[Va68goat]

Well...it was an optical illusion. HWYSTR455 just stopped by. There was nothing there.

[72LuxuryLeMansLa.]

Originally Posted by Va68goat

Well...it was an optical illusion. HWYSTR455 just stopped by. There was nothing there.

He couldn't sleep tonight without finding out! I know that feeling.

[STEELCITYFIREBIRD]

Originally Posted by 72LuxuryLeMansLa.

He couldn't sleep tonight without finding out! I know that feeling.

...I feel it too, it's like we all have a stake in this.... for everyone involved's sake!

[STEELCITYFIREBIRD]

Originally Posted by STEELCITYFIREBIRD

...I feel it too, it's like we all have a STEAK in this.... for everyone involved's sake!

CORRECTED!

[72LuxuryLeMansLa.]

Originally Posted by STEELCITYFIREBIRD

CORRECTED!

Tonight it was Chicken Fricassee. I have now moved on to Bourbon....But I'm in Cajun County...

[Va68goat]

torqhead,
The tech that Paul has looking at the motor pulled the plugs wires one by one and the knocking noise remained the same. Here are some pictures of the bottom of the motor when we had to add spacing to the windage tray (First time we pulled the motor).

I also added a picture of the oil pan. I took this picture right when we packed the motor up and it was sent to Arizona a few months ago.

[grivera]

Is it me or is the oil sludge- like in that oil pan pic?

http://forums.maxperformanceinc.com/...postcount=1277

[STEELCITYFIREBIRD]

Has it been run with the valve covers off? Or a cover with an opening to hear if it is prevalent to one side?
Is the noise louder at low rpm or just drowned out by other noise? I’d look to eliminate any noise you can....exhaust especially! It may be louder (or not) at increased RPM....and therefore more discernible.

I really think if parts were interfering they would ‘self clearance’ by now, or be producing a lot of shrapnel.
🤔

[HWYSTR455]

Originally Posted by 72LuxuryLeMansLa.

He couldn't sleep tonight without finding out! I know that feeling.

Basically! Yeah, it was an illusion, just poor lighting is all. It was the counterrweight, the angle and the poor light together caused the illusion.

Carry on...

.

[Va68goat]

TedRamAirII,
From what the tech said, he noticed slight "uneven wear" on the new distributor gear. The new distributor bushing and gear have less than 2 hours of idle time. When Paul recently discovered the bad distributor bushing, he said he tore the engine apart. I'm imagine that he checked the cam gear.

Sirrotica,
As grivera says..It's a 455 block with a factory 455 crank.

Here are the pictures of the oil pump shaft again along with the videos of Paul explaining the damaged distributor bushing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmwzlUPfaw4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zRO0vuHfuYg

[torqhead]

Wonder if you could do this same test again that you showed in this video, but take a long screwdriver or something that allows you to push the oil pump driveshaft towards the front of the motor and see if it rubs on the counterweight as the motor is being turned over.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDZKHIOGWcE

If this turns out to be the problem it may be the 2nd time this may have been seen as mgarblik noted he had something similar occur!

[Va68goat]

dataway,
I hope it's something simple but at this point it looks like something simple inside the engine. I think there are a few more things that the tech has to diagnose.

[gtospieg]

If you look at your second pic in your latest post you will see that the front seal(for the harmonic balancer) is not fully seated(it is crooked and probably not creating a good seal)...this could be the source of your leak.

[grivera]

Originally Posted by gtospieg

If you look at your second pic in your latest post you will see that the front seal(for the harmonic balancer) is not fully seated(it is crooked and probably not creating a good seal)...this could be the source of your leak.

Not sure about the seal on Joe's engine but the one I installed on my #'s matching engine looks the same as it bottomed out in the timing cover before the edge reached the surface. Mine is a reproduction timing cover so not sure if the dimensions are off or the seal is too "deep." It did not affect the seal's performance.

[Va68goat]

Formulas,
We did run the engine with a stock balancer and the knocking noise was still present. I don't think we are going to run this engine without a balancer though.

I spoke to Paul last night and I think we are back on track. Frustration may have gotten the best of both of us but I think we are headed in the right direction now. I'm hopeful this will get resolved soon.