| |
Click on image for the lowdown. 
====
| | | Forums66 Topics128,035 Posts1,055,564 Members48,426 | | Most Online14,466
Apr 26th, 2026 | | AD Chevy Trucks  Over 6,000 pictures Brad Allen has an awesome collection of Chevrolet factory pictures that he has set up from film strips. Check them out!
Lots of work on Brad's part ... pure enjoyment (and references) for you!
| | THANKS!
For helping keep this great
old truck web site
on the Internet for over 30 years! and not clogged down
with Ads!  Again, thanks!
| | | | Joined: Nov 2008 Posts: 117 'Bolter | | 'Bolter Joined: Nov 2008 Posts: 117 | Hello
I have just finished an 8 year project restoring a 46 1/2 ton with the original 216 engine.
The engine has good compression in each cylinder about 105 lbs and good oil pressure stays at about 10 lbs after driving for a while at an idle and valves have been gaped to proper tolerances. I am very excited to have it on the road and driving around the back roads. My question is about the valve noise as it seems to clatter away most of the time which I think is normal and not excessively loud. Then once in a while the clatter disappears and you can't here anything, is this normal or should I be looking into something. Looking forward to hearing from some other more seasoned bolter's about whats going on Thank you | | | | | Joined: Feb 2004 Posts: 29,760 Kettle Custodian (pot stirrer) | | Kettle Custodian (pot stirrer) Joined: Feb 2004 Posts: 29,760 | Check the undersides of the rocker arms where they contact the valve stems. Quite often, they will get cupped to the point a feeler gauge doesn't give an accurate adjustment, and until the engine gets fully warmed up and the valve stems and pushrods "grow" a little the clearance is just a little too wide, causing a rattle. Some oldtime machinists (myself included) have an accessory for a valve grinding machine that resurfaces the valve stem contact area of rocker arms and eliminates the adjustment error.
Jerry
"It is better to be silent and be thought a fool than to speak and eliminate all doubt!" - Abraham Lincoln
Cringe and wail in fear, Eloi- - - - -we Morlocks are on the hunt!
There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self. - Ernest Hemingway
Love your enemies and drive 'em nuts!
| | | | | Joined: Nov 2008 Posts: 117 'Bolter | | 'Bolter Joined: Nov 2008 Posts: 117 | Thank you Hotrod Lincoln for the information is it something to be concerned about or something I could put off for a winter project? | | | | | Joined: Feb 2004 Posts: 29,760 Kettle Custodian (pot stirrer) | | Kettle Custodian (pot stirrer) Joined: Feb 2004 Posts: 29,760 | I'm sure a large majority of stovebolts have at least a little of this sort of wear/noise issues. Some folks think they're supposed to sound like that. It won't hurt to run it until it's convenient to do a little investigating. BTW, being slightly noisy is much better than being "quiet and too tight" which could lead to burned valves and/or a miss from low manifold vacuum.
Jerry
"It is better to be silent and be thought a fool than to speak and eliminate all doubt!" - Abraham Lincoln
Cringe and wail in fear, Eloi- - - - -we Morlocks are on the hunt!
There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self. - Ernest Hemingway
Love your enemies and drive 'em nuts!
| | | | | Joined: Aug 2012 Posts: 1,214 Shop Shark | | Shop Shark Joined: Aug 2012 Posts: 1,214 | I 2nd Jerry. My 216 clicked and clacked away for about 2 yrs after I got it running and I too thought it was normal. The engine ran fine and judging by the worn rocker arm tips I'd say it ran like that for quite awhile before it was parked for an extended sleep. I finally decided to pull the valve train and dress up those rocker arm tips and the difference is night and day. A 216 can actually be pretty quiet for a solid lifter engine that is  | | |
|
|
| |
