6
« on: April 12, 2020, 02:37:17 PM »
Guys, Barry, Brent, Mike, Ross, Jay and others,
Thank you, Thank you, Thank you for your replies. I have read every one.
I'll go through the clearances I have triple checked which makes me lean toward a cracked block or something really odd.
Piston to valve, about .250" because of 8-1/2 to 1 comp for blower. Retainer to valve seal 1/4" at open and also spring coils, inner and outer about a 1/4" at open. Spring pressure is now down to 625lbs ish and 225lbs ish closed. Timing gear to cam plate about .008". I didn't measure cam bearing clearance to cam, as a few of you mentioned, but it felt great, turned freely, and the machine said that it was good when they installed the cam bearings (3 diff times) and 2 diff shops. You're right I should have rechecked this myself especially with all the problems. Also rods and mains are both at .025" with a steel Ford crank. All rod and main bearings look great on tear down and very little metal in filter. Cam bearings are just crushed but not worn like a bearing would like with a 1000 mile problem. Rockers move freely and have needle bearings where they contact the rocker shaft. I sat the valve covers back on, not bolted down, and put hand pressure on them to see if rockers were hitting the inside of cover. No contact and no signs of or marks inside of covers. Great thoughts on cam bearings. NOT spun and holes still line up. Middle 3 showed MORE damage than end 2. First set were ACL then 2nd and 3rd sets from diff machine shop were different brand. I should of asked but they were not ACL. I didn't want to get into the 1st tear down problem but it was no oil to rockers. OK if I have room I'll explain. The lifters I had in the car, for 40 years, were Ford shell flat tappet lifters which prevented oil from going through the lifter galleries. They have no wide groove on the outside of the lifter. When I switched to the Isky roller cam, a year ago, the new Isky solid rollers have the big oil groove, on the outside of the lifter, which killed the oil pressure to the rockers. Ruined 4 rockers, which I replaced and I thoroughly checked all others. I have since then restricted the oil flow by 90% through the 2 lifter galleries. Brent you questioned why I spent time on getting more oil to the rockers. This is why. I probably shouldn't have brought this up but it is fixed now and when I power the oil pump, with my air ratchet, oil flows very nicely through the rockers. I get 40 PSI driving the pump this way.
Back to my real problem (cam bearings). I have a spare brand new, never used, 427 bare block. I have been saving it (for what??). Maybe now! Also I think one of you mentioned a cam bearing that was a little wider. What brand??
I hope I have answered all your questions on clearances and checks. If you see something I mentioned that doesn't sound right let me know.
I can tell you are all VERY knowledgeable regarding the FE motors. I have a few good years left doing what I love, which is building and racing the Ford FE. There is definitely not a lot of us out there.
I did post on YouTube a video of some of my build. I feel maybe I shouldn't have because of all my failures. If you want to see it it's listed under "427 Ford FE Engine Building Tips 10-2019" Tom Tucker If you spot some mistakes let me have it. I'm ready to except my mistakes.
I know this was long but I'm desperate. Tom T
Show Posts