so i have a clacking still. a light one but a clacking clearly different than ones of a typical roller rocker noise. people were saying it was bad comp r's. i didn't think so but replaced them anyway with the stockers. (beehive springs allow me to run stockers safely according to Bret) the clip and the comp r's look nice. the change of rockers didn't help. i've got the same clacking. maybe slightly softer, but i also could becoming used to it by now. i've adjusted rockers a hundred times now so that cannot be the problem either. the clacking seems to be towards one central area....the front of the passenger side of the motor. sounds like its towards cylinder 2 & 4 from an semi-untrained ear. the clacking does not get louder as rpm increases. it actually goes away, but do to the noise of the engine overdoing it i'd assume. i'm pretty sure it's still clacking as rpm's increase because if you give the throttle a quick stab, you can start to hear the clacking accelerate quickly before the noise of the motor overtakes it. I'm very stumped. My pushrods are making a wear pattern right near dead center of the top of the valve, so a lack of pushrod length can't be an issue either.
All this leaves me with only a few more possibilities...
1) somehow a rocker is hitting something like a head stud or something
2) i've got really bad spark knock or "ping"
3) I've got something screwed up in the bottom end like light rod knock.
I'm concerned with the fact that it could be a rod knock or something of that sort....is there any way i can detect rod knock? the motor runs so smooth it's hard to believe it was that. PLEASE help me eliminate some possibilities or bring others on! help!

 

also, if it would be rod knock for some reason, can i pull the pan off and replace it with the motor in the car?

 

also to add....i have perfect oil pressure on the motor. never dips, never gets below 40 even when hot. sound never increases or decreases with temperature. i've driven the car 46 miles or so and the noise has not increased. are these symptoms of light rod knock? can i do the pull the spark plug trick to find out?

 

Timing chain hitting cover? Accessories alt,air making noise? Piston hitting head? Piston hitting plug?

 

probably not any of those.

 

the other thing i noticed was that 2 of my pushrods are gushing oil out of them. all of them are getting oil, but one one each side (right across from each other) is gushing out oil right onto the header. it wasn't doing this until i replaced the comp r's with the stockers. ??

 

Not going to hurt a thing it's normal on some lifter's. Had a 283 that ALL would shoot out over the top of the fenders. It would change the oil during a valve adjustment.

Rockers hitting valve cover's?

 

piston slap? Does it go away or get less noisy after the car is hot?
It would probably help if u posted a video/sound clip of the noise

 

the clacking noise sounds like it's coming from one area. i have the valve covers off so that can't be it. it does NOT get better or worse with engine heat, therefore it is not typical piston slap. I don't have good enough sound quality to pick up the light clacking sound. I'm just stumped because there's way too many things it could be. i had the flywheel matched to the old flexplate which was balanced with the motor. best machine shop around did that. u never know. there's too many possibilities. ??

 

If it get's better with temp it could be piston slap as was mention in the post above.

 

whoops, i meant "does not". not "does". corrected in post above

 

to help narrow, i just tried to pull the spark plug wires on each cylinder, starting it up after removing each 1 checking for rod knock. the clacking was still present after each and every time i tried. i removed all 8, one at a time. nothing changed.... no rod knock possible?? the knock isn't ungodly loud so it shouldn't be rod knock...i wouldn't think. ?