Break In Disaster????????

AJ/FormS said
Got it!

Kinda makes you wonder if the tubes have been crushed out-of-round....

I checked but not with a mic, and i was able to slide them on and off with no issue. That doesnt mean theyre not shot but ill grab a mic from work tomorrow.

nm9stheham said
If so much out-of-round as to leak, then I suspect you would not be able to slide the rockers over that end.

OP, the gauge suggestion is because it is easy and non-invasive, and while the other gauges' quality may not be any better, the one you have just may be well out of whack. You can't guess at it being accurate or not; you have to compare to something else, or directly measure it.

The leaks can be anywhere if the pressure is too high inside the rocker shaft. If you have not done all of the below:
- I would take of the rockers shafts and make sure they are clean, use some 400 grit wet-or-dry and polish the shafts just a bit; look inside the rocers to make sure they are not varnished up and too tight. The point is to make sure the flow OUT of the shafts is what it should be; if anything is blocked up badly, then the pressure may rise excessively inside the shaft.
- Then, take the shafts' end plugs out, (get new ones at NAPA) clean the insides of the shafts then make sure the oiling holes to each rocker are clear, check shaft diameters everywhere, and check those bolt holes in the shafts for inside diameter. Lots to check there and that is non-invasive and easy to do to be sure that is all on spec and flowing right.

Sounds good, i will check that tomorrow. I feel like i should just pull the engine and be done with it.

AJ/FormS said
Well I learned a lotta things from my dad, but one thing he used to say that ticked me off every time I heard it; "not necessarily".
So what's that got to do with anything? Well let's suppose for a sec that a previous builder crushed those pipes. Now lets suppose (not Jake here) a newbe comes along an unbolts them and takes 'em over to the parts washer, for a bath. I seen a few guys do just that; wash them fully assembled cuz they don't want to mix 'em up. Then a blowdry and off they go to the ready shelf. When assembly time comes,on they go, Now if they had been crushed, you might never have known it . Except that if it applies here,Jake here caught it, kinda by accident.
I'm not saying they're crushed, just that a couple of minutes with a mike would rule it out. And you just advised him to remove them for inspection( which is a good thing), so a quick miking would rule it out.
Oh how I came to hate "not necessarily". Now that he's gone, and I'm going soon, I remember those words fondly.

I get what youre saying and i tried my best along the way to clean everything out when it came to the rocker shafts and the rockers themselves, and ill check them tomorrow.

Jake