Re: '55 engine back to life! Mostly worked...
Posted by Bob E. On 2018/12/3 14:22:02
Update for all.
Got the engine back up and running. After cleaning and checking all over, I put it all back together. Thanks to James From from Kanter for sending me a single piston ring that I broke and lots of other advice from this forum.
Things I did to get it going:
-replaced a slightly bent pushrod with one from Kanter
-Spend extra time cleaning lifter bores
-rotated the camshaft with lifters (no rods) installed to verify they all would rotate without load.
-Had heads rechecked, #1 Exhaust valve was sticking, and machine shop 'bobbed' the valve stems so they were all the same installed height.
-Measured all push rods as well as rocker arm socket wear. For kicks, I reinstalled the longest rods with the rocker arms with most socket wear. So I mixed and matched push rods, but got total geometry length more consistent
-Replaced the 4 lifters that didnt show signs of rotating
-Measured lifter preload on base cam position by releasing rocker arm bolts and marking difference in position of rod when tightened. Most pre-load distances were ~0.090", with some ~0.11 and some ~0.70.
-Assembly lube on all surfaces under load (push rod to rocker arm, cam lobe/lifter face). Oil on lifter bore and lifter sides(last time I put assembly lube on sides of lifters).
-New Maxima break-in oil, about to refill with Rotella
-Pulled carb and cleaned out old gas etc.
-New AGM battery
It Started up fine and seems to run well. Ran it +/- 2000 rpm for a while to ensure good break in of new lifters. Good oil pressure and throttle response. As before I pulled it apart, you can see and hear an intermittent shudder at idle and still working on that. (very smooth at higher rpms). Tried pulling plug wires 1 by 1 to isolate but couldnt find one. Seems like random cylinder is not firing.
Popping noise (at cam speed that started this whole mess) was gone!!!!
But then it came back.
Then it went away.
Now it is there at times, but quieter.
It may be a valve sticking or something but it is not as pronounced as before so I am going to monitor it, but not worry about it for now. It seems very minor now.
One thing: I can't seem to adjust the idle down to 450rpm. I disconnected the throttle linkage and backed out the idle speed screw but when the throttle valves are in their closed position, it still seems to idle around 550-600rpm (admittedly with an old tach). But before I was able to dial it down to the point it was too slow to stay running.
Here are pics of the throttle valves closed and at high idle. These seem like what I would expect.
Any thoughts?
Also found some NOS points on ebay and installed them. That helped the shudder a little and look very nice too...
Glad this is running. Now time to reinstall driveshaft, figure out what to do with broken rear support arm stud, and take it for a drive!
Thanks to all to help me get to this point (again)!
-Bob
Related threads:https://packardinfo.com/xoops/html/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=21047&forum=3
My blog (see end for discussion on broken stud)https://packardinfo.com/xoops/html/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=20490&start=10
Attach file:
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Got the engine back up and running. After cleaning and checking all over, I put it all back together. Thanks to James From from Kanter for sending me a single piston ring that I broke and lots of other advice from this forum.
Things I did to get it going:
-replaced a slightly bent pushrod with one from Kanter
-Spend extra time cleaning lifter bores
-rotated the camshaft with lifters (no rods) installed to verify they all would rotate without load.
-Had heads rechecked, #1 Exhaust valve was sticking, and machine shop 'bobbed' the valve stems so they were all the same installed height.
-Measured all push rods as well as rocker arm socket wear. For kicks, I reinstalled the longest rods with the rocker arms with most socket wear. So I mixed and matched push rods, but got total geometry length more consistent
-Replaced the 4 lifters that didnt show signs of rotating
-Measured lifter preload on base cam position by releasing rocker arm bolts and marking difference in position of rod when tightened. Most pre-load distances were ~0.090", with some ~0.11 and some ~0.70.
-Assembly lube on all surfaces under load (push rod to rocker arm, cam lobe/lifter face). Oil on lifter bore and lifter sides(last time I put assembly lube on sides of lifters).
-New Maxima break-in oil, about to refill with Rotella
-Pulled carb and cleaned out old gas etc.
-New AGM battery
It Started up fine and seems to run well. Ran it +/- 2000 rpm for a while to ensure good break in of new lifters. Good oil pressure and throttle response. As before I pulled it apart, you can see and hear an intermittent shudder at idle and still working on that. (very smooth at higher rpms). Tried pulling plug wires 1 by 1 to isolate but couldnt find one. Seems like random cylinder is not firing.
Popping noise (at cam speed that started this whole mess) was gone!!!!
But then it came back.
Then it went away.
Now it is there at times, but quieter.
It may be a valve sticking or something but it is not as pronounced as before so I am going to monitor it, but not worry about it for now. It seems very minor now.
One thing: I can't seem to adjust the idle down to 450rpm. I disconnected the throttle linkage and backed out the idle speed screw but when the throttle valves are in their closed position, it still seems to idle around 550-600rpm (admittedly with an old tach). But before I was able to dial it down to the point it was too slow to stay running.
Here are pics of the throttle valves closed and at high idle. These seem like what I would expect.
Any thoughts?
Also found some NOS points on ebay and installed them. That helped the shudder a little and look very nice too...
Glad this is running. Now time to reinstall driveshaft, figure out what to do with broken rear support arm stud, and take it for a drive!
Thanks to all to help me get to this point (again)!
-Bob
Related threads:https://packardinfo.com/xoops/html/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=21047&forum=3
My blog (see end for discussion on broken stud)https://packardinfo.com/xoops/html/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=20490&start=10
Attach file:
(135.59 KB)
(193.38 KB)
(161.25 KB)
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