1987 Chevy El Camino/SBC 355 Build (2nd Rebuild!!)

[ElCamMan515]

Re: SBC 355 Build (Bad News!)

Yeah I Did, I Set It To Zero Last, Turn Pushrod While Tighting Nut, When Feel Slight Resistance Tighten 1/2 Turn More. I Am Pretty Sure The Engine Builder AKA Me Am At Fault So I Hope To Swap A SBC 350 In Before End Of Month So I Can Drive It To My Wedding In July.

 

[othtim]

Re: SBC 355 Build (Bad News!)

Man I dunno. Someone with more experience than me gotta chime in. I've never seen anything like this before.

 

[othtim]

Re: SBC 355 Build (Bad News!)

I think I got your answer.

http://www.circletrack.com/techarticles ... to_02.html

http://www.circletrack.com/techarticles ... to_02.html

The internet says you have bad valve float!

 

[othtim]

Re: SBC 355 Build (Bad News!)

That's the internet though. I'm not 100% sure. I could see it being that your lash was off, too loose or too tight. Too tight of lash would sure bend pushrods.

Was your block ever decked? Or was your head milled? If you just got stock-length pushrods they might have been the wrong length (too long).

 

[richp85elco]

Re: SBC 355 Build (Bad News!)

sounds like you might have lashed them wrong, did you set them all to zero lash then tighten at the same time?

your suppose to set zero lash when the lifter your working on is on the bottom of the cam lobe then tighten, turn the motor over a little then do the next one, and so on and so forth. if you set some while they where on top of the lobe I could possibly see that causing issues..

 

[565bbchevy]

Re: SBC 355 Build (Bad News!)

From the picture it appears you might be using guideplates on a head that uses holes for pushrod alignment if you have both it will cause binding issues, the holes would have to be opened up to work properly.
If this isn't a pushrod binding issue then I'm thinking it is a rocker arm geometry or improper valve lash adjustment to bend those pushrods.
What kind of rocker arms are you using?
When you set your valve lash did you make sure each one was on the base circle of the cam when you made the adjustment?
Was the block decked or the heads milled or both?
Any chance you used a pushrod length checker to verify rocker geometry?

And also keep in mind you wore down your valve stems which a quite hard and all those metal shavings had to go somewhere and most likely have already been pressure fed to your bearings so I would do a complete teardown and inspection.

 

[pontiacgp]

Re: SBC 355 Build (Bad News!)

I think I got your answer.

http://www.circletrack.com/techarticles ... to_02.html

http://www.circletrack.com/techarticles ... to_02.html

The internet says you have bad valve float!

I'd agree but he says he never went over 2500 rpm....and he had the timing set at a shop so they would have heard the valve lash and the car they wouldn't have gotten the engine to run properly with incorrectly adjusted valves..

 

[ElCamMan515]

Re: SBC 355 Build (Bad News!)

Hey Guys, Yeah I Will Be Doing A Complete Tear Down And Hope Everything Is Okay On The Inside...

 

[ElCamMan515]

Re: SBC 355 Build (Bad News!)

Thanks for the comments and advice guys. Will be taking heads to a shop and having them build top end when i get the money. My grandpa knows a guy that will break engine in for you.

 

[pontiacgp]

Re: SBC 355 Build (Bad News!)

if you keep the lifters set up the same you won't need to break the cam in again...