I think I might have an engine problem... :(

RustyRatRod said
It sounds to me like all eight are making the noise......sounds like a diesel. This is usually a few things. First, it could be perfectly normal if it has floating wrist pins. They are known to make a little noise sometimes. Secondly, if it goes away or lessens significantly when warmed up, that's indicative of normal forged piston expansion......if so equipped. So it's possible the noise is normal. I have heard lots of engines do it, including some I have built myself.

Normally, when it warms up it runs better and yes it has forged pistons. I just didn't feel comfortable getting it to operating temperature. It also tends to smell like gasoline quite a bit.

yellow rose said
I agree the video ain't that good. Black is partially burned fuel.

Sounds like you may have a bad exhaust rocker. That's my guess from the video.

What carb is it?

It's not that good of a video, but I just wanted to capture something quick. I'll get my valve covers off sometime between now and June.

joeboy said
Like SG said, don’t get the cart ahead of the horse... the shake of the motor isn’t normal in my eyes either, but the soot could be something simple. start small, little stuff like checking to see if all the header tubes are hot, (dead plug) or looking for a bad plug wire, slipped distributor, loose converter bolt hitting (knock), crap gas... I’ve had all sorts of stuff make me think I had a massive problem... start slow, spark, fuel, timing, compression check. Pull the valve covers and watch it turn over... does everything open and close?

Hopefully you can track it down without pulling the pig apart if it doesn’t need it. And I hope it doesn’t!

Joe

Thanks Joel,

Sometimes I get a little ahead of myself. I just get tired of the things that pop up every couple months or so, but that comes with the old car territory, I guess. I'll check some of the things you've mentioned (or learn how). Try to keep it simple, like you said.