I recently rebuilt my '52 216: standard bore, replaced rings, main-bearings, re-shimmed the rod-bearings, had the cam reground and the lifters machined by Shadbolt, took a few thousanths off the head and block to make it flat. The old gal ran fine but leaked so much oil I had to do something. It started right up, and runs good, but the tappets are WAY noisey. I've adjusted them HOT three times (intake .006" and exhaust .013"). It's oiling good......what am I overlooking? I also installed an S-10 5sp and S-10 rearend, rebuilt the front suspension with dropped uprights and new springs with 1 1/2 coils cut. All the adapters and uprights were done by Buffalo - good stuff. Rides real nice.
Did you check the rocker arm end that contacts the valve?The rocker end gets a worn notch and it's difficult to get the valves adjuted properly.Or is it the tappets down below making noise?
You could have something there. I did take the rockers all apart to clean everything and didn't put them all back in the same place. I did check them for wear though, and they all looked ok. I installed new pushrods and had the lifters machined. The pushrods turn like they're supposed to when it's running.
That's good, and it means the noise isn't coming from the tapped/cam location, if it were the pushrods wouldn't be spinning. .013 sounds loose? .008 sticks in my mind. But of course my mind isn't what it used to be. I might be thinking of the earlier 29 through 32 (194) motors. If you didn't re-face the rocker arms, and there's the slightest notch at all, a blade type thickness gauge will bind. You need to use a wire thickness gauge instead of a blade type, then the adjustment will be more accurate. On that motor, if you can't hear the tappets clicking, something is wrong so I wouldn't worry about that if it actually is tappet noise. Don't make the mistake that many make and reduce the adjustment for the sole purpose of reducing the noise. There IS a way to deaden the clicking, it's a wool felt pad about a half inch thick that you lay on top of the rocker arms. It gets saturated with oil and the click diminishes quite a bit. fillingstation.com their part number is G-16084E That said, If you used the old pistons and wrist-pins, the noise might be from there. The sound is slightly different from tappet click, but if you don't know it could be that you are mis-identifying the noise. I'm guessing that you know the difference, just thought I'd throw that in there.
Cause I live in Alaska, and could not find a rebuildable 235. Plus, everyone told me not to bother with the 216.
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