wouldnt it be strange to have ALL the lobes worn to the point where there was slop like that?

something smells like fish, and its not coming from my pants [&:]

 

what do the lobes have to do with this? if i am reading the posters question right he has a "ton" of slack when all the valves are closed. i still have trouble believing that a camshaft can wear this much on the non-lobe side to cause this type of problem.

 

So do I, never heard of anything like it, but the only other thing I could think of would be that every single one of the rocker studs has been pulled out slightly.

 

Could the cam be wrong for the engine?? If the base circle diameter of the cam is too small the lifters wouldn't get any preload.A cam withtoo high lift might need a smaller base circle diameter. Also could the previous owner have had the cam re-ground as was common years ago?

 

i'm thinking what i might do is just get a new cam and lifters from edelbrock or somewhere, that way i know they're matched for each other. i've been wanting to get a better cam anyway along with an aluminum intake and a 4bbl to replace the old 2bbl on it now. i just wanted to make sure that would fix the problem before i spent the money only to still have the same problem. know what i mean? it seems so far the general consensus is that the cam/lifters are the likely suspects.

 

While you're at it, pick up a pushrod length checker and a solid lifter. Once you get the new cam in you'll need to find the proper length pushrod for your setup - just in case.

 

worth taking a look at the rocker studs too..... they shouldnt have pulled but there is a 1 in a million chance that they did (happens sometimes if the heads are baked too hot during a valve job)

 

if the rockre studs were backed out, wouldn't there be a variation in the amount that each one moved? i took a straight-edge and checked them by laying it across them from the front to the back and it sat completely even on each stud with no gaps in any of them. what i'm looking at is the performer power package from edelbrock that has a cam, lifters, heads complete with valves and rockers and springs, an intake and a carb that are all matched for each other. i was thinking about getting everything but the heads because they're pretty expensive to be buying unless they are an absolute necessity.

 

yeah dude i dunno wtf... maybe someone rebuilt that thing and used the wrong pushrods?!?! thats the only other thing i can think of.

btw, if your going to shop for heads check out the patriot's in the sticky thread over in the 5.0 section. they are less than 900 bucks out the door and will make assloads of power.

 

"have a 1968 coupe with what i am fairly certain is a 302. the previous owner said it was a 302 but it was originally a 289."
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when youtook the Valve covers off did you in fact see the 302 or 289 stamp on the head?you stated that you were "fairly certain"if these are ajustable rockers then perhaps someone used the heads from the 289? and you got a lot of
mis-matched stuff going on, maybe 302 pushrods & lifters,cam with 289 heads,valves,springs etc,etc,.. or if the are none adjusting rockers then most likely has 302 heads and will have much larger steel rockers.