Re: '51 Valve Clatter and Other Mysteries

Posted by HH56 On 2013/9/1 19:04:07

Also, the lifter gallery usually gets it's oil via the small U shaped pigtail tubing connecting the two ports on drivers side of engine. If there is any obstruction in the tube or fitting, that could cause some issues.

If you have an oil filter it might be worth verifying the plumbing. Some instructions for pre 51 oil filters showed them to be field installed in series with the lifter supply because there was no dump port directly into the pan. Generally those were solid lifter engines so not a big deal. The filter inline had been found to be a problem with hydraulic lifters and plumbing was changed. Problem was filter caused insufficient pressure and flow resulting in noisy lifters. For 51 on all the oil filters were plumbed so the lifters got oil directly via the pigtail again and filter dumped into the pan. Being a junior model, filter was an accessory and if one was installed using the older instructions it might be causing an issue.