I’m in mid teardown of my 69 351W to with a mostly unknown history to replace a worn timing chain, but she ran fairly well with the exception of a light tick on the driver side that is probably in the valve train of cylinder 1 or 2. During disassembly I was pleasantly surprised to find the pushrods are all beautifully straight and the rocker arms look good, so I think I probably have a sticky or slightly collapsed lifter. With the motor torn down to long block form, I am tempted to replace all the lifters. I believe new lifters on an older cam is OK, but what are your actual experiences?
A slight tick may also be due to leaking at the exhaust manifold to block junction.
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My 351W had both noisy lifters and a cracked exhaust manifold. The ticking sound was similar, but the lifters got worse as the oil heated up and thinned. The exhaust leak was worse cold before the manifold expanded as it heated up.
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new lifters with old cam are ok
sounds like its time for an upgrade! cam it until it cackles like a pro-mod!
Wow! The blind squirrel finally found a nut! G
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