I use this starter:

RobbMc Pontiac Mini-starter

(Dirty and before I painted the engine)

In my opinion, there's not a better one on the market anywhere.   It's "clockable", which means the starter body can be rotated to any position you choose.  I have mine set so that the solenoid is 'down' and as far away from the header as I can get it.   He also has other products and I use most of them: fuel pump, fuel filters, fuel pressure regulator.

Bear

Edited October 3, 20205 yr by BearGFR

Ok great. Thanks. This one is clockable to. I was thinking about running solenoid down but wasn't sure if that was a good idea. Worried about debris hitting it. Glad to know I can. I'll be putting it on in a couple hours and check back in.

fingers crossed for you mate, 

Thanks bubby but no luck. The holes in the starter mounting plate were to far a part. Only by an 1/8th of an inch or so. But it was just far enough that I couldn't get the 2nd bolt stared. I checked a 2nd 1 and it was the same way. They didn't have a stock starter in stock for me to try. They did order one and I can pick it up Tuesday.

Ok, she's alive, again! But I cant tell if I'm hearing a tick or if its just plugged up ears from allergies. Anyways here she is. She only ran for 5 min before I shut her off. The videos were taken during that 5 min.

Alright! I might be hearing a lifter, can't tell for sure, it could also be and exhaust leak but it sounds like a good solid idle. 

You're getting there. 

Bear 

 

Thanks Bear, So if its a lifter then maybe run it and see if it stops? Its only been ran for 5 min.  Do you think its safe to run it down the road like that?

On 10/14/2020 at 8:48 AM, Wrongway said:

Ok, she's alive, again! But I cant tell if I'm hearing a tick or if its just plugged up ears from allergies. Anyways here she is. She only ran for 5 min before I shut her off. The videos were taken during that 5 min.

Today 1.MOV today 2.MOV

wrongway... have you put in a new cam, with the rebuild ?

 if so, you do need to break it in..... its bloody important mate.

 

if not,, run her!!! 

keep an eye on oil pressure, temperture..

Hey Partner,

Like boni said, if it's a brand new cam and/or brand new lifters then the safe thing is to break them in.  Let it run for at least 15-20 minutes and never let it get BELOW 2000 rpm - don't let it idle.  Make sure you've got oil with plenty of ZDDP in it.  Keep a close eye on oil pressure and coolant temp.  (If anything looks like it's going south, shut it down).  After that, shut it down, drain the oil, pull the filter and cut it open for inspection.  It'll be normal to find a *little* metal in it with new bearings, new cam, but there should be a lot of it and no obviously big chunks.   If everything's cool, then fresh oil, fresh filter, and start driving.

(If you'lre using the same cam/same lifters, you can skip the cam break-in)

Re-check all your exhaust manifold/header bolts and make sure they're snugged up good.

I did notice in that first video, as soon as you gave it a little throttle the noise, whatever it is, went away.  That's a good sign.  That's making me think 'lifer' but it's still hard to be sure from the recording.

 

Bear

The cam and lifters have at most 50 miles on them. 1 lifter is new, the old one got destroyed. Well I'll go run it and see what happens and hopefully it stops ticking. lol

Thanks guys

Ok so I just took these. The 1st video was 2200 rpm adjusted at carb to hold it there. I ran for 20 min. The 2nd was at 800rpm. I'm still hearing it. I'll take it for a drive this afternoon or in the morning. But could it be a valve lash adjustment?

Could be....  know what else it could be?   Check all your spark plug wires, make sure they're connected solid at both ends.  If you have two that cross (and you almost always do) try to make sure they cross at 90 degrees to each other as close as you can.  Fire it up in a dark garage and look all the wiring over to see if you can spot any arcing going on.  If one is arcing, it can sound like that.

I didn't hear anything when listening to the first video at 2200 rpm.  It sounded pretty good to me, but maybe I just couldn't hear it in the recording.

But yes, it could be a rocker/lifter that needs adjusting too.  I think I remember you've got polylocks on it, right?

Bear

Ok Bear, I'll go check the wiring now. Yes sir i do have poly locks.

Ok so all the wires are locked on. It really sounds more like its coming out the the middle of the engine. as in its not any louder on either side. When you put your head over the carb you can hear it louder. I started looking around the carb and feel air blowing, not sucking. I hit with starter fluid and no change to the idle. I tried soapy water but it just evaporated. I'll try again when it cools down. Here's where I'm feeling air. Not sure if its intake or carb yet.

It's that where the ticking sound is coming from?  If so, that's an exhaust leak. The passage there connects to the center two exhaust ports. The purpose is to warm the bottom of the intake to help with fuel atomization when the engine is cold. 

Wow, really. It sounded like it Bear. Ok, so would that be intake gasket then?

Edited October 16, 20205 yr by Wrongway

Yep, you can try tightening down the two center bolts to see if that at least changes it. 

That passage is where the thermostatic spring for the divorced choke that was used on the original carburetor was located...The spring tension increased or decreased opening/closing the choke accordingly with the air temperature...The air temp in that passage was controlled by the heat riser located on the passenger side exhaust manifold..

As Bear suggested try tightening the center bolts..

I'm not 100% sure but I think intake gaskets are available that block off that passage....

Might also be a good idea to make sure the exhaust manifolds/headers aren't leaking at the gaskets...paying special attention to the center exhaust ports......

Edited October 17, 20205 yr by TWO LANE BLACK TOP

Awesome. I'll try tightening them tomorrow and I will try to find a set of block off gaskets online tonight. Thanks again guys!

 

Hey, could I use gasket material, not Permatex but like roll gasket and make a new intake gasket with block offs?

Edited October 17, 20205 yr by Wrongway

I'm guessing these are the block off's? 

I reread my answer and looked at the photo again....Now that I think about it...The exhaust heat passage in the intake goes around the the depression you're pointing at...That is where the choke thermostatic spring would have been and is not open to the passage itself...That being said blocking off the passage wouldn't do anything...advantageous and would hinder cold weather drivability...Bottom line is...It's not a good idea...For a year round street driven car....Sorry wasn't trying to lead you astray....

When the cylinder heads were redone...Were they cut (milled down)...If so How much was taken off of them..? Depending how much the heads were cut down...It changes the angle of the cylinder head on the top (intake side) where the intake manifold bolts to the head...As a result of the angle change...The intake manifold angle will still be the same and it won't match the angle of the heads correctly and will cause sealing problems...If that turns out to be the case(hopefully not)....The mating surfaces of the intake manifold would have to be cut down and  to correctly match the angle of the cylinder heads....If no more than .020 to .030 was cut off the heads that shouldn't be an issue... Any more than that is when the angles really start to change too the point where intake fitment becomes an issue....But I would still retorque the manifold bolts first starting from the center and work you way out....See what happens... Then go from there...

TLB

Edited October 17, 20205 yr by TWO LANE BLACK TOP

When the heads were original redone I was told there was no material removed front the head to block matting surfaces on the heads or block. I had plans of starting with retightening in the morning and still will. I've got a full day a head of me cleaning up the shop tomorrow. Emptying it completely out. But I'll let yall no if that fixes the problem as soon as I can.

20 hours ago, Wrongway said:

Ok so all the wires are locked on. It really sounds more like its coming out the the middle of the engine. as in its not any louder on either side. When you put your head over the carb you can hear it louder. I started looking around the carb and feel air blowing, not sucking. I hit with starter fluid and no change to the idle. I tried soapy water but it just evaporated. I'll try again when it cools down. Here's where I'm feeling air. Not sure if its intake or carb yet.

Wrongway, try some bigger washers under those two centre bolts too mate 

it will help to spread the load on that casting that’s trying to seal the gasket 👍

Ok so I did tighten the center bolts and then retightened them and worked out from there. I was able to get about a 1/4 turn on the 2 passenger side center bolts. So my thought was to pull the intake and reseal it. But I will try the washers 1st Kiwi, great idea bro. Maybe the bolts are a little long, idk but if that doesn't do it then ill pull the intake and try that. After tightening the bolts it did seem a bit quieter. Not sure if it was because I was hoping it would be or if it actually was. I will let you know if the bigger washers help.