<VV> Is it a knock or tap?

[Sethracer at aol.com]

In a message dated 3/10/2006 11:42:38 AM Pacific Standard Time,  
corvair65 at verizon.net writes:

The  engine ran rather smooth, with no obvious misses, which leads me to  
believe that it's not a lifter, but on the other hand, how would I develop  a 
knock in the engine while sitting in the garage for 3 months?  And  if it is 
a knock, where should I look for it?

Russ  Moorhouse



How much did you drive it, Russ? The only ill effect from a  not-fully-pumped 
up lifter is a little (real little) less power from that  cylinder. It will 
not cause a miss. BUT you will have to get it hot to really  loosen up the 
plungers inside the lifters. On a 140 I built, I would start it up  cold and it 
would initially sound like the proverbial bucket of bolts. After 3-4  minutes at 
idle, almost all would be pumped up - except one lifter - It took  10-15 
minutes of real driving to pump up that one. This was an autocross motor  in it's 
first life - and actually completed a couple of SCCA races in D/P  as well. 
But the last 15 years I owned it pushed around my 65 Corsa Convert as a  street 
car. The 1/8 turn past zero valve settings were the culprit, of course.  Great 
for an autocross car, it probably needed 1/4 or more for a cold start  street 
car. - Seth Emerson