sworaz

iTrader: (13)

Finally got the car together and fired it up. It started on the first try but sounded like a rocker was hitting the valve cover. I turned it off and took the covers off and tried to restart it but it wouldn't start. Just kept turning over and almost starting but didn't. My battery is somewhat drained from sitting over the winter months.
After turning it over trying to start it I would notice light smoke coming from the engine bay (couldn't locate where exactly it was coming from).
I also think I could hear a faint pop when I would try to turn it over for longer periods of time.

Does anyone have any ideas? The last time I did this project on an old car it started right up and I never had any trouble. Very frustrating.

dangalla

sounds like you fucked something up, and continuing to crank it like that most likely finished whatever it was off. what were you thinking?

start by checking rockers, pushrods, and springs - what do you see?

sworaz

iTrader: (13)

lol settle down, I think you are more worked up then I am.

I took the valve covers off and there was a couple small nicks, so I'm pretty sure the rockers were hitting a little. Otherwise the rockers, pushrods and springs were all fine.

gregrob

iTrader: (8)

Are you sure you installed the timing chain correctly. If it's struggling to start and acting weird in general you could have installed the timing chain wrong and its out of time...

dangalla

i am not worked up at all,
did you crank it without the covers on?
can you see any damage, check rockers, pushrods and springs very closely?

sworaz

iTrader: (13)

Gregbob, my motor only has 11k ish miles on it, I just swapped the heads.

Dan, from my observations there is no damage besides the couple nicks on the inside of my valve covers and even that was barely noticeable.

I am just below a quarter tank and my battery is nearly dead so in the morning I'm going to get a new battery and put some more gas in it and see how it does.

Worst case scenario, I do a rebuild of the motor.

JB_97ws6TA

iTrader: (6)

what did you change that would all of a sudden start hitting the valve covers? Did you swap your cam or change your rocker ratio? How far down did you take that motor to swap heads?

sworaz

iTrader: (13)

No, I was already cam/bolt on before I did the heads. Lloyd did the heads with new springs from Speed. Would the larger valves cause any height difference?

As far as taking the motor down: I only took off what was necessary for swapping the heads. Fuel rails, intake, alternator bracket, heads and I changed the oil pan while I was at it.

Seems that if it wouldn't start back up, it must be air or fuel related.

sworaz

iTrader: (13)

This thread had problem similar to mine.

https://ls1tech.com/forums/lt1-lt4-m...-no-start.html

daves94formula

iTrader: (3)

well according to that thread his lash was just all out of wack. what valve covers are you running and what rockers?

sworaz

iTrader: (13)

Stock valve covers and Comp Pro Mag rockers.

I completely forgot to soak my lifters over the course of the month I had been working on the car. I just left them in not thinking about it. Wonder if that could be part of the problem.

LilJayV10

iTrader: (39)

You said you had bigger valves installed? What type of pistons are you using? Are the heads milled? Any idea what PTV before head swap was?

x2 on the valve cover questions.

daves94formula

iTrader: (3)

did you do the mod for your valve covers to clear the pro mags? and if you set your lash without the lifters pumped up your probly WAY to tight and its keeping the valves open

sworaz

iTrader: (13)

These are Lloyd Elliot (Le2) heads.
LT1 LE2 heads consist of :
Manley 2.00/1.56 6000 series valves
PAC 1218 bee hive springs (145 lbs seat and 340 lbs open)
Steel retainers and locks
205 cc intake port
milling, cleaning and assembly
flow about 275/190 CFM

Yeah previous owner modded the valve covers to fit. I had them tightened down pretty hard though.

If that is what I did with the lifters, would that cause my problem? What's the next step? Attempt to re-lash rockers?

daves94formula

iTrader: (3)

loosen them up a bit and give her a few cranks with the coil unplugged to get them pumped up. then loosen all the rockers and go one piston at a time setting the lash. i had my firebirds valves too tight and it wouldnt start. went back through and redid the lash, started right up and sounded like a champ

sworaz

iTrader: (13)

I'll give it a shot. Wouldn't the coil being unplugged cause the motor to flood with fuel?

daves94formula

iTrader: (3)

yeah forgot about that. sorry its kind of late. you can just pull the 2 injector fuses from the block in the engine bay and not have to worry about your injectors firing. i suggested the coil too just incase you still had fuel in the cylinders.

LilJayV10

iTrader: (39)

The easiest way to do it is to use a remote starter. That way you can just bump the motor over a little and don't have to worry about fuel or spark.

Open one valve all the way, loosen the other one, spin the push rod between your fingers, tighten the nut down till you can feel it tighten up, go 1/2 turn more and you are done. I have found 1/2 turn is a good compromise for stock lifter. I found the comp R's we ran in a friends LT1 required less preload.

This only works if the lifters are pumped up. It takes a little while to get a feel for it but I promise this works.

daves94formula

iTrader: (3)

the reason i said pull the injectors and coil is because i assumed that he didnt have a bump starter for his car so that way he could bump it with the ignition and not have to worry about starting his car by accident.

LilJayV10

iTrader: (39)

I have had to do that before myself. No worries.