So I started the engine this morning, been running great no sounds at all. oil level right where it should be. started it up to go home and as im cruising down the highway I notice the tap, and then it got worse and worse until I got home. im guessing this is gonna mean a head job, although Im gonna try adding something else to see if itll atleast quiet down. Im pretty shocked about this, it was such a strong engine. any recommendations other than pull the head?

 

Pull a valve cover and see where the noise originates. Make sure you have good oil pressure.

 

its def coming from the driver side from under the valve cover. its a pretty obvious tap from right under the cover so i would assume its a valve. in all honesty i had taken advice from a different thread a while back and added an stp additive to the oil and that thick sticky crap made the engine run like crap so i immediately drained the oil. i hope that gooey crap didnt have anythin to do with it

 

If this is in your 63-394 sticky lifters can and will happen and they sound bad. If mine I would drain and change the the regular oil and add a upper valve conditioner type oil and see if it frees it up. This was a common problem with my 63 and I seldom could get 3000 miles on it without having a lifter stick. Mine did not like Shell XP 100 and of course that was what was used on the ranch and was free if I could have used it. At that time I switched to Delo 400 and most of my lifter sticking went away.... Just my thoughts....Tedd

 

i had actually gotten about 12 000 on it since ive had it and it was race horse strong, added stp and got less than 1000 before this incident. i dont think that stuff was good for this low tolerance high comp engine. i guess the only way to see is to take the manifold and valve cover off and inspect it. im pretty disheartened, wanted to hit a good show tomorrow but id rather not embarass myself.

 

First remove the valve cover and see which valve is acting up, it will be easy to find. If everything looks ok in the rocker assy, then you may need to pop the manifold. STP is not a good top oil, I like Rislone or Marvel Mystery Oil for freeing up sticky lifters.

 

well I like marvel too, but I think it thins the oil out a bit when you add a whole quart but I do add about 4 oz to the fuel when I fill it up with a bout 10 gallons at a time. I used rislone once, didn't really notice a difference, it was the 3x concentrated zinc kind in the smaller bottle.

good news is I just added some duralube instant quiet lubricant and let it sit for about 15 minutes. I ran the car about 10 miles and it appears to have either stopped on its own or the duralube helped loosen what was stuck, have any of you guys used this duralube before?. it actually sounds pretty good now too, although now my ears will always be leary of that dreaded tapping sound to come back around every trip I take now.

 

Not the Zinc supplement Rislone. Glad your Duralube quieted it down.

 

Thanks, I hope it stays that way. Im gonna take it on another quick ride through town just to see if its gone. Ive been beatin on it a bit lately commuting to class everyday, so ill probably give it a rest, just take it to the last few shows of the season. thanks for the inputs fellas. I know these engines can make some noises here and there but they built these Rockets tough as nails back then, right.

 

There tough but I would still change the oil. There is something floating around in there that is just weighting to re stick a lifter. Oil is cheap compared to pulling parts off and replacing...Tedd

 

Make sure you use a THIN enough oil to stop it happening again. If your bottom end is good a 10w30 quality oil will be just fine, remember oil needs to get round the engine ASAP on startup, and it will be good to look after your bearings as well.
20w50 used to be the order of the day for old British oil burning poorly machined engines of the '60s and '70s. Even we can do better than that now.


Roger.

 

i have seen the underside of the intake full of sludge,the oil couldnt drain back while it was running,it would drain back overnight. didnt last very long.

 

stp thins out when it mixs with the rest of the oil. it don't stay the way it comes out of the can if ur car is old, oil pump screen could be pluged up with hardend valve stem seals. they harden up over time and fall off the valve and will go down to bottom of pan

 

Im gonna change the oil and filter tomorrow. Ive been running mobile super 10w30, but idk what brand im gonna run this time. maybe ill just get another 5 qts of mobile and replace a full quart with marvel's mystery oil and a new Purolator filter. cheap, easy and maybe ill even do it again after 150-200 miles just to know I flushed it good.

 

I was thinking about getting some good oil like vr1 10w30 conventional race oil, or maybe even royal purple. the car does have a slight drip, and I remember when I tried mobil full synthetic it dripped a lot more than the conventional (and if I did use royal purple id hate to get purple drips and make a big purpley mess)

Which would be better for my (slightly leaky) engine if I did choose one of these:
VR1 conventional racing oil or expensive royal purple synthetic?

 

That happened to me in a '64 Dynamic 88 with the 394 back in about 1982. Sudden clatter after over-reving it. It turned out that I had broken a valve spring. I used the cylinder stuffed with rope trick to remove & replace the valve spring without removing the head. Worked like a charm. I used the same trick to get the needed valve spring off of a junk yard engine.
However, if your tap came on slowly, it's more likely to be a lifter.