OK so I was able to go home tonight and do a little bit of work and found some interesting things. Took all the lifters out, about half of them were rock solid (cant get plunger to depress even with a screwdriver) and the other half were able to be depressed with a finger. I am wondering if this is because the ones that were under pressure all this time from the valvesprings collapsed, and the lifters that weren’t stayed pumped up. Not sure, but I already have a new set of lifters on the way.
I cleaned and checked all the pushrods, they are all straight and seem in in order, although the top ends were rusty probably from sitting for a while and not running for long periods (before I bought the car). Some time in my wet tumbler with steel pins cleaned them right up.
I found something interesting when looking at the old intake, it appears the heat riser on the drivers side was crudely plugged and leaking. As much as I want to point to this as an “aha” for the ticking sound, I had isolated the sound to the opposite side of the motor so maybe it’s just a coincidence. Either way, I am really looking forward to getting rid of the exhaust crossover and fuel boiling off. Losing 40 pounds on the front end from that cast-iron manifold is nice, too.
Finally, when pressing the old lifters out I was using a plastic rod to try to pry them from underneath without scratching the lifter face (thinking i might re-use them) And the thing snapped and dropped about a 1/2 inch long piece of plastic rod down into the motor. Can’t see anything with a flashlight, no idea where it went. Oilpan I hope.
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