All I'm hoping is that I didn't wipe a lobe... If that's the case, I'll end up pulling the engine again. It'll give me a good excuse for a roller.

 

Even if you put the cam/lifters in dry I doubt you could "wipe a lobe" that quickly. Probably just a bad/sticking lifter or a loose pedestal.
.

 

# 7 exhaust is the faulty lifter. There is slack in the pushrod. When running with valve cover off and holding on to the rocker, you can feel the loose vibrations. Do lifters crap out like this or did I do something wrong? To be honest I am pretty disappointed with the out come. First this ticking developed, now it's beginning to leak feverishly around the oil pan(figured it would, it was rippled from previous over torquing, should have gotten a new one) Even upon driving it feels weak... almost the same as before I took it out. Base timing is at 10, and I have the weak grey advance springs on the distributor. now the other side of the engine has faint valve-train noise, or I may be hearing things. If it threw a rod the next time I drove it I would not be surprised.

 

I'm no expert like a lot of the guys on here but from the research Ive done it sounds like you need an adjustable valve train. Also like any project it takes a while to work the links out of it. Keep at it. Your doing good.

 

Were those lifters from Comp-Cams? I have always gotten a set from the cam manufacture; they know the materials that work together best. If you're not in a hurry I would order another set from your cam builder, Comp-Cam?, and swap them in. You didn't hurt your cam or do anything wrong. As I see it the fault is in the lifter and/or brand.

You should have flattened out the oil pan flanges but....

If I remember correctly you primed the oiling system. Next time I would watch the rockers and prime it till I saw oil coming out on all the rockers just to be sure.
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Drove to my machine shop and verified the lifter is bleeding down way to quickly. The lifters were "inspected" from tim meyer. Yall reckon I'd be better off to buy an new comp set? The ones I got now were only 60 bucks. I remember before I took my engine out the first time, running the engine with the valve cover off, the push rods would spin quite well. Now they hardey do.... should I worry about this?

 

To the top... any thoughts?

 

Your push rods shouldn't spin easily with hyrdaulic lifters. The way to adjust them is 3/8 turn past zero lash, so they shouldn't really spin if you're tightening them past they point they stop freely spinning

 

My 400 build was very similar to yours. I used the hyper pistons from TMI, crane roller rockers, i went with the xe262 cam, hedman headers, 750cfm edelbrock carb, and a Mallory HEI distributor. Very strong motor, good luck with yours!!!

 

Love using a tree branch as support for engine hoist

<a href="http://s1251.photobucket.com/albums/hh559/79silverstreak/?action=view&amp;current=DSCF0124.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1251.photobucket.com/albums/hh559/79silverstreak/DSCF0124.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

 

I think we have twins But mine isn't 4 wheel drive.

Love the truck

 

A true shade tree mechanic. Love it.

 

The more I run the truck, the more it seems to come alive. I've messed with the timing enough to eliminate detonation. In ya'lls experience what is the best spring/ bushing combination for my situation?
Also I've been messing with the four corner idle. I have the backs turned out half a turn and the fronts a turn and a half. Got the best results with that. Only it's now hard on hot starts after it heat sinks. It feels just like leaky gaskets in fuel bowls, however obviously all gaskets are fine.
Another unwanted characteristic is how it stumbles in gear after popping the throttle. I originally believed I would have to do tuning with the accel pump cams, but I was told it could be a timing issue. The engine seems unresponsive at low rpm with quick shots of trottle.
I've also noted it odd how quickly rpm's drop after letting off. I don't know the cause of it or the prudence of it, however, before my rebuild, upon deceleration, and letting off the throttle, with the speed of the truck keeping the engine turning above idle, the engine would pop and crack out the exhaust. The only variables that could effect this I would think would be timing and idle tuning? Again, not really sure what is desirable, but curios as if it could indicate improper tuning. sorry for rambling

 

How much preload was on each lifter plunger ? Did you check your heads over real good when you got them back from the machinest ? Each valve tip should be within .005" of each other. With a non adjustable valve train it is very important that the machinest set all the valve tip heights equally or you will have preload problems on every lifter. Did you check for pushrod length ? Most all aftermarket cams will be ground on a different than stock base circle so stock length push rods usually won't work on performance cams. You can shim the rocker pedestals but doing so you need to make sure it doesn't throw the rocker geometry off.
One thing about priming the oiling system. Don't over do it. Just run the pump till you feel the resistance, then a few seconds more then stop. If you aren't using a cross drilled crank or full groove main bearings then turn the crank a half turn and run the pump for a few seconds again to fill the rest of the rod throws. Excessive priming just washes away all the precious assembly oils and pastes the engine so vitally needs in it's first few minute of running. All the assenbly paste is designed to protect all the moving parts till the oil gets to them. Over priming is a huge mistake that a lot of people do.

 

All lifters were fine, half way through travel. My machinist told me a peace of trash could have gotten into the lifter causing it to leak down way to quickly.