I was at a red light and heard a snap, then the car started missing. I pulled in to a gas staion and popped the hood. There was a tapping noise from the driver's side valve cover. I took it off and the intake rocker was loose on the number 3 cylinder. The polylock came off with half of the stud with it. I took out the pushrod, the rocker, and checked the lifter while the car was running. It stayed in the lifter bore and didnt move. I figured because it was on the intake side, it was ok to drive home. I made it home going very slow. Could i have messed anything up by driving it like that?

 

yep

 

What could I have messed up? I got another rocker stud, I'm going to install it after I get off work. What problem should I look for?

 

As long as you werent driving like a striped butted ape you should be fine. now find out why it snapped. In most cases when this has happened to me the push rod was bent as well. Some causes are too tight a spring (excessive spring pressure), coil bind, and the worst ,the valve hitting the piston.

I'll bet more than not it is from coil bind, somethimes a lifter wil pump up and your lift is increased.

 

The lifter bouncing off the cam could have eaten away at the surface of the cam for one thing.

 

I have adjusted my rockers quite a few times, trying to find out what works best. The last few times I adjusted them I went 1/4 past 0, then tighten the polylocks and went an additional 1/8 turn to make sure they were tight. Maybe I put too much stress on the studs? I hate that this car is a learning tool, but I try to research ALOT before I mess with anything.

 

Well, I replaced the stud and it fired right up. The piece of stud that was in the polylock came out easy, I thought I was gonna have trouble with it. The car drives fine, no signs of missing or driving wierd whatsoever. I guess I got lucky. I also rolled the pushrod on a table to see if it was crooked, looked straight. It did put a dent in the valve cover, though.