QuestionGreetings, I read your response to valve adjusting the straight eight. I have a split question.
I bought a 49 Standard Eight MOD 2392. I've completed body work and have been in the engine area for 2 days. I notice the top of the Head says 327 (small numbers) with THUNDERBOLT in large letters. I cannot find any support showing that this model came with the 327. Any help would be appreciated. The engine also ran when I bought it 4 months ago. I did a compression check (cold) with throttle open. Only two cylinders read 92 and 90 psi. all other read ZERO. Valve clacking was present when it ran. Could this thing have run on two cylinders? I suspect valve problems since zero readings were given. Your opinion?
I want to do the valve adjust cold till I get the car running proper. should I set for the .007 reading to allow for heat expansion? And is it possible to change from mechanical to hydraulic lifters in these engines?
Thanks in advance for your opinion. You guys are a GREAT help in these situations.
Dave
AnswerYou are correct, that model came with the 288 engine, not the 327. However, the heads all fit, regardless of which engine they are put on, because the bolt patterns are the same. The only difference is in compression ratio. Someone may have changed the head in the past for some reason, or the whole engine may have been changed. Look at the number stamped into the side of the block on the driver's side of the engine, just below the head gasket seam. It should be a number starting with either "G" or "H" (depending on when in '49 your car was built) and then the next digit should be a "2". There should then be 5 more digits, perhaps followed by a letter. If there is a letter "H" or "F" there, you have hydraulic lifters already. Also, if that first digit is NOT a "2", you probably have hydraulic lifters.
You can change a solid lifter engine over to hydraulic lifters, but there is no reason to do it, as the solid lifters are very quiet, and much less troublesome. If you do this, you have to completely disassemble the engine, because you have to change the camshaft and the lifter holders too. The lifter holders drop into the oil pan when you remove the camshaft.
Lifter clicking is very minor on these engines if they are properly adjusted. I always set them a little bit loose if the engine has recently been worked on, and adjust them to the factory spec with the engine hot, idling slowly after a few hundred miles have been put on the engine and things are all working well. I add about - 0.002" to each specification for run-in. If you want to set them cold, I guess adding another .001 or .002 is OK too. Actually, they run very nicely at that setting, and you won't hurt anything by driving it that way for a while.
Your cylinders with 0 compression are almost certainly suffering from sticky valve guides. This is a very common problem with these engines, especially those that are run for short periods and then shut off before the engine is thoroughly warm - the valve stems get gummed up and stick in the guides. The only cure I know of is to remove the heads and the valves (don't mix the valves up!) and clean out the valve guides with solvent (don't let it run down into the crankcase - pack that area with rags while you work with the solvent) and also clean off the valve stems. Drop each valve in after you do this to make sure it moves easily without any binding. Also, while you are at it, wiggle each valve to see if it has a lot of slop in the guides - if it seems excessive, you might as well put new valves and guides in it while it is apart. Of course you will want to have the valves and seats reground - the result will be a superb running engine that will go many, many miles in smooth, quiet power. (I know, I drive a 288 myself in my 51).
Let me know how you make out!
Dick
