Ticking Sound Coming From '67 390, But Goes Away

[machoneman]

2X to Jay's post near the top. But I use a cardboard tube (long one, see wifey's Christmas wrapping stocks for one!) instead of the screwdriver trick. 

[Agar426]

Agreed!  My mechanic said he wanted to flush the oil, get it up to temp.....seafoam, flush again.  I would love to tear it down....actually mothball the numbers matching block, and drop in a stroker FE.  Not a high zoot one, just a clean, simple strong 445 combo that will "act" like a big block should.  That being said, I have other projects that I need to wrap up, so if this needs more than the flush treatment, I will likely go with a simple repair, which the shop shows on the computer as 4.5 hours of labor, plus the cost of the gaskets and lifter set.  The question becomes...since the intake is coming off anyway, does it make sense to install a Performer RPM, or will the difference in performance be so negligible without a combination of upgrades (heads, cam, headers), that it makes the new intake an expense without much benefit?

[Dot Heton]

I had a dipstick touch the crank on a 390 until I tightened the mounting bolt. It made a soft ticking sound.

[jimeast]

My Yukon w/8.1 had an exhaust leak from a broken exhaust manifold bolt.  Made a ticking sound like a lifter, but would stop once it warmed up.

[TorinoBP88]

I had something similar in my old 390, I thought it was a bad lifter. Turned out the rocker end of a pushrod had gotten funky.  I sanded it smooth and turned it over and reinstalled it. No more tick.

In the end the cam bearing clearance was gett larger, allowing rear lifters to run to lose so the were hammering rockers a little. I limped it along for a few more years with Valvoline 50w racing oil.