I was following my dad to a show today and traveling about 35 MPH when I noticed a noise. Parked at the show and it sat for about 41/2 hours. When I went to leave there was no doubt a motor noise. Drove it home and it didnt seem to get any worse but the noise sounds like lifter area and it may be more then one. It never developed a miss on the way home. Tomorrow I plan on pulling the valve covers off to confirm it. Wish I could be wrong but I'm pretty sure it wont be good. I hate todays cams! i followed break in instructions and used break in oil and it still didnt hold up. Guess it may be time to go to roller cam!
Rodney

I hear ya. I friend of mine went thru 4 cams in his truck what a pain....

Yikes!! Fingers crossed that is might be something minor up top Rod!! 

Bummer, Rod! Like Paul said, hope it's something minor! Just another bump in the road! I'm sure you'll get it straightened out!

Hey Rodney,

John
I know what you mean. I pulled off the right side cover only to find that the exhaust rocker on the #8 cylinder was very loose. Noticed the nut was still turned down and at that moment you know you have issues. I'm going to be in the same boat as you, with a roller cam kit going to be the alternative. The engine builder was here this afternoon and said he would contact the cam company and he thinks they will cover any parts I need to replace. Bad thing is I really dont feel like pulling the motor back out but I guess I have no other options. Good news is I dont have to fight with the factory fan shroud since I went with electric fans. But I think the bad things out weigh the good in this case!
Any good suggestions on which company wakes the best roller cam kits?
Thanks
Rodney

Rodney,

well some good news, I started by pulling the rocker arm and push rod out only to find the top of the push rod worn off. Wasnt sure why so I removed the intake and removed the lifter. The bottom looked like new! I felt really good at that point. So I pulled the rocker arm on the intake side and it shows some wear at the top as well. I then pulled the cylinder beside it and they are fine. Pulled the #4 exhaust and intake push rod and they have just a slight wear pattern. So I am going to buy a new set of push rods and change the rockers to the 1.6 ratio. This should give a little more cam lift and I also cant be sure if my problem was the rockers or the push rods. Both were new with the engine build but this way I will feel better. The rods are the .100 longer than stock so not sure I can get them until Tuesday. I'll let you know how I make out.
Rodney

I wonder what went wrong to cause the push rod to became worn off?  Maybe the lifter isn't sending oil up to the rocker.  On my engine, I used a drill to turn an oil pump priming shaft and saw that all the rockers were getting oil except the one that was a little more brown than the others.  It was also the rocker that had the worn tip.

John,
When I put the engine in before starting it I also primed the oil pump until oil was coming out all pushrods. I plan on doing the same thing once I have it back together. Not sure why but with wear on more then one rod I am guessing a bad set of push rods. The are the chrome molly so they shouldnt do that. I might also check for oil at top once I fire it up. Just hate that oil mess clean up! If all goes well I plan on taking it to OC maryland on Thursday. That will be around  a 500 mile trip.
Rodney