Only cost me $200 for the engine. Just found it at the right time. The exact DAY my lifter started to tap and I found that I was eating a cam lobe. Brand new rebuilt 5.0. Some guy tried to put it in a truck, wired up the distributor to the wrong firing order, couldn't get it to run, and dumped the truck and motor at the auto repair shop. Shop decided to part it out so I got the motor for cheap. I just added the other heads, cam, lifters, etc to speed it up a bit.
Sometimes lifters just get worn and tap. They might tap that way for 200,000 miles and never hurt anything. What oil are you running in it? Maybe go to a heavier oil and do try the Marvel Mystery oil it is some good stuff for cleaning up a dirty engine. I like the Lukas stuff as well. clint
used 10-40 and Lukas. May try the Marvel. Or just say the hell with it till I do a motor swap. It's a dog anyway.
The change to positive stop studs was somewhere in 68 or 69. Starting in 77, the switch was made to pedestal rockers.
THAT cam and the shot lifter, and one good lifter for comparison, is on my "Shelf of Destruction" with all the other parts I have destroyed over the years. I got a roller cam from Rick Book's old Nitroused drag Fox Body. Then roller lifters and the spider bar and dogbones to hold the roller assembly all together. I gave away the heads that were on that rebuild, gave away the oilpan, threw away the lower injection intake (the upper part of the intake was not part of the deal) and just reused the block and rotating assembly. Piston tops were still silver on 2 cylinders from the wrong firing order. During the buildup, I also found a set of GT40s and gave away my P heads to wagesofsin since I couldn't seem to sell them. Except for the heads, springs, retainers, the rest was all given to me or traded. So I really do have a "budget" buildup. Yeah, not perfect, but the price was right. I reused my Torker289 intake from Shadowmaster, 1.7 roller lifters traded from NAFORD302, and kept my oil pan. Then gave my block to 924 Mav so he could have it rebuilt to replace one of his sixes. Using the forum to make friends for help and to trade parts made this car possible.
well depending on the cam train wear and how much you want to spend right now (sounds like bottom dollar to keep it a commuter while you build your chebby). you could just throw in lifters if they are dead, my dad did that to a 289 in his fairlane in the early 70s and drove it another 50k before selling it still running strong. or you could even get a close to stock RV cam for pretty cheap and just slap that in. probably wake up the motor but not push it too hard for its wear level. or you could just ignore the ticking......
Unless it is ticking real bad and unless you just want to tear into the engine I would just leave it alone until you are ready to rebuild it or do something else with it. I have seen rockers rattle for thousands and thousands of miles. Sometimes an old engine is just best left alone if it still runs good. Start messing with it and before you know it you'll have it pulled out and rebuilt. When I worked at the gas station as a kid I would see people come in each week for their 3 1/2 quarts of oil and 10 gallons of gas. Old 302 and 350's would have every lifter rattling and as much oil on the outside as the inside. Some of them old cars had 350K miles on them and they were still driving them 2 years later when I graduated school and left town. clint
