[STEELCITYFIREBIRD]

The wonky polylock settings are yelling you something. I highly doubt they were that way in the initial assembly. Something has changed or a really bad valve adjustment. I'd bet it's not the adjustment if you had an experienced guy do the last adjustment. Now if someone adjusted some too tight on a previous adjustment, you may of had some interference, hence the tweeked p rods.
Also...Did you let anyone else drive it that may have twisted it's neck too tight?

I'd take the rockers off both sides and lay a straight edge across the tips of the valves and report back.


...Or leave valvetrain intact and pull intake and valley pan. Something got longer not shorter if the lock screw is now sticking out of the poly locks.
Either pulled a valve head or pop ed retainer from lifter body. Not much else that could happen unless you got longer P rods than were in it mixed in.

Take some more high quality pics of the valves with good lighting from different perspectives while you wait for help!

[TedRamAirII]

Was this problem ever resolved? Was new lifters the FIX?

[firejunkie]

videos not working

[Va68goat]

So here is an update. Just to review what has been done. I initially had a windage tray spacing issue and we fixed that issue. I have replaced the rockers, push rods and lifters. We verified timing, re-checked the vacuum lines, there are no exhaust leaks. A compression check was done and it read 150 on each cylinder. We took off the heads and had them inspected at a quality speed shop and everything came back good. I think the only thing that hasn't been replaced is the flexplate. I purchased a new one and sent it to Paul. He balanced it and I'm hoping to install the new one soon. I'm hoping this is the problem. Here is a video of the car running while on the lift.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0Ps-O3EODY

[Va68goat]

Can someone let me know if this video works?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0Ps-O3EODY

[Va68goat]

I was told to let you guys know that the compression test read 150 when the car was cold and it was turned over 3 times on each test.

[DOC]

Originally Posted by Va68goat

Can someone let me know if this video works?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0Ps-O3EODY

Yep, works fine

[firejunkie]

Originally Posted by Va68goat

Can someone let me know if this video works?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0Ps-O3EODY

Yes that works

[TedRamAirII]

I dont know if a flex plate is going to fix that. There isnt much to a flex plate that can make a noise, unless its cracked/loose at the crank hub. Still sounds like something in the bottom end, but hard to figure if its at Crankshaft speed. Perhaps a Slow Motion Video? I have not read old replies, but has each cylinder been tested if the noise goes away when no spark is at the spark plug? that would isolate if it was at one cylinder. I was hoping this was fixed and I missed the end results.

[Va68goat]

Hey TedRamAirII,

The flexplate came off of the 400 block I had when I bought the car. It's the only part that isn't new. When I had Paul build this motor, I sent him the old flexplate and he balanced it. Now that I have a new balanced flexplate, I'm hoping that is the problem. I did pull the plugs off one at a time and the knocking didn't stop. It's certainly not been a lack of effort of trying to get this motor right. I'm very new to cars but my friends are pretty good. We have checked everything that we can think of. It sounds like some sort of clearance issue...like hard metal hitting softer metal. It's hard to explain. Before we discovered the windage tray witness marks we pulled the converter back and it still made noise. I have no clue what else to do but try to replace the old flexplate. I think replacing the flexplate is a hail mary before I have to send the motor back to Paul. This motor has less than 200 miles on it!

[Grand73Am]

I haven't read the whole thread, but I suppose you all looked for oil pan interference with the rotating assembly.

I have a friend with a 383 stroker Chevy, which had a knocking sound. Turned out it was hitting somewhere on the pan. It wouldn't do it by just rotating the crank slowly. The engine had to be running for it to happen. He replaced the pan which fixed it.

[Va68goat]

Hey Grand73Am,

We didn't notice any witness marks in the pan when we pulled the motor to space the windage tray. We checked the valley pan to ensure there were no witness marks there as well. No clue what else to do!

[NeighborsComplaint]

Flexplate bolts too long?

[torqhead]

Originally Posted by NeighborsComplaint

Flexplate bolts too long?

^^^ What he said. In the video, it sounded right about when you got close with the camera where the flexplate attaches to the crank it gets very distinct. I would have someone turn the motor over manually and have someone else get a bright light and look to see if there’s a clearance issue (pan sticking out in back, bolt too long just nicking the back of the block, etc.).

[ponchjoe]

I'm going to go out on a limb here, could this be torque converter or front pump related? Does it change at all in gear?

[TedRamAirII]

Originally Posted by Va68goat

Hey TedRamAirII,

The flexplate came off of the 400 block I had when I bought the car. It's the only part that isn't new. When I had Paul build this motor, I sent him the old flexplate and he balanced it. Now that I have a new balanced flexplate, I'm hoping that is the problem. I did pull the plugs off one at a time and the knocking didn't stop. It's certainly not been a lack of effort of trying to get this motor right. I'm very new to cars but my friends are pretty good. We have checked everything that we can think of. It sounds like some sort of clearance issue...like hard metal hitting softer metal. It's hard to explain. Before we discovered the windage tray witness marks we pulled the converter back and it still made noise. I have no clue what else to do but try to replace the old flexplate. I think replacing the flexplate is a hail mary before I have to send the motor back to Paul. This motor has less than 200 miles on it!

I don't know Paul personally, but I'm sure he checked it over before putting in the effort to balance it. Have you taken the converter bolts out and just run the engine by itself? If you did, you could make take a small mirror or bore scope and get a eyeball on the bolts to the crankshaft flange. So the engine was shipped to you with the flexplate torqued, ready to go? Did anyone check it while the engine was out? Keep the faith, its going to be something simple!

[Va68goat]

NeighborsComplaint,

I used the same flex plate bolts that were used when it was on the 400 motor. I'm going to have to check that out though. Good idea..thank you!

torqhead,
Now you're making me want to put the car up on jack stands right now and see if thats the issue. As I said before, I'm inexperienced with these old cars but I'm sure learning a lot. Thats solid advice you gave me. Hopefully I can get a chance this week to check that out. This knocking noise has killed me all summer long..if thats the issue, I'll be sending you a bottle of something..hahaha.

ponchjoe,
The knocking noise is present in gear and in neutral/park. The torque converter is not used. I ordered it from Cliff. I'm not sure about the front pump.

TedRamAirII,
Yeah, Paul inspected the flexplate and balanced it. Yes, we did pull the converter back and the knocking noise was still present. The flex plate wasn't on the motor when it was shipped. It was torqued to specs on the day we installed the motor. We did inspect the flexplate when the motor was pulled and it seemed fine. I'm really hoping this will fix the problem. We're hopefully going to change the flexplate this week or this weekend. I will post updates.

Since I'm changing the flexplate, do you guys think it would be a good idea to change out the flexplate bolts as well.
https://butlerperformance.com/i-2445...-200-2904.html

[MXTex]

I just scimmed through this entire thread. (slow day at work....lol) It's a fascinating read. I'm in agreement with determination of the frequency of the tick. Is it in synch with the rotation of the crankshaft or camshaft?

[torqhead]

Originally Posted by Va68goat

NeighborsComplaint,

I used the same flex plate bolts that were used when it was on the 400 motor. I'm going to have to check that out though. Good idea..thank you!

torqhead,
Now you're making me want to put the car up on jack stands right now and see if thats the issue. As I said before, I'm inexperienced with these old cars but I'm sure learning a lot. Thats solid advice you gave me. Hopefully I can get a chance this week to check that out. This knocking noise has killed me all summer long..if thats the issue, I'll be sending you a bottle of something..hahaha.

ponchjoe,
The knocking noise is present in gear and in neutral/park. The torque converter is not used. I ordered it from Cliff. I'm not sure about the front pump.

TedRamAirII,
Yeah, Paul inspected the flexplate and balanced it. Yes, we did pull the converter back and the knocking noise was still present. The flex plate wasn't on the motor when it was shipped. It was torqued to specs on the day we installed the motor. We did inspect the flexplate when the motor was pulled and it seemed fine. I'm really hoping this will fix the problem. We're hopefully going to change the flexplate this week or this weekend. I will post updates.

Since I'm changing the flexplate, do you guys think it would be a good idea to change out the flexplate bolts as well.
https://butlerperformance.com/i-2445...-200-2904.html

I realize you have a new flexplate to install, but I would highly recommend trying to find what is making the noise before making any further changes. Too many times I've seen throwing money and changing parts doesn't fix a problem and all it does is take money you could have spent elsewhere. If you listen to that video the noise gets prominent right at the point where you're under the flywheel. And you already determined disconnecting the torque converter it still makes noise which means it's forward from the flywheel.

Lets find what's producing the noise! Use the method I mentioned as it's safer and it'll give you a good look as to what may be going on there. I'm hoping like hell you find it there and get this behind you so you can enjoy the car.

[AG]

It might be time to pull the motor and check the lower end to make sure it's good.