[twov8sandat4]

Hi everyone,

I had posted a while ago about the lifter tick in my motor. With the valve cover off, I found nothing unusual with it, rocker arm was tight, pushrod was not bent. I did a couple of oil changes with a couple of quarts of Mytery Oil with each change, and no difference. The motor is a 74 400 in a Trans Am, basically stock except for the intake/carb, some 22 year old low rpm cam and Flowmaster exhaust.

Fast Forward to now. I decided to swap my Performer intake with an RPM, and at the same time take the valley pan off and take a look see. Since I have not done anything this involved (for me ) I have a few basic questions:

1. after removing the two bolts, will the valley pan come off with the screwdriver method? I tried prying a bit, but it did not want to budge. Hope there is not another hidden bolt, and it is just 20+ years of rtv.

2. What should I look for in diagnosing the lifter tick? Would it be stuck in one position? any signs that will automatically tell me it is bad? or is there anything else in there I can look for besides the lifter for the tick noise?

3. The Performer had a nipple in front of the carb for the PCV valve to hook to, the RPM doesn't. It has a nipple in the back of the carb. From all the reading I have done today, front of the carb is preferred. So can I hook the PCV valve to the port in the back of the carb (Holley Double Pump) and the brake booster to the back nipple of the manifold, or vice versa?

I have searched all day, so be gentle on me. I am a newb when it comes to this stuff

[David Jones]

1. Two bolts and years of being there are holding it down. Lever on it a little. It will come up.

2. If the lifters are shot, the cam will show obvious signs of wear. If it's just ticking a little, welcome to the world of older Pontiacs. A combination of worn rockers, tired lifters etc all contribute. If it's not loud ticking, I wouldn't worry.

3. Dunno........

[66bonne]

That lifter tick you hear may be an exhaust leak, they sound a lot alike. Check for the exhaust leak before you do the other work.

Jim

[twov8sandat4]

Originally Posted by 66bonne

That lifter tick you hear may be an exhaust leak, they sound a lot alike. Check for the exhaust leak before you do the other work.

Jim

I am 99% sure (does not mean much ) it is not an exhaust leak, but I will check it one more time before proceeding.

Thanks for that tip

[twov8sandat4]

Originally Posted by David Jones

1. Two bolts and years of being there are holding it down. Lever on it a little. It will come up.

2. If the lifters are shot, the cam will show obvious signs of wear. If it's just ticking a little, welcome to the world of older Pontiacs. A combination of worn rockers, tired lifters etc all contribute. If it's not loud ticking, I wouldn't worry.

3. Dunno........

Sorry to bring this thread back. Finally got around working on the car last night.

1. You were right. Little more effort and it came out.

2. Everything inside looked mint The motor was rebuilt 22 years ago and it looked like it was just done. There were no wear marks on the cam, which was encouraging . One pushrod was moving ever so slightly up and down while all the others showed no movement. I took out that lifter and let it soak in some Mystery oil for a while. Put it back in, and also a new pushrod (the old one was fine,) and no more movement. I will button everything off tonight and see if the sound goes away. If not, I will have to take the headers out and check for leaky gaskets. At least there were no inside problems

And to boot, I was able to check the date code at the distributor,the two stamps were I183 and 74, which agrees with the PHS documents I now have to check the VIN on the block to confirm it is the original

Exciting stuff