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Like peeling an onion....

Green Monster

Green Monster

1/2 ton status
Joined
Aug 10, 2013
Posts
328
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90
Location
Thousand Oaks, CA
image.jpegimage.jpegimage.jpegimage.jpegimage.jpeg image.jpeg image.jpeg image.jpeg image.jpeg As the saying goes, "may as well"......

Since I had a bunch on stuff off the motor, I figured I'd change the valve cover gaskets. Well, it seems that I poked a hole in one of them while I was removing the old gasket (seriously, it was like someone welded the gasket on). So first question.....best place to get cheap factory style valve covers? Also, I noticed that on the right side (odd cylinders), the bolts that hold the rockers on are all "uniform", meaning they all have the same thread count sticking out of the nut. Not so on the left side. Some are similar, and a few barely have any threads sticking out. Is this a problem? Engine ran great when I ran it last, about six months ago. Also, pulled the cap off the dizzy. Don't know if it looks good, or bad.....thoughts? Looks like even contact (white marks) on all eight contact points, and can't see any cracks. When I turn the rotor, it snaps back quickly.

And last question, as I haven't got an answer yet on my previous post. First belt (closest to engine) goes on the crank, ps pump and ac. It is barely touching the water pump. I can slide a business-card thick piece of card stock in between and it will stay. I figure this is a problem. Tried various methods of tightening the ac, ps pump, etc. but nothing works. Any chance the new water pump is just cast a little thick? Thought I'd take a grinder to it and give myself about a sixteenth of an inch clearance. Thoughts?

Thanks to the brotherhood for all your help.....can't do it without you!
 
The cam lobes are likely worn down on the valves with more threads showing on the rocker arm studs..you can put deflector clips over the oil holes on the rockers (or clean the oil off with carb cleaner and put some duct tape over the rocker ) to keep oil from squirting all over,and run the engine for a moment with the valve covers off and watch them,any that have less travel than their neighbors will likely have flat cam lobes..

Salvage yard is the cheapest place to get stock GM valve covers--those you know will fit without any issues with rocker arm clearance or breather issues unlike aftermarket ones..factory ones also have oil deflectors to aid in directing oil to the parts that need it most..

Your belt issue may be due to the pulleys being "swapped" at one time or another--you had a 400SB and now have a 350 right ?...could be someone put just the crank pulley off the 400 or off something else ,and now its too close to the WP..
I do not recall the 400 WP being any different than a 350 so its probably the pulleys that are not matched ..
 
If the rockers are adjusted differently, it seems like you could measure the difference in the height of the push-rod seat. Not knowing the history of the engine, somebody could have substituted some parts on hand, like a longer push rod or shorter rocker stud (or re-machined stud hole?). You would expect more threads showing above a flat lobe, but here the "fewer threads" is the minority.
 
diesel4me said:
The cam lobes are likely worn down on the valves with more threads showing on the rocker arm studs..you can put deflector clips over the oil holes on the rockers (or clean the oil off with carb cleaner and put some duct tape over the rocker ) to keep oil from squirting all over,and run the engine for a moment with the valve covers off and watch them,any that have less travel than their neighbors will likely have flat cam lobes..

Salvage yard is the cheapest place to get stock GM valve covers--those you know will fit without any issues with rocker arm clearance or breather issues unlike aftermarket ones..factory ones also have oil deflectors to aid in directing oil to the parts that need it most..

Your belt issue may be due to the pulleys being "swapped" at one time or another--you had a 400SB and now have a 350 right ?...could be someone put just the crank pulley off the 400 or off something else ,and now its too close to the WP..
I do not recall the 400 WP being any different than a 350 so its probably the pulleys that are not matched ..
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Thanks, I'll check with the salvage yard. Correct, was a 400. But all the pulleys align perfectly, so if they were swapped, everything was swapped. And I'm pretty sure the wp is the same for both engines.
 
Blue85 said:
If the rockers are adjusted differently, it seems like you could measure the difference in the height of the push-rod seat. Not knowing the history of the engine, somebody could have substituted some parts on hand, like a longer push rod or shorter rocker stud (or re-machined stud hole?). You would expect more threads showing above a flat lobe, but here the "fewer threads" is the minority.
Click to expand...
Exactly what I was thinking, if I had flat lobes, then they would be in the minority. I'm thinking someone used some different sized rocker studs. And if the cam was going flat, the nuts wouldn't crank themselves down. The rockers would just be loose. And the engine runs great.

Any thoughts on the dizzy? Look good?
 
Maybe the rocker arm studs are pulling out on the ones showing more threads--someone might have re-adjusted the valves if they pulled out a bit ,or maybe they did replace some with longer ones that thread into the head instead of pressing in..

As for the water pump,maybe it is the casting --the China "new" ones probably aren't held to exacting tolerances all over--only where it counts like where it meets the block..maybe one "rib" has too much meat on it ..
 
I've had the studs pull out of the head. Make sure the studs are all even across the top.

That isn't a goodwrench350 engine is it?
 
JoshHefnerX said:
I've had the studs pull out of the head. Make sure the studs are all even across the top.

That isn't a goodwrench350 engine is it?
Click to expand...
Not sure if it's goodwrench. The right bank is all even, the left bank has a few that are shorter (fewer threads showing). So when you say "even" do you mean even height or even threads? I think the ones with fewer threads are lower, like the bolts are shorter or screwed in more.
 
The top of the studs - level.

Was asking if this was a goodwrench engine as I've had mine and at least 2-3 others pull the rocker studs loose. The top of the studs should all be even.
 
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