Terry in Las Vegas Build - 15,000 miles, standard ratio R-P installed.

[TMartinLVNV]

10,280 miles to be exact! My car is running strong and is ready for its next service. This weekend, I'm going to put it up on the Quick Jack lift and do my routine undercarriage inspection and detailing. I'll pull the wheels off and clean them up, inside and out. Then wipe down the braking components and underside of the motor, tranny and diff. I have a very slight leak from either the fill plug or the diff cover that needs to be addressed. I need to change the oil and inspect all other fluid levels. I also have on my list to adjust the hydraulic clutch down a little and refit the drivers door to get it a little more flush. I currently sits a little proud along the lower edge.

During these miles, I have met many friends, answered the question "Is it real" many many times, and had a lot of overnight driving trips to AZ, CO, UT, and CA. I have been caught in light rain and pouring down rain with no windshield wipers. My front end has a few paint chips and on my very last outing, I caught a rock with the windshield. The crater is not directly in my line of sight. It is bigger than what the home windshield repair kits are good for. But I did one anyway just to keep it from spreading. I'm sure I'll need to replace the windshield not too long from now.

I still love my Forte 347 and TKO 600 tranny powertrain. I semiregularly bounce off of the rev limiter while enthusiastically driving. I can get 21 mpg if speeds are kept at 65. On the highway at 75-80, I regularly get 19 mpg. The Kirkey Vintage 55 seats are still comfortable and I can do 150 miles between butt breaks comfortably. I love love love the cruise control. It makes road trips so much more enjoyable. I can put both of my feet in front of the pedals and stretch out my legs.

I had to get my Holley Sniper professionally tuned. The motor was starting to run like crap and would constantly die at idle. The Holley "self tuning" is not that great IMHO. I found Andrew "Dr EFI" at [email protected]. He was able to remotely connect to my Sniper through a laptop connected to my WiFi. He did three tunes over a period of time with miles between to get everything just right. It was really amazing to listen to my motor respond to him at his keyboard across the country as he flattened this, smoothed that, took a little out here, added more there. Technology. The motor runs stronger than ever before. He was great to work with and I can't recommend him enough. At $475, it is not cheap. But what is on these cars? If I could start over, if I chose to go with the Holley Sniper, I would have also purchased their distributer to go along with it rather than a standard vacuum advance distributer. Andrew could have had done more with the programming that way. I had to add a total of 2 quarts of oil over the last 5,000 miles. Perhaps it is because of the forged pistons? I don't know. I have to remind myself that this is not my Toyota Tacoma that still has oil at the top of the dip stick line after 7,500 miles.

A group of us, including GTBradley, already have another summer 5 day trip planned to CO at the end of August. It is a great way to beat the heat here in Las Vegas.

[Blitzboy54]

This is fantastic! I will definitely take your advice and give your tuner a call. I'm glad to hear it is going so well.

Safe travels

[TMartinLVNV]

This is fantastic! I will definitely take your advice and give your tuner a call. I'm glad to hear it is going so well.

Safe travels

You will need a Holley cable to connect the Sniper to a USB in your laptop. I think it was $50 or so. If you go with the tuner, I can send you mine and then you send it back when done.

[JB in NOVA]

Great info! Thanks for the summary.

[GTBradley]

…This weekend, I'm going to put it up on the Quick Jack lift and do my routine undercarriage inspection and detailing. I'll pull the wheels off and clean them up, inside and out. Then wipe down the braking components and underside of the motor, tranny and diff…

Be honest, Terry, you do this after every drive, don’t you?

[TMartinLVNV]

Be honest, Terry, you do this after every drive, don’t you?

Only during the months that end in "y"

[GTBradley]

I’m right there with you on the miles and it is surprising the number of rock chips that are accumulating. I have touch up paint, but I could imagine repainting the car someday.

[TMartinLVNV]

Little engine dress up.

[TMartinLVNV]

I caught a rock on my windshield a few months ago and it needed to be replaced. I use the instructions on GT Bradley's build as a guide for making my own out of Lexan. A 4x8 sheet 3/16" thick and abrasion resistant was $570 from my local Grainger.



First a made a template from the removed glass.

[TMartinLVNV]

Next I traced the template onto the Lexan sheet.



No turning back now.

[TMartinLVNV]

A very dirty Lexan windshield in place. I have some Plexus plastic polisher/cleaner on order and I'll clean it up then.

Wes and Jack came over to assist. If the 4x8 sheet was about 6" longer, I could have cut 4 windshields out of it. Unfortunately, only two could be cut with a lot left over. Wes has the second one for his car. It was surprisingly easy to remove the windshield, take the trim apart, and fit in the new polycarbonate. Now I don't have to worry about a cracked windshield anymore.

[hineas]

The windshield looks great! I am considering switching to Lexan if (when) ours cracks.

That engine looks amazing! I didn't think your engine could get any cleaner, but I was wrong. The new valve covers, air filter housing look crisp. The red air filter is literally the cherry on top.

[buttsjim]

Windshield looks great! (Thanks for stopping by the other week--you're advice was very helpful)

[TMartinLVNV]

During my 3 day Cobra trip through western Colorado, my engine let me down at 10,700 miles. On the third day, we were starting out in the morning. As I was pulling away from a stop sign and accelerating onto the highway, my motor started to lose power and buck wildly. There was no place to pull over. A semi passed me on the right and the noise was unmistakably coming from the right side pipe. The car was also backfiring out through the intake. After finding a place to pull over, GTBradley and I figured that the #4 cylinder was not firing. Air, Fuel, Spark, and Compression are the things need to go boom. Air was fine. Spark was fine. Fuel is fine. Hmm. Our best guess was an exhaust leak at the manifold. I checked the bolts, and they were fine. We were not too far from the hotel, so we decided to drive back. If I kept the RPMs at 3,000 and at light throttle, the car ran somewhat ok. I pulled over at a gas station and Bradley had the great idea of pulling the plug wire for the #4 cylinder. The car ran much better. I put the car on the trailer and went rode passenger in his car (very nice and smooth ride BTW).

After getting back home in Las Vegas, I pulled the exhaust manifold off. It looked like it was leaking a little bit a corner of the #4 exhaust gasket. I swapped gaskets and the problem persisted. Hmm, I pull the valve cover and......

[TMartinLVNV]

WTF!!!! That's not supposed to look like that.





Well crap. Stuff happens and this shouldn't be a bit deal to fix. I call up Forte and see what he thinks. He gives me to possibilities of I used the wrong weight oil or that the retaining nut worked its way loose. I was using 5w-30 oil (that is recommend by Dart). He recommends 10w-40. The car ran fine until it didn't. I did not get any warning or ticking noise beforehand. I certainly have beat on the motor at times, but nothing that it wasn't built for IMHO.

I ask if he has a single rocker arm and unfortunately he does not. Plus, apparently Ford Performance does not make these anymore. He also tells me that these rocker arms are not new from a package, but are new take offs from another motor. I consider my options and I decide to order 16 new Harland Sharp roller rockers. The pushrod still looked great and rolled smooth on glass.

[TMartinLVNV]

I also decide to ceramic coat my headers since I'm going to be spending so much time in the engine bay.

Before:



After:



I like

[TMartinLVNV]

Everything is going good:



Until:



The #4 exhaust lifter is trashed. The rocker arm won't get even close to the proper angle. Of course, did this one last. Now I gotta dig deeper...

[TMartinLVNV]

The adventure continues:



Well crap. Something about the exhaust valve lifter on #4 doesn't look right. Is that debris in the lifter valley? Why yes! Plus parts blocking some of the oil return passages.

[TMartinLVNV]

Ok, I'll replace the lifters too. I'm keeping calm. No big deal. Until.......Guess what, The lifters cannot be replaced until the head is removed I'm learning new stuff at every turn of this adventure.



Tiger telling me that everything will be ok.

[TMartinLVNV]

Let's get to work:



Clean, clean, clean. I love the small of carb cleaner in the evening. Good thing I don't smoke anymore:

[TMartinLVNV]

Half of new lifters in and ready to start lifting:



I wonder what is in the oil pan. Let's find out:



The engine builder at Forte did a great job sealing up this pan. It did not leak a drop in the last few years. It was a PITA to get off though.

Time for another surprise. There are my missing roller bearings from the roller rocker:

[TMartinLVNV]

Going back together as time permits:

[TMartinLVNV]

I've fired up the motor several times now. After getting the distributer oriented correctly, resetting the timing, resealing the T-stat housing twice, it seems to be running fine. I'm currently battling sealing up the oil pan. Tomorrow morning, I'm going in on attempt #3 to get is sealed up well. After that, I'll get her back out on the road again.

Am I pissed? Yes, very much. I bought a crate motor to prevent this very scenario. I'm about $1,200 into this repair (roller rockers, lifters, pushrods, gaskets) with some tools that I had to buy on a motor with 10,700 miles. What gets me the most is the time I've invested into this. I'm well over 20 hours wrapped up in this project working in and under the engine bay. I'm not placing blame anywhere. I don't know enough about motors to figure out the source of the problem. Maybe a lifter or rocker arm manufacturing defect is the cause? I'm personally filing this under the "stuff just happens" category.

I'm really hoping that I will get the oil pan sealed up tomorrow and can get it out on the road. If everything goes well, I have some more hours into it getting it cleaned up. It is dirty everywhere as I never cleaned anything after the CO trip through several rain storms. I'm looking forward to getting back on the road with friends and enjoying the car again.

[cc2Arider]

Bummer Terry! Thank you for sharing your experience.

I'm not that familiar with the Ford V8...question to others...those look like dog-leg roller lifter guides. What are the considerations for choosing the link type guides over these?

Craig C

[GoDadGo]

You've Got This Mr. T!

While this is a problem that time, money and effort will solve it truly looks like things will get better soon...Also, Tiger is right because everything will be okay soon so wrench & ratchet on Mr. T!

[Kbl7td]

Just curious, do you plan to change the oil again? If any other debris is in there it might be good to change again after running for a few minutes. Top end was cleaned but who knows if anything was stuck in the bottom end that didn’t drop out.

[TMartinLVNV]

Just curious, do you plan to change the oil again? If any other debris is in there it might be good to change again after running for a few minutes. Top end was cleaned but who knows if anything was stuck in the bottom end that didn’t drop out.

I cleaned the snot out of the oil pan. I wiped down all of the baffles and shot carb cleaner between the weld spots and let everything dry. This is the third time I've had the oil pan off. For the first go around, I put in 10w-40 Mobil 1 oil with a zinc engine break in additive from Comp Cams. I did a few heat cycles of the engine and knew that I had to drop the pan again because of a leak at the back. I drained the oil into a very clean oil catch pan and reused that oil. I did not use the last little bit of oil just in case there was any debris. I've done this twice now (after topping off for any lost amount). My plan is to run the motor for 500 miles to let the zinc additive do its thing and change the oil out.

As a side note, I didn't mention it before, when I dumped the oil after the lifter/rocker arm failure, I drained it through a coffee filter into the pan. There was no glitter or apparent metal fragments in it at all.

[TMartinLVNV]

Bummer Terry! Thank you for sharing your experience.

I'm not that familiar with the Ford V8...question to others...those look like dog-leg roller lifter guides. What are the considerations for choosing the link type guides over these?

Craig C

Craig, you will probably get more replies if you post this in one of the general forums rather than in a build post. It will get a greater number of knowledgeable eyes.

[TMartinLVNV]

If anyone notices that the engine dress up kit posted before is out of order, I've been working on the motor for over a month and have waited on posting about it until now. The valve covers and air cleaner will be up for sale soon.

[BRRT]

Only 10K miles and a busted rocker. Ugh.

[Railroad]

I might have missed it, but did the roller on that lifter look OK? I would like to hear how the cam lobe looked.
Lifter might have let go first, or rocker?

[TMartinLVNV]

I might have missed it, but did the roller on that lifter look OK? I would like to hear how the cam lobe looked.
Lifter might have let go first, or rocker?

The roller end looked fine as did the cam lobe. The roller rolled very smoothly. I was sweating looking in through the hole and looking at the cam shaft for the first time. It seems the trail of destruction ended or began at the pushrod side of the lifter.

[TMartinLVNV]

Only 10K miles and a busted rocker. Ugh.

Yep. If the lifter did not fail as well, it wouldn't be that big of a deal.

[Joe Campbell]

The roller end looked fine as did the cam lobe. The roller rolled very smoothly. I was sweating looking in through the hole and looking at the cam shaft for the first time. It seems the trail of destruction ended or began at the pushrod side of the lifter.

Good that you checked. I had a lifter blow in my 347 a few years back, and it wrecked the cam as well. At that point the motor had been rebuilt four times so I figured it was time for a 427W.

[TMartinLVNV]

Good that you checked. I had a lifter blow in my 347 a few years back, and it wrecked the cam as well. At that point the motor had been rebuilt four times so I figured it was time for a 427W.

Do you know what caused your lifter failure?

[John Ibele]

Sorry to hear about the bad news, Terry, but way to power through it. Thanks for sharing both the information and documenting the demonstration of persistence … always a good reminder for any builder!

[Blitzboy54]

If it is any consolation of any kind you keep a pretty entertaining log of your experience.


That's all I've got. Has to be frustrating.

[TMartinLVNV]

If it is any consolation of any kind you keep a pretty entertaining log of your experience.


That's all I've got. Has to be frustrating.

Lol, that's all I have to keep me sane.

[TMartinLVNV]

I tried to do the oil pan gasket on Sat and gave up. I spent about 2 hours on my back under the car. I have to shimmy my super sexy curvy body between the quickjacks, work in an uncomfortable position with a flat head screwdriver, razor blade, carb cleaner, and a pick trying to get the RTV and residue off. The four little indentations are pure evil. Then when your arms are trembling with exhaustion a drip of oil hits your right between the eyes. It is really special. I bought the caulk tube type of RTV this time since I almost ran out of RTV the last time I tried this endeavor. With my shaky hands and a too long caulk tube which included the length of the shaft of the spring loaded depressor making the whole thing 23" long on a car that is only 20" in the air. I had a flashlight in my mouth a seal in my hand, the the tube of RTV ready to go. Of course now is when I realized that I poked a hole too small in the end of the RTV tube. The strength of of the incredible hulk was needed to squeeze the caulk gun and get a reasonable amount of RTV to dispense. Do I get up and make a bigger hole? Of course not, I got this! It's a lot of work to get into this position. The damn seal kept popping out of the groove. I put too much RTV in the groove. I manage to grab the only paper towel within arms reach and try to clean off excess RTV. Great, now I have RTV all over the caulk gun and my gloved hands. Crap, now a glove tore. Double crap, I just banged my elbow for the 7th time on the exposed bolt end that holds my quickjack together. That really hurt. Deep breath. Let me try again. Nope. Crap, must rest arms. Another drip!

I'm done with this for the day. I squeeze out from between the quickjacks, get up, and all of my tools of cleaning are lying in a filthy state where I dropped them after admitting defeat. I have to try this again when I'm fresh in both mental state and strength. My elbows hurt. I somehow have black RTV in my chest hair which is really strange since I'm wearing a shirt. It's like when you open up a jar of anti-seize and somehow it gets into your hair. It is unexplainable, but it happens.

I went inside, cleaned up, and thought about kicking the cat. Instead I opened a beer, turned up the gain on my 50w bass amp, and practiced the sweet perfection of Roger Waters' bass line of Money by Pink Floyd while pissing off the neighbors.

[bobl]

I've seen this failure several times in SBFs with the OEM style lifters. The rocker arm failed (for whatever reason), then the lifter came apart because there was no load on the valve train. Those are good rocker arms you replaced them with and I would not expect any future issues.