The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop HE'S RUNNING!!!

Finally got him cranked up late last night, I inquired some advice from my cousin, he told me they weren't hydraulic lifters and to set clearance for about .0015" Before that I followed what someone told me, tightened the rockers till there was no play, then 3/4 more of a turn, and that must have cause the carb problem. Anyway, we didnt make clearance to .0015", but .015" (we just weren't thinking), regardless, we hooked up the battery, and putt-putt-putt-VROOM! A couple of the valves are still clicking like a typewriter though, and we can't find out which ones they are, any advice would be great. Plus, my truck smokes like Auschwitz!!!(It's white, bot black, so at least we know the rings are good :D) Now, i think there are 3 reasons this is happening. First, there is white lithium grease coming out of the new head i believe as it coated the inside of the valve cover. Another reason is the valve clearance might have something to do with it? The final reason i think is not everything has seated properly yet. Maybe all these things are reasons, truth be told I don't know. Was hoping yall could help me with that one. In lighter news, I just basically rebuilt an engine, and I'm only 16, and it RUNS!!! You guys were right, I feel proud of myself now, it's better than scoring a touchdown in a high school football game! Also a precaution with running your engine without a valve cover, WATCH YOURSELF! It took about 5 minutes of running for the oil to start squirtin, but once it did.....dear God...It soaked my brand new air filter, drenched my buddies girlfriends new "North Face" jacket (for those who don't know what that is, it's a $160 waste of money girl jacket), good thing it was black already ;), filled up my cup of Coke and lubricated my right eyeball quite nicely!

Congratulations on your success. It is a great feeling to see it run after rebuilding it.

I am not too familiar with that six but I would be really surprised to see solid lifters in it.

Congrats '65!!

I know exactly what you're saying...I woke up a old sleepy engine in my '50 a few months back...its a sweeet, sweet sound!

Sorry to hear about the collateral damage--especially the $160 jacket

Congrats! That 's a great start to a holiday weekend !

Except of course for the jacket.

To find the clicking valves, with the engine running at a low idle,slip a feeler gauge in like you are checking clearances and listen for the clicking to stop. This will isolate the loose valves.

You can adjust all your valves this way, just make sure you get exhaust and intake identified and use the proper clearances.

Stopped the clicking Mike, your trick worked thanks. One more question, after a rebuild is my truck supposed to smoke like hell for a while, and im talking white smoke bomb in my tailpipe here. Mechanic said it was everything seating in properly, but just wanted to know, thanks.

Hy 1965 Chevy C10, congradulations on your engine rebuild. Your white smoke may not be smoke at all, but rather steam. Do you know how the engine ran before you rebuilt it, or putting it another way do you know why the engine needed to be rebuilt? A rebuilt engine will smoke until assembly lubricants in the bores and combustion chambers "burn" off, that smoke is blue in colour. Black smoke indicates an over rich [too much fuel] situation. So your "white" smoke may not be smoke but steam, did you have the block and head pressure checked for coolant leaks during the rebuild?

Well the head is brand new, and we figured the smoke was white lithium grease seeping into the combustion chamber because we forgot to clean out the head. I tore apart the engine in the first place to change the piston rings because apparently they were going bad (mechanic i know smelt the exhaust when it was running and found gas on the dipstick), although there was never any black smoke, guess the rings weren't THAT bad yet. Haven't checked for coolant leaks though, and i still need to run a compression test.

Glad to hear you are running better. Don't feel bad about replacing the rings early, better to do it all at the same time then another tear down later on.

1965 Chevy C10:

Quite impressive...congratulations. Let us know how troubleshooting the white smoke dilemma turns out.

That is really great!! Congrats on the build!! As for the white smoke, you can pull the plugs, and see if any are oily, or any are really clean. If they are oily it may be burning assembly lube, if one of them is really clean it may be coolant. Also, while it is running you can pull one plug wire at a time (with pliers, and don't be grounded!) if the smoke stops on any one cylinder, you have found the problem hole. You need to determine what is burning, oil or water. Some motors will smoke some when new until the rings seat, and the assembly lube burns off, but it seems like you have more smoke than normal.

I see, well i'll tell yall any new finds and thanks for all your help