engine noise

[spider78]

i bought a 79 spider recently that sat in a garage for 13 yrs was told that it was started 13 months ago the owners said they lost the key hot wired the car to put it on a flat bed to transport it the engine make all kinds of noise kocking loud lifters etc replaced the steering column to be able to start it along with a new fuel pump (electric) put new oil in along with mystery oil the knocking seems to have gone but the lifters are real loud help me

[msrichmond]

With the engine cold, remove both valve covers and you'll see the cams right there. Push the car forward in 4th gear to rotate the engine one cylinder at a time so that each cam lobe points up in turn. Stick a feeler gage between to measure between the cam lobe and the cam bucket and write down that measurement. Do all eight lobes, then post them here (intake and exhaust 1 - 4) and we'll go from there.

Adjustment is with calibrated shims that you get from vendors. It's an operation that starts with the clearance measurement, then you take out each shim (needs a special tool) and measure the shim thickness with a micrometer. Based on the thickness of what's in there, and what your gap is, you order shims of the right thickness. Sometimes a shim too thick or thin in one place can be used somewhere else so you don't have to buy them all.

MikeR

[spider78]

Thanks for the info Mike

[wizard124]

Engine noise is tough to diagnose. A compression test may give you more insight. I don't think I would first check valve tappet clearances as a noise source.

If the cam belt was changed, the noise/knock could be the aux shaft's fuel pump lobe hitting if the pulley was not aligned properly.

Could be a rod knock. Hard to say. You can pull the cam covers and look for damage.