So I recently went all in on mondello aluminum heads, edelbrock manifold and Holley carb for my 64 cutlass. Had a cracked manifold, and the heads had been machined too many times, and the 4jet Rochester was rebuilt too many times, so it was time to move on. The bottom end of my motor has roughly 30,000 on it, and burns no oil, so I decided to just do the top end. Lynn at mondello talked me into new roller rockers from pep, new hydraulic lifters and pushrods. It’s all together now, and upon start up this is what it sounds like. WTH? Any ideas? I’ve now adjusted the rockers twice to zero lash, and no difference. I’m crushed.

 

They should be adjust to zero lash + 1/2 turn.

 

Did you do a break-in period for the new lifters?
Have you pulled a rocker cover to isolate where the sound is coming from?

 

I’ve set them twice to zero lash +1/2 turn. Pulled the covers twice now to inspect. Nothing visible. Seems like maybe a lifter problem. Tomorrow I’ll pull a rocker and measure the length of the rod. Wondering if maybe too long or short? I’ve also ran the motor for roughly two minutes with no plugs and no gas to make sure the lifters have oil, even though I soaked them for a couple of weeks in oil. 40 psi on crank. I’ve only run the motor for about 2-3 minutes total, scared I’m doing damage🤷‍♂️

 

I could not listen to the video last night. Are the rockers/poly locks hitting the valve covers?

 

This might be your problem. You might get the correct parts from him and you might not.

 

I’ve pulled the valve covers and there is no evidence of anything hitting them

 

It’s hard to tell where the sound comes from. It sounds like there are marbles running through my cylinders. Also started the motor with the covers off and the sound is still there

 

As far as a break in period for the lifters, I soaked them in oil for about two weeks and then pushed on them to get all air out before install. I have run the motor w/o plugs a couple times to make sure everything is getting oil. All seems ok. 40 psi

 

Sorry to hear about your trouble with your upgrade.
May not be your problem, but most manufactures advise against pumping up new lifters with oil before installation. I know a lot of people have done it for years, but he reasoning against this practice is that you may not get a true initial lash adjustment with the pressure variables because of the oil. Assembly lube every where, yes, but soaking and pumping not recommended. Use the normal pre-run engine lube procedure to fill the lifters. There is a chance a push rod could be bent because of the oil filled initial lash adjustment. Good luck.

 

Hi,

I went to Mondello/ Lynn years ago not knowing better, anyhow I swapped cam, rollers like you and valve springs, in original heads, mine wasn't as noisy as yours, but soundedlike a sowing machine,, but ended up having spring break needless to say the piston I removed from the oil pan something wasn't correct.

I'd check pushrod length, also look for any marks on the valve covers as might be some contact?

Good luck, may want to deal with a different Oldsmobile shop,, or just Google Lynn at Mondale, a lit of horror stories..

Regards,
Jim

 

hey sorry that's an nasty/constant sound. If you have a new valve train setup? Are the lifters (new) on the old camshaft a bad match?

 

Did you use a hi-zinc oil.? New lifters need to have a 20 minute break-in period, just like when installing a new cam.
I would pull some rockers off to check for any interference points. Pull pushrods looking for damage.
Drain oil into a clean pan, checking for tiny metal particles

 

So here is the latest. I read up on pushrod lengths. Seems mine may be too short.


The line at the top, sorry it’s a little fuzzy, is where the roller sits on the valve stem at rest 0 lash

Here is a side angle that shows the roller barely hanging on. .05 lash on this one
the pushrods mondello sent me are 8.5” tip to tip. The stock ones would be 8.4” from what I read, although I don’t think that matters here

 

Here is the pushrod sent by mondello

 

I'm not an expert engine builder but I would say the pushrods are way too short. The rocker is way far down on the stud. With the lifter all the way up the roller should be centered on the valve.

 

That roller looks so far off, is it even possible to get it over far enough w a longer push rod? I ask because i dont know?

 

I would imagine, if those are "Mondello" aluminum heads, they are probably, out of box complete Procomp heads. Or are they Edelbrock heads? The Procomp heads are good castings but the stock valves and springs are cheap junk. Hopefully they upgraded them with better parts but I would not hold my breath on that one. Get an adjustable checker push rod to find the proper length needed. Those Procomp heads or even Edelbrock, less so, need a ton of milling to have any decent compression on a 330. Sorry you got taken for a ride aboard the Mondello ripoff train.

 

Lynn scores again

 

The rockers are wrong. They are not over the top of the valve stem. Looks like it's hitting the spring retainer.
Valve height right?
Definitely a geometry problem.

 

That roller tip doesn't look like it ever reaches the middle of the valve stem and the spring retainer might be hitting the underside of the rocker. You should find out what those rockers are made to fit before you get pushrods to fit them.

 

Are the rockers wrong or the pushrods? Seems like if the rods are longer, they would be over the valve stem properly. What I read is that they should sit roughly 1/3 of the way from one edge to the other.
https://blog.trendperform.com/how-to...train-geometry
regardless, I am going to obtain an adjustable pushrod ASAP, and see what I come up with.

 

The rockers might even be 1.5 to 1 instead if 1.6 to 1 . Measure from the center to the long side, then measure the short side and see if the ratio is correct for 1.6 to 1. Coming from Lynn, he might have sent the wrong rockers.

 

witness mark is roughly 1/3rd of the distance toward the intake side from centerline. Centerline is the keyword.

 

They clearly say 1.6

 

I'm not an Olds valve train expert just a guy that has a lot of IC engine experience.
I do know there are many dimensions needed to correctly dial in an Olds or any valve train. Deck height, gasket thickness, head height, stem height, spring static and compressed heights, spring pocket depth, rocker ratio... et al...It all stacks up.

Looks like you have a bit of adjustment on the lash nuts. Take off a lash nut on one cylinder that's on the base circle of the cam and manipulate the rocker up to simulate a longer pushrod. Will the tip center on the stem?

Do you have all the part numbers off of everything...Cam, lifters, rocker assembly, heads....etc? That data is nice to see what the existing dims should be. Then get out the micrometers.

Did you contact the supplier for support with these pictures?

As you are learning valve train geometry needs to be checked every step of the way, if not you end up where you are. Be patient and learn. It will be satisfying when you win.

 

That would be useless. He bought all of it from Lynn.

 

Thanks drolds...I have contacted Lynn. He’s convinced that I haven’t adjusted my valves right. I was going to call him Saturday on his personal cell number and he was going to help me through the adjustment. After discovering how far off center the rocker is, I decided to wait until I got an adjustable pushrod, which should be here in the next couple days and then discuss options with him. Honestly he didn’t give me much info when I bought the stuff back in august. I assumed he knew what I needed. Your idea of lifting the rocker is interesting...might try that as well, but I’m not sure it would give me much of an accurate idea of rod length needed.
Thanks