LT1-LT4 Modifications 1993-97 Gen II Small Block V8

Paranoia?

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Old May 20, 2018 | 06:38 AM
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Little back story about 5 year ago I broke a valve spring and dropped a valve then after we installed a new spring the push rod next to it bent. The motor had about 10k on it after it's rebuild. I decided to pull the engine tear the heads off and see what happens and well we found nothing o bolted the heads back on and then the engine sat on an engine stand till this spring. So the engine sat for 5 years.

now I have rebuilt heads and new 1.6 gmpp rockers and new CC push rods and new GM lifters . Im having a slight knock which I'm going to investigate today it sounds like it is conning from the exhaust at time and other times the engine. The oil pressure gauge fluctuates rapidly at times and at other time it stay perfectly on 40 psi at 1500 rpm. I feel like I'm being paranoid as the motor doesn't even have 15k on it but it did sit for a long time.

The oil looks super clean for having 800 miles on it. It used to turn black almost instantly but I feel the old pro mag rockers did that. When we pulled those we found little ***** of carbon on them. But today I'm gonna change the oil and pull the cable covers and inspect the valve train. I am Also going to replace the oil pressure sensor.

I'm older and wiser and I realize tonask other people' opinions now who have more experience. What do you all think?
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Old May 20, 2018 | 10:10 AM
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While the car is under load does the "knock" get louder? If so then it may be an exhaust leak. The rapid fluctuation of the oil gauge could be a faulty sending unit. You can verify this by installing an analogue gauge and see what your true oil pressure is like.
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Old May 20, 2018 | 10:46 AM
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Originally Posted by SS RRR
While the car is under load does the "knock" get louder? If so then it may be an exhaust leak. The rapid fluctuation of the oil gauge could be a faulty sending unit. You can verify this by installing an analogue gauge and see what your true oil pressure is like.
it goes away or I just can' hear it. I change the sending unit and it still doing the same thing I'm gonna have to hook up my mechanical gauge I pulled the cable covers and checked under then and didn't find anything dramatic though it does look like a rocker may be rubbing a valve cover so I'm gonna clean then up a bit.

we ran it with the cable covers off for a second I couldn' hear the knock but it was pretty load with the covers off and the knock is very faint.
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Old May 20, 2018 | 10:52 AM
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I want to add that that it seems to get worse while I'm sitting at a light but my oil pressure never drops below 25.
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Old May 20, 2018 | 01:02 PM
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Well the electric garage isn' even close to right. Oil pressure is about 35 to 38 hot idle and no where near as jumpy as the electric gauge would lead you to believe it only fluctuates about 1 psi at idle and doesn'. Fluctuate at all above idle. But there is absolutey a knocking sound coming from.the engine which oddly doesn' Seem to change with rpm.


the million dollar question is where do I go from here. I would really just like to buy a long block or have one built. I' like to do something fun build wise but I'm not gonna lie I won't take it to a track or race it. What' is everyone' opinion on what I should do?
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Old May 20, 2018 | 03:06 PM
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Originally Posted by Adam1203
I pulled the cable covers and checked under then and didn't find anything dramatic though it does look like a rocker may be rubbing a valve cover so I'm gonna clean then up a bit.

we ran it with the cable covers off for a second I couldn' hear the knock but it was pretty load with the covers off and the knock is very faint.
GMPP RR are Crane If They are 3/8" SA RR they should be "narrow body" and those, unlike all other brand RR, do not require Valve cover brace trimming...unless they are 7/16" RR

You mention you thought you saw a witness mark onside VC from RR...maybe the brace is "slightly" bent contacting RR

Pic of what people, including me, did to VC to clear Comp Pro Mag RR
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Old May 20, 2018 | 03:25 PM
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I have aftermarket valve covers we ran the car with them off and they still made that noise. I don' have that type of bracing in my vavle cover
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Old May 20, 2018 | 04:18 PM
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typically aftermarket VC need no adjustments for RR

maybe you have a stick lifter that gummed up with engine sitting for years...

a mechanics stethoscope would help pin point what cyl the noise is coming from...then look close at that cyl lifters
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Old May 20, 2018 | 04:54 PM
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Originally Posted by ******
typically aftermarket VC need no adjustments for RR

maybe you have a stick lifter that gummed up with engine sitting for years...

a mechanics stethoscope would help pin point what cyl the noise is coming from...then look close at that cyl lifters
I pulled them all and pull all new ones in before I put it in the car. Im wondering if a lobe on the cam got damaged when the vavle spring broke. I really should have pulled the cam and inspected it.

I decided in gonna run it for now I don't drive it much it is just a toy. I'm gonna pick up another block and build a 383 with le2 heads and custom cam over the summer and into the fall and swap them out when it is done. Probably go 24x as well. This motor had been a pain since I got it and over it. The day we installed the engine it had no oil pressure pulled it and rebuilt the bottom end and put a cc502 in with Howard springs. Then it broke a valve spring with less then 10k we completely re did the top end and now we have a knock. Time to dump this engine.
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