What Did You Do To Your G-Body Today? [2023]
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Thanks for the offer & will keep you in mind when the time comes. Right now I'm trying to make some more space in the garage for it & still have space to do a few other things while trying to get some wiring done for lights & power again. I'm wishing for it to be home around the 4th of July but things seems to always trump my plans of getting it home.
Replaced the rusty valve covers in my Regal with aftermarket chrome ones. For some reason chrome valve covers are cheaper than other finishes which is why I bought them. Also installed new steel core rubber valve cover gaskets. Had to buy new larger OD grommets for the new valve covers as they have larger openings than the stockers. At least the old oil cap fits on the new valve covers but I had to tweak the brake booster vacuum line to fit around the new covers. Funny how even little jobs can quickly snowball.
cheap chroming jobs done in China? I've heard chrome finished items tend to leak more (valve covers) and loosen up over time (distributor clamp hold-down, alternator brackets)
They are NOS Spectre brand and seem to be made of thicker gage steel than the stock covers. I would rather have had plain black but they charge a good bit more for non chrome covers. Plus I need the 3 hole baffled set to maintain the PCV system. Most valve cover sets are just two holes and many are not baffled.
I am using the stock spreader bars and new locknuts on these covers, torqued to 8 lb/ft.
I did try looking in the junkyards first but V8 80's cars are scarce in them in my area. Even if they weren't scarce they likely be pretty crusty anyway. The driver side cover is ok, and most of the passenger side cover is ok except the very middle of the outboad side on it which is just swiss cheese.
Was talking with the owner of my local indie speed shop on Friday last and, when I happened to notice an Isky cam leaning against the counter with a set of lifters in their box beside it, and mentioned it in passing, he came back with the news that the cam was done, killed, kaput, toast, junk, trashed, F*****!! Not only that but it was the second such cam to fail, both died the same way, and Neither even made through the break in cycle. Come to find out that the lifters were the culprits. Evidently NO ONE is currently making an american made lifter. They are all coming from off shore and the flat tappet lifters are born bad. How Bad??
Off the record, the service rep with whom he was speaking guesstimated that there are as many as 30.000+ faulty lifters out in the retail sector. How come? The quality control of the off shore mfgr, (or MFR if you prefer) took a monumental dump and a major number of lifters were passed that had not been properly hardened. If the case of this particular cam, they were so soft that the bottoms of them wore completely away in less than 20 minutes. The engine in question was on its cam break in cycle when the carnage occurred. Needless to say that the owner and builder are not happy. ( More like Pi**ed plus)
At this point the only cure or fix seems to be finding a set of old factory lifters, checking to make sure the crown is still intact and that they will still accept oil and using them. This was the build route that they went and the third cam went through break in sweet as honey. Catch to that is that old stock OEM 1st gen lifters in any condition are gettijng harder to come by locally. Apparently that set of Isky lifters that I bought 15-20 years ago and parked on the bench is now close to being worth its weight in gold. Not that I have any desire to part with them. The 256H cam they go with is sitting right there beside them along with all the other bits needed to do that cam swap.
Roller lifters? Same basic source, same set of issues. Moral? Parts is parts; hang on to your parts.
Nick
Off the record, the service rep with whom he was speaking guesstimated that there are as many as 30.000+ faulty lifters out in the retail sector. How come? The quality control of the off shore mfgr, (or MFR if you prefer) took a monumental dump and a major number of lifters were passed that had not been properly hardened. If the case of this particular cam, they were so soft that the bottoms of them wore completely away in less than 20 minutes. The engine in question was on its cam break in cycle when the carnage occurred. Needless to say that the owner and builder are not happy. ( More like Pi**ed plus)
At this point the only cure or fix seems to be finding a set of old factory lifters, checking to make sure the crown is still intact and that they will still accept oil and using them. This was the build route that they went and the third cam went through break in sweet as honey. Catch to that is that old stock OEM 1st gen lifters in any condition are gettijng harder to come by locally. Apparently that set of Isky lifters that I bought 15-20 years ago and parked on the bench is now close to being worth its weight in gold. Not that I have any desire to part with them. The 256H cam they go with is sitting right there beside them along with all the other bits needed to do that cam swap.
Roller lifters? Same basic source, same set of issues. Moral? Parts is parts; hang on to your parts.
Nick
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Ok well that’s great, I’m having an olds 350 built with roller cam&lifter setup and now I’m thinking I’ll have to ask the builder about this situation. I wonder if there is any way to check for hardness or reharden them before use. Don’t know enough about it. Bottom line is we need more things made in America.
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