Another reason UTG is great! Owning what happened, and sharing it to us! Right here is the meat and potatoes, the good, the bad , and the ugly! Rock on UTG!!!!!
Won't see that ownership on the blogs, forums and other professional builders. (on the horse farm we had a saying, when in doubt bail out, you can always ride it again when you have things figured out). Pride can be a mountain too high, not sure but I think there's a song about it....
Never had that luck. Followed break in to the letter and wiped a couple of cams. It is a huge setback. Life, hot rods, and racing continues. Best wishes from Oklahoma, Mike and Vee
My last V8 build was back in '01. Never had a part fail. This goes with what I've been saying: It's not unreasonable to suspect name-brand companies to "roll the dice" and use cheaper made parts and put their stamp on it, or in their packaging. We used to be able to see the difference between American made parts, and cheap knock offs. Now its hard to tell. Looks good, but the quality of materials, and good tolerances can't be seen with the naked eye. I think its "buyer beware" with everything, nowadays.
Absolutely. Now even direct car manufacturer replacement parts are suspect. They will sometimes start using some cheap Chinese part and putting their label and box etc. Seen GM do it with brake rotors, exhaust, etc. where the part used to be exactly as put on the car at the factory, but now cheeping out on the replacement part, but still charging as assembly line quality. Such is our world today.
TargaWheels I don’t think they used cheaper parts ther is not a company out ther that don’t screw up I’m sure they are quality lifters shit happens don’t mean they were chinese it means every thing can fuck up no matter we’re the part was made I don’t think he bought cheap lifters I think it was one of them things you can buy the very best and it still can be a defect goes to show you nothing is perfect but the best part is most would have come up with some bullshit or he could have run out bought a cam and lifters and no one would know the difference so that makes this a very real channel that he was honest we all roll the dice once in a while especially on something like that you are all pumped up for the big day and he was hoping the oil would come up but a little ticking and boom fucked the whole day great channel honest good learning video on don’t matter how good you are don’t be in a hurry most would have prob done the same as he did but most would not have told the truth so I don’t blame the company everything is not perfect even that
Over half of the Ac Delco and Motorcraft fuel pumps on Ebay and Amazon are cheap Chinese knock off's in what appears to be genuine OEM packaging. They last for about a year and then fail. People think the quality of Ac Delco and Motorcraft have fallen off when the reality is they have been scammed. The problem is so bad they have a website to report the fake knock off brand name parts. I now buy as close as I can to the manufacturer and avoid any middle men. It's the only way to ensure you are buying the real McCoy.
Back when I assembled engines for my rides, the cam lobes' and lifters' break-in protection, was central in my my mind. Just before their installation, the hydraulic lifters were placed in a clean pot of the engine oil used in the engine, and heated to and kept at 200°F for an hour. During this hour, I plunged each lifter in the pot, 3-4 times with a wooden dowel. Then the oil and lifters were slowly cooled to room temp. The lifters remained in the oil, until installed. The cam lobes and lifters were generously coated with a dedicated, top notch, break-in paste! I also filled the engine oil filter 90% full, when I installed it. Getting oil pressure to all parts of the engine during break-in immediately, was a no brainer to me. So-o-o, a build-up of proper oil pressure for a good 15-20 secconds, before the engine was started, by whatever means necessary for that engine, was essential and always done!
@@skywaycity Nope, just a real serious car guy who very early on, understood and witnessed the benefits of using only distilled water along with antifreeze in the rad, full synthetic oils, premium struts and shocks, adding brake cooling deflectors, hated and corrected many powertrain leaks, and who did more to make carburetors, early fuel inj. systems, ignition systems, and intake manifolds, work well than ever was CARB legal, 'cause I had to, the manufacturers in those days did not! But by the late 1990's my body couldn't take any more abuse, so-o-o I became a desktop computer guy!
kodo nosaki I always run the oil pump with a drill while turning the crank until oil pressure reads on the gauge. Never had a problem. I remember when manually pumping up lifters was common practice?
kodo nosaki I kinda do the same thing pre charge the lifters in a can of oil using a drill press with a old pushrod and using the action of the drill press to pump the lifters up by hand , never had a problem
Don't feel bad Uncle Tony, happened when I borrowed my dad's 75 lawn boy, started it up to cut the grass, same thing yet was going thud thud thud, so I raised the idle and out came a chunk of dog shit the size of New Hampshire, and wham, right in the side of my Cordoba
Ouch. Sometimes the bear has sexy time with WHILE eating you face. Lesson to the new guys just learning how to build engines watching this. As you may have noticed, it doesn't matter how long you have been working on engines, sometimes the best of us make mistakes. So DON'T be too hard on yourselves! IF we can LEARN something from our failures we will know better what NOT to do NEXT time. This is called EXPERIENCE! Sometimes we learn this from watching the failures of others, sometimes we have to crash & burn ourselves. Fortunately for (some of) us we might not to have to make the same mistake as you unfortunately did. Maybe we can learn from your experiences Unka T. Cheer up. You shared a valuable lesson here!
Test parts whenever possible. And if it's ticking ,shut it down quick, before it grenades. Last time I changed a (Mexican-made) starter, two out of three were bad in the box.
Thats why uncle tony is everyones uncle hes wrestled with the bear he doesn't want you to have to wrestle the bear but he tells us no matter what it can happen and you gotta take that sexy time with the bear like i champ and learn from it
Just did a Howard's Rattler in a 67 RS/SS 350 last weekend. During break in, we heard a lifter tapping like crazy! Almost about to shut it down when the sound just stopped. It came and went a couple times during the 20 minutes and finally shut up and finished the break in nice and quiet. Car idles and runs great with no tappet sound YET. I have been thinking about the damn car all week wondering when I'm gonna get the call about the lifter noise coming back! Never had the tapping noise come and go like that before so I was kind of tripping. Still not convinced all is well in that engine but only time will tell. Hey, you win some and you lose some (sleep) haha! Better luck on the next one Uncle Tony, I'll keep you posted on the '67!
Any spec of dirt could have caused that lifter to fail. When I managed the machine shop at the company I worked for we had a clean room set up for engine assembly. In Arizona during Monsoon Season we have dust storms the pr cede the rain whenever the storm passes over the desert. All that dust can doom an otherwise perfect engine build. But the clean room was sealed off and air conditioned. We NEVER had an engine we built come back for warranty repair. The only engine failures were assembled by the owner, and those were divided between dirt getting in the engine and the reuse of the oil pump pickup on small block Chevys combined with the use of way too much silicone on the oil pan gasket. When the gasket was tightened down it would pinch off a piece of silicone. The oil pump pick up tube screen on small block Chevys are designed to pull away from the tube when they become clogged, allowing oil to keep circulating thru the engine. Then, the guy would clean the screen and reuse it, not realizing that it no longer protected the oil pump from sucking in debris, and the pump would suck in that bead of pinched off silicone and sieze the pump. If the builder used the factory nylon oil pump shaft coupler, the coupler would break off, the shaft would then pop off the side of the oil pump and the engine would siege from lack of lubrication. Every time I’ve ever gotten a small block Chevy in that had failed, the first thing I would do is pop off the oil pump cover, and about 95% of the time that was the issue. The other 5% would be either dirt that had gotten into the engine or some other less common cause. For instance we had a customer that was a pilot. He bought a new Corvette every year, and his collection went all the way back to 1954. In 1982 he bought his Vette for the year and after carefully breaking in the engine he took it to the tack where the engine blew up. He brought it into to us for repair and we immediately noticed the window blown thru the block. One of the rods had let go and turned the bottom end to gravel. We weighed the remaining piston and connecting rod assembly’s and found that they were 15 grams off. This was on a factory Balanced engine! We sourced a large journal 327 with the proper Corvette heads and built that for him. We would have put a 350 crank in it, but the 327 crank was forged and already had 6” forged rods instead of 5.7” rods. The car was much quicker than with the 350 before it blew.
I remember my oil pump went out on my 1974 c10 back in 2016. I changed the pump and the new one failed a week later and seized the engine. Still wonder why to this day
You have to clean sand blasted parts real well too. Engine builders say its real common to have sand blasted intakes etc still have sand in them after so called being cleaned
It was a faulty part who th e fuck in the real world has a clean room to build a engine you were in a fucking desert go to drag strip whatch a top fuel team put a engine together it isn’t no clean room it’s outside it was the company a faulty lifter thers lots of parts all the time has nothing to do with were they built it
No the pickup is not designed to to that, SBC pickups vibrate off the pump. Always weld the pickup tube to the pump. Pumps are cheap and disposable, entire engines on the other hand... well
Jeff Leblanc you can put up plastic sheeting like guys who paint their own cars do. Then if there’s any foul weather bag the engine and seal t off until you can blow the dust out of your assembly space. It doesn’t hVe to be perfect, but the cleaner the environment the better.
I had a CMO (Chief Mechanical Officer) who put the bottom end on a GM 567D block together with an impact wrench. He overstretched the bolts on the basket and threw two rods. 1&9. We picked all of the debris out of the oil sump, made a few repairs on the block, stuffed in two new power assemblies and sent the locomotive out. One of the rods was bent in half and popped a section clean out. We found that section and wrote the guys nickname on it and placed it in a conspicuous place. He glared at it every time he walked by. Rule of thumb, do it right, take your time, if in doubt take it out. Love your work and we can’t win them all.
Don't know if you know this or not Unc, but most lifter "manufacturers" are actually "repackagers" despite their claims of being a manufacturer, also some of the "made in America" lifters are actually from components mostly made in China or Mexico and then assembled in the USA and passed off as "Made in America", I've run into these same issues with Harley's (later model Harley's have the same lifters as Chevy LS engines) trying to sort out lifter issues with them from the same big name supposed manufacturers. There's a company called Johnson Lifters that I've had pretty good results from. P.S. When I saw the thumbnail I thought it was the cars cigarette lighter you had in your hand and thought "This should be interesting".
My luck there.It can really get a person down sometimes.Only thing that can be done is not let it get the best of you.Lift your head up and try, try again.Adventually you'll be proud as hell of what you had done.Sometimes if it wasn't for bad luck a person wouldn't have no luck at all.So I'm saying be cheerful and when it does come your way think of SMEAT it'll crack you up every time.
I appreciate you telling us the truth, straight up, because we all roll the dice sometimes in our lives and get bit by it. Just gonna have to wait for perfection. 🤗
Yeah I did that once. Whole valve train got loose on me, was too inexperienced to stop driving and fix it. Kept driving with barely and power, ended up having to tow it home when it shit the bed. Destroyed the lobes on my cam, destroyed 4 roller rockers, and a bunch of push rods. Took me quit some time to learn how to replace a cam, but I did it! Now I know all about valves and cams haha. Great video! Too relatable
I literally bathed my cam in assembly lube. You couldnt tell where lobes started and lube ended. Havent started it yet though, waiting on a couple more small parts to button everything up. Sbc with .480 lift, 108 lsa, 231 dur.
these situations are good tho share, i do not root for failure, but if someone this talented can have a problem, i don't feel as bad with all the stupid crap i do
That sucks Uncle T, sorry this happened to you. That company owes you a set of lifters, and a cam, it wasn't your fault at all, that cam was ruined with the first tick you heard, I have OCD, gotta change out all the lifters now, not just the one, and the cam, drop the pan, and clean it out. A complete do over. I admire your ability to remain calm, and accept what happened, and keep moving forward. That's the name of the game when wrenching engines, break ins are especially nerve racking, the entire future, and quality of life of that engine relies on how well the break in goes. Thank you Uncle Tony and Uncle Kathy for sharing these experiences, and the education, and continuing education, no one ever stops learning when it comes to this stuff, no matter how many years your doin it. Love yas!!!
Finally, welcome to my world. I have had nothing but failures with parts. It’s not good that you had this issue. But it great that someone I watch will talk about this stuff. 👍
That sucks nothing worse than defective parts, you weren't being lazy you just trusted that your reliable parts were reliable and trusted them to be reliable, in my line of work that would be a labor claim.
Not telling you want to do, but this is why I always try to remember test new lifters by manually pushing down on the plunger a few times. It might have caught this. I do the same with new roller rockers, just play with the rollers a bit to see if anything feels weird before I put them in - anything with moving or spinning parts. I'm not a 100% either. We all live and learn.
This is why I love this channel so much. You're so honest and show the reality of everything. This literally could happen to anyone and you're such a good sport about it!
In any other field of work a decent batter's record would get you fired, drummed out of the business and likely sued for gross incompetence lol. Doctors and auto mechanics cant brag about battin 500!
Damn, never a good deal when your lifter is breakdancing on the cam... when both you and the lifter have that “sinking” feeling. This real shit is what makes this a real channel!
Well, Tony, I don't have a vintage car to play around with, but I do have a vintage motorcycle. A 1975 Yamaha RD250, been converted to a 350, expansion chambers, banshee crossover tube, modified carbs, billet clutch basket, etc. Installed a dyna ignition, and since I was into the bike for so much money already, I didn't replace the stock voltage regulator and rectifier. The other day, noticed my headlight getting brighter and dimmer at a steady throttle. Hmmm... Then the bike started to backfire and lose the right cylinder. Uh oh... I do believe I cooked the magnetic pickup by the magneto overheating from no voltage regulation... Oh and when I went to ensure the timing was still good, I dropped my dial indicator on the concrete and broke it. So, that's off to Central Tools now to be fixed. You're not alone in frustrations. Trust me!
This was honestly a big relief. I have the same problem. Just rebiuld an engine with a bad main and didnt get it machined. So I hear the tick and think the worst cuz it's pretty loud. Checked bottom end and lashed valves sooo many times. Come to find out the lifter is sticking like this intermittently. A relief to see it happen to a man that knows his stuff. Made me feel not so alone with the rando bad lifter problem
One reason I put roller lifters in every engine I build. Sorry for your bad luck. I'll tell you a story of an avoided catastrophe. I was lucky enough to get a Gen 427 Ford FE block, and ended up building a 540 FE tunnelport [using Dove heads with the raised exhaust ports]. Anyway, I had finished building the engine, clocking the bellhousing [which was waaaay off], installing it all in the 67 Mustang fastback, and was priming the engine through the dist hole [oil pump drive]. Well, I kept looking at the heads for the oil to start flowing through the rocker shaft. After about ten minutes I stopped. I couldn't figure it out. So I went on one of my FE Ford forums, and asked a question about the problem. Well, it turned out that Genesis has misaligned the oil hole from the block to the head!!!!! It was an easy fix to just drill out the oil hole in the steel Cometic head gasket, but had I not tried to prime the engine I would have had a VERY EXPENSIVE surprise on the break in part of the engine.
I had to return a set a Erson 1.75 ratio rocker arms for a big block Dodge that had the oil holes drilled on the wrong side, the guy at Super Shops said it wouldn't matter but he sent them back and I got correct ones. I know it would matter!
ouch!! I appreciate you showing this. Anybody who has ever modified an engine for performance has had something bite them. It is part of the deal. YOU become the "factory" and bask in the glory when things go right....and get to push the broom when things go wrong. Been there, done that. Thanks for the honesty.
Boot is right it's lost time even with a free camshaft and lifters out of the deal. All I can say is should have gone solid lift. One less thing to go wrong that way seeing how this is going to be a toy anyway just bite the bullet and re-adjust those valves as needed.
I put them in a coffee can for a day filled with engine oil working the plunger to get the air out of them. Really the failure that Tony had was something that happened after he had already started the engine. I'm sure he had bled the air out of them by working the plunger inside prior to installing them he's a pretty smart guy so it had to be a failure that wasn't happening before he had installed them. All of the race engines I built for dirt were high rpm applications so we did away with hydraulic lifters and replaced them with solid lifters to prevent valve float at higher rpms. We also upped the valve seat pressure to prevent valve float which will eventually end up wearing the cam lobes down. About every 3 years we replaced our camshafts because of lobe wear causing the valve lift to slowly decrease. Just about any serious muscle car "intended for the drag strip" from the sixties came factory with solid lifters that require adjustment periodically. The only failure you can have with solid lifters is a lifter not spinning in the lifter bore nothing collapses hydraulically as a hydraulic lifter would fail.
True, true... but that’s kinda the risk any home mechanic or small shop runs by doing the work on our own stuff, even if you can prove there was a manufacturing defect, you never, ever get compensated for time lost. 98% of us home based wrench heads would even be lucky to get a cam out of the deal if we didn’t buy the cam and lifters all at once from the same manufacturer...
If wrenching is your passion make it make money for you. I work as a technician for an independent shop in Jeffersonville Indiana and love it. There is a shortage of technicians nation-wide so even if all you know is the basics of simple engines your employer will pay for you to be trained in the latest manufacturer technical aspects. I grew up wrenching on anything with an engine and I make good money for the things I was taught at no expense to me. Every bit of my education was paid for by an employer. Now the guys I work with at the local parts stores are servicing shops all over town and any problem I have with a part that I can prove gets fixed because of the account the shop has with each parts store. The upside of working on vehicles as a career is the guys you see at the counter don't dare question your intelligence when it come to failures because those same guys come to me when they can't figure out the problems with their own cars figure in the account through the shop I work for and they know just to make us happy because the guy using to parts on a daily basis can always change his supplier. 40,000$ a month accounts aren't easy for parts distributors to come by.
Tony I compiled a 20 year project put 66 miles on the motor, and spun a cam bearing and watched oil pressure drop to 2 lbs it happens my friend. Fun part is taking it apart and learning what broke. It’s a gift that keeps giving
Thats a very good point that most never think of and I agree 100%. Best is an exhaust that's quiet at idle but still flows well when you get on it. Want to be able to hear the noises from u-joints, wheel bearings, brakes, suspension and everything else before a significant failure occurs.
Thank you for not bashing the company and taking responsibility. Most would have done the opposite but as a man we know this could have been salvaged but also I get it. We are excited hearing that thing run after all the hard work. Shutting it down and pulling the covers boom throw another lifter in and would have been on the drive in this video. It still sucks trust me I know. I've done this. It hurts.
Watching your videos on all the lifter failures is the reason why i decided to go from a flat tappet cam motor in my 86 Bronco. To a Roller cam setup. Which also allowed me to purchase a Trick Flow Research top end kit. Which is good for 432 HP.
To bad we can't clone Uncle Tony and have him in everyone's neighborhood as there go to guy. It's so hard to find good techs like him. Best channel out there
I put in a brand new motor in my son's 1985 Corvette, the fuel injection wasn't working very well so we shelved it until we could figure that out. Two years later I finally got back to it. I fired it up and it immediately seized. Same thing, I got lazy, should have primed the oil pump before I fired it but I didn't. Good news is I pulled it, built an LT1 from my 1970 1/2 Z28, used a new set of Wiseco pistons and aluminum heads. Makes 450 hp on a 750 Holley Carb. gave up on the tuned port.
My only engine rebuild was my 74 Satellite's 318. It was my first and so far my only. The bottom end was stock but the top end was all upgrades. The distributor alone was almost $400. I had no guidance but the internet and tons of research. That first start moment was intimidating. It was late and I was by myself. I lived in a different town than my family so my Dad would have been unable to help. Car had been back from paint for a week as I was wiring everything. Any issues I had during break in could have been disastrous as I only had to go by what the info said to do. But I went by the book. It sounded great. I broke the motor in. I sold that car in 2005-2006. The person I sold it to still has it and has had no issues since he bought it from me. I miss that car as it was my only restoration. But knowing it is in good hands and is still running strong. Feels good.
Had the same “ lazy” thing happen to us with a Sbc build. Went to reuse a cam we knew was good in one engine in another with lifters all kept in order. We’ve rolled the dice and done it many times in the past but this time the lifters wouldn’t spin on initial fire up. We quickly shut it down and investigated. Lucky there was no serious harm done and we installed a new cam and lifters like we SHOULD have and it went smooth after that. 9/10 it cost money to cheap out. Really like your content !
Yup, the lifter bore angle/position will vary slightly, engine-to-engine, once lifters are broke in to a specific cam and engine block, changing anything will corrupt that marriage of cam lobe to lifter.
And another valuable life lesson. Just because it is new does not mean it is good and works right. I have learned that lesson in the trades for years and its true with anything mechanical. At least Uncle Tony didn't refuse to accept it was a bad part and tried to convince himself otherwise like some of us other knuckleheads have!
That sucks....... new subscriber and I want to tell you how nice it is to see someone with the history knowledge and wrench knowledge and shares both. Thanks!
Aww jeeze Uncle T, as a guy that regularly gets his face eaten, I feel your pain. That sucks. I had 7 new notifications and when I saw this title I had to click on here first. I know that it doesn’t help but you have the most honest channel on here. Much respect my friend. Much respect. ☮️
I had a lifter fail while only a couple hours into first startup of my fresh 408cu ford, turned out the bleed valve shattered and was releasing the oil in it. Had a rep from the lifter company come out as he didnt believe it failed the way it did, he saw the damage and the process we used while installing and using, he scratched his head said he had never seen it before he was baffled that it failed and agreed to replace the lifter set. Disheartening but none the less, had it goin the next weekend and 7years later it still running strong with 270rwk 😉
@@moparedtn I'm just guessing those 2 since they're the most common parts store brands. With Enginetech being the cheapest. I don't really have anything bad to say about either one. In fact I'm pretty sure the lifters I put in my Chevy a few years ago were Enginetech. And they've been running fine ever since. Not to mention the fact that it's really an installer error that caused the problem. Lifters come prefilled with oil. It would have been pretty obvious it was bad if he'd pushed on it like that before installing it. "It'll pump up"? Really? No. Like I said, it should have already been "pumped up"/full of oil out of the box. Sticky plunger? No. That's not the problem either. It should be solid as a rock when you push on it like that(when it's "pumped up"/full of oil). It's leaking oil BADLY. They will NEVER be collapsed like that otherwise.
The pressure of putting deadlines. Same at a shop when an owner/customer calling you everyday! You tend to take pressured chances. Been there done that! It will be finished when it's finished is what I would really like to say to them! It happens Tony and sadly it will happen again down the road. Don't lose any sleep over it. Another great(honest) video Tony AND Kathy! See I didn't forget the great camera work..lol
It wasn’t being lazy he took a chance that the oil would come up but the lifter was fucked so the oil didn’t come up and chewed the cam that’s not lazy it’s he wasn’t cautious as soon as it was ticking he should have shut it down and he though like most we will give it a little longer but the lifter being fucked so nothing to do with being lazy he took a chance and he lost
True warriors admit their flaws and come out stronger after a loss! Kids, get your bag of popcorn and watch All uncle Tony's videos if you want to Learn how to be a warrior!
Here’s to hoping your guys build goes back together without a hitch! First fire is coming up soon for me and it being my first full build, it’s makin me nervous lol I’m glad this video was posted. Such a bummer but a very good thing to learn from.
Tony, I NEVER EVER HAVE broke in a camshaft in my entire life. I’ve built several engines and swapped god knows how many cams in with zero issues. I’m a Chevy guy so I only use NOS Delphi lifters. These are the gm lifters with the hardened foot btw. I have quite a few trays of these and they are legit. Also, I never use the heavy zinc additives either. I put a generous amount of moly lube on the journals and foot of the cam and lifter “feet”, rub motor oil around the lifter body and then go about setting lash. I also never soak lifters before use. Then I prime the engine for 2-3 minutes and crank it up. I use Mobil 1 European blend 0w40 full synthetic if it’s just a cam swap, or ill use valvoline high mileage conventional oil with a bottle of gm EOS for new or rebuilt engines. The cam companies are using cheap and sometimes Chinese lifters/materials, and who knows what the metallurgical values are. I couldn’t tell you where to buy NOS mopar lifters from the pre 2000s, but I highly recommend it for any builds for you. Before everyone starts sending me hateful responses, ask yourself this: when you bought a brand new car prior to the roller lifter era, did you have to sit in the parking lot for 30 minutes at 2500 rpm!? It’s a myth imo. Cam companies are using sh*t materials and want to blame the user of improper break ins for their failures. The old lifters are where it’s at. I look forward to reading hateful comments from y’all lol. Tony, you have a remarkable channel btw 👍
Interesting theory, when my dad felt brave enough to let me pick out a cam for his pick up, after installation etc I said we need to break it in. He looked at me like I was drunk or something and said in all his years racing and tinkering with cars he had never heard of breaking in a cam. He said you lube the heck out of it and drive it.
david leeper sounds like my father lol. The gentleman that does my machine work builds circle track motors that are limited to hyd flat cams. They will go from a stand to the track with zero break in or special high zinc oils etc. Some of them have monster valve springs too. He uses Johnson and Delphi lifters only.
Your honesty and straightforward approach is the main reason I like watching your show. I've been wrenching over 35 years and I've been there a time or two we all have. And im harder on myself than anyone , expecially when I knew better.. thanks for sharing your mistakes .
I bought a 73 duster original 340 motor a 4 speed it was backfiring through carb. Bad lobe.I put a cam dynamics cam a lifters in it.I soak the new lifters in oil before installing a when it cranks i throttle it back a forth for about 10 min a have never lost a lobe or lifter. It was a blazer pulling type cam.it pulled like a big block.disappointing I know but things happen for a reason sometimes.hang in there.
Felling your pain brother, thank you so much for posting the bad with the good, though! You very well may save someone else the heartache of having to tear everything down to base level to clean everything out and make sure nothing is scarred up from metal shavings.
Always check the plungers before you ever put lifters in . i have gotten a lot of bad hydraulic lifters from comp cams lately flat tappet and roller . I try and stay with howards / morel or crower depending on build anymore .
One thing I do with hydraulic lifters and a new cam and I don’t hear a lot said is ; what I do is pre-charge or manually pump up the lifters before installation by submerging them one by one in a can of oil in a drill press and use a old push rod chuckled in the drill press then use the drill press action to pump up the lifters till they get stiff. This way you don’t run them dry and shove the inner assemblies to the bottom of the lifter bore and potentially damaged the spring and internal valve inside them. I’ve never had a problem. But I just purchased a 1972 Ford F-150 pickup 4-4 with a newly rebuilt 390 4 barrel carb that has a cam problem and I think the same thing is going on hear to. P S I got a good deal on the truck.
Thanks for being honest. And you hit the nail on the head. Laziness, AKA "I'm a-gonna gamble that this will fall my way." If it did, you wouldn't have the hard-earned lesson. This life is nothing if not doubt. Thus is the human condition, Unk.
Hate those rare problems. Had a 318 one time, timing was off, or bad vacuum leak, she wasnt doing good. Searched and researched high and low for the problem, really started to anger me that I couldn’t figure it out. Finally found it by fluke, a hole inside the intake manifold, but unless you pulled the carb off and look into the intake could you see it! New intake, ran like a dream!
Pre-load those hydraulic lifters by submerging them in motor oil with zinc added. Then use a push rod and manually pump those suckers up. Also, don't forget to have your lifter bores honed if your block has been hot tanked.
Some say prefill others say not to. I always pump the lifter dry to make sure it doesn't stick and if good pumpit once or twice to get some oil in the lifter, Then wipe clean add lube to the bottom and install. Next is start with no valvecovers to see that pushrods are spinning.If not then tear it down and find out why.
Wow, that must have been a tough video to make. Humble pie doesn't taste very good. Sorry you experienced this, but so appreciative that you shared this with us. You sir have immense credibility and class.
Good parts fail too. I would have ran it as well, don’t be too hard on yourself. BIG props for showcasing the successes and the failures, a big joy of building these cars is the rollercoaster of emotion building them
Just want to say thanks for the videos. I was doing a LS swap ona 78 trans am. A video you did, one with the ram charger, changed my mind on the swap. So now i am currently looking for a 400 Pontiac with to put in the bird. Thanks again for the videos
Damn it boy. That’s a raw deal, but that’s also the reality of car building. I’m glad you made this video and the way you went about it. One bad part in the how many you’ve bought? You went about this the right way.
