, but the intake is now properly installed. The truck quit smoking, and now runs 800 times better. I was seriously shocked, I was telling Dad yesterday how dissapointed I was with performance compared to his, but now I'm 100% sure I'd leave him behind. I don't think this engine is completely stock. I was at a complete stop, pushed in the clutch and revved it up to about 1800rpm's dropped the clutch as I mashed the pedal to the floor and this thing immediatly hit about 3800rpm and smoked them for a good 15-20ft, as it gained traction I let off.;D All this, and still with the points ignition system!! I'm grinning from ear to ear, and pleased with everything that I learned. Thanks so much for the advice everyone!!! ;D ;D

 

[Skiddy]

Great news Mike, glad it has worked out for you. At least you checked out the main parts that could had caused this problem, thus making you less worry now

 

[astark]

Michael will be posting his intake install tip sometime soon, and it really made a difference in setting that rascal down while keeping the gaskets in place.

Thank You all so much for your help

 

[Jeepster]

Thank You all so much for your help

Anytime Allen & Mike. These old trucks actually are so easy to work on and great to learn with. A project like this successfully compleated only makes you that much more fearless the next time something breaks.

 

[mstark]

So here's the tip that Dad was talking about... I went to the hardware store and bought four studs that would screw down into the engine valley/intake bolt holes. The longest I could find were 4" and this was just enough. I threaded the studs into the holes on each side of the carb, and dropped the intake on over them, and by the time the intake got down to the gaskets it was lined up perfect. So at the point I threaded in every bolt finger tight, and then removed the studs and did those bolts. From there I followed the bolt torque pattern, this was very easy to do, and helped out a ton. ;D

 

[astark]

I was reading some old posts of Michael's this morning and came across this one, and just had to comment.

You guys made such a difference in this young mans life, I don't know that any of you could ever know how much.

It was through threads like this one that he acquired the knowledge to help others and to them he was a hero, as you guys were hero's to him.

He had so much fun working on his Bronco, and interacting with you guys in doing so, building confidence there was nothing he could not do, especially with your assistance.

Anyway, I just had to comment and again Thank You for being the kind of people you are.

And you know, this was one heck of a great thread

 

[eb66to77]

This was an interesting problem. I remember watching it to see what was causing the rocker to spit off the valve. Michael was the epitome of how to solve a problem. It was like he had the laptop right there with him and would do what someone suggested and then post what he had. I could just hit reload and see where the fix was at. Everyone was eager to help too.

I think Michael taught us just as much as we taught him.

 

[BroncoJAK]

I was just telling Kathleen this week the story of talking him through part of it as I was driving down the freeway.;D Sure do miss that kid.