The (long) sad story:
For about two weeks I have been enjoying the fruits of years of labor while driving my stock '46 3/4 ton. Then it happenned - a horrible noise from the engine. My engine(Serial number LBA735549) which had been rebuilt some years ago (but had never run) started grinding and rattling badly so I immediatly shut it off. (Oil pressure had been good at about 15 pounds.)
Towed him home, took the valve cover off. Yikes, the exhaust valve for number 1 had dropped because the keepers fell off. Found the old mangled keepers and got new ones and, with a friend, we fixed the valve in 10 minutes. With great anticipation, we fired it up. It started right up and the top end seemed perfect. My friend suggested that the problem of the sucked valve was becuase I had adjusted the valves a few thousandths too loose.
Then the second whammy. There was a knocking rod sound from what appears to be the back part of the engine. Coincidence?
I am now in process of removing the pan to see what will give me my next challenge.
Any advice here? If it is a rod, can I drop it from below or do I need to take the head off to get to the problem rod? The enine was rebuilt by Four Star Engine Rebuilders in Hutchinson, Kansas. Does anyone know a connection there? Can I repair just one rod? Should I convert that rod to inserts? If indeed it is a rod bearing as I suspect, can I prevent other rod bearings from failing?
Thanks for any help. :confused:
