So after far to long, I got it together and started my 69 Cougar. I built the engine back in 2012, and got the valves adjusted in 2013.
The stars aligned, I was able to get a helper, and we started and broke in the roller cam. I put a retro fit comp cam with a .513 lift in the car. .030 over 351W with a T5 and 3.89 gear in the rear. (yes, the engine was primed well with oil, a couple of times before actually turning the key.)
Yay, it ran. But I had a bit of backfiring out of the drivers side bank. The engine had sat in assembly lube, and I was able to rotate everything a couple times a year, until finally getting it started.
I"m wondering if the back fire/ sputtering may have been nothing more than a valve being sticky from sitting.
I went ahead and took all the tension off the push rods, and am planning on going through the valve train again. After sitting with no tension for a couple of days, I still feel a lot of pressure in the hydraulic roller lifters. I would have thought they would have bled down like a regular flat tappet lifter would have.
Thoughts on them not bleeding down? I’ve been glued to the you tube looking at ‘other’ methods for setting valves, and am getting kind of water logged with EOIC, or, adjusting both valves on a cylinder when they are overlapping, and on base circle.
I have lost a couple of Edelbrock cams from what I believe was a combination of bad procedure, and inadequate zddp at the time.
Not sure if I can help but…if you set the lash too tight on hydraulic lifters it probably wouldn’t have started at all. They pump up and neither valve closes. So the initial setting wasn’t drastically off.
I’d be more inclined to inspect or replace any suspect plug wires for a slight miss. What is the timing set at? How did the plugs look? Did you notice notice any difference is lash settings on the driver’s side when you inspected? Sorry for all the questions but have to start somewhere.
Plugs are new, the wires are used, but appeared to be in good shape. The only thing that was noteworthy, was that the #8 intake was lose-ish when we pulled the valve covers to check everything. I do kind of wish I hadn’t un done all the rockers, but it is in my nature to go for the worst and rebuild before just stupid double checking…
I would go back through, ignore the lifter plungers
1 - Check your firing order carefully, we all can cross a wire now and then
2 - Pull all the plugs see if you see anything
3 - Check resistance on the plug wires 1 by one using an Ohmmeter
4 - Since the rockers are loose, check every pushrod to make sure they are all straight
5 - Reset using EOIC or TDC, don’t know all the specs of your cam, but .513 lift likely not too wild so either method will work. Go slow and careful, 1.25 turns after zero lash, if some valves open when you do that, don’t worry about it, the lifter will collapse, if some don’t don’t worry about that either. Just be sure you are on the base circle, know when you are at zero, then carefully add 1.25 turns
6 - Last, if running Morel or Howards lifters, make sure you aren’t using too thick of oil,they can hang. They can live with 10w40 when worn in a bit and hot, but even that is pretty thick, I usually build with 10w30. Other brands aren’t as fussy
So after a couple of weeks, I was able to get back on the project. I had another friend of mine lend a hand. I found the massive vacuum leak, (I have/ had an odd Ford spacer that the gaskets don’t fit) but the car is able to idle finally! I did the valve train adjustment again, but I can hear a couple that area loose. In any event, here is the link to the engine run video.
It must be a great relief to get it running again. Sounds like a classis lifter tick from the video. Have fun! I should be able to start mine again in about 3 weeks.
You just need to adjust the lifters with the engine running. A cutaway valve cover and a set of rocker arm oil clips make it a lot less messy.
Went back through and did everything again- car sounds so much better. But, as this car seems to love attention, now that the car runs again, the minute, and I mean the minute you can start the car, the accelerator cable either broke, frayed out or just magically came undone. So now I can add that to the list of stuff to do before driving.
So here is a better, longer engine run video-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xo4K4eINrg8&feature=youtu.be
Take note of how the latch portion that goes into the cable bracket at the carburetor is oriented. I think there needs to be some amount of twist to the cable housing so it doesn’t interfere with the kickdown rod. I wasn’t able to get my replacement cable to route properly and have low friction. I ended up oiling the ____ out of my original cable to get the friction down and reused it.
So I don’t know if my replacement cable is no good or if I installed it wrong.
Just a follow up on my throttle cable- I got lucky. When I had pushed down on the gas pedal, the end had gotten stuck in the insulation. A pair of pliers and I was back in business!-)
Great to hear! I know the pains of troubleshooting stuff with a new engine and it’s always a joy when you finally get everything squared away.
Ken