Before I would do anything drastic,I would call the Crane cam tech phone # for a little advice.----904-258-6174.My02

 

it should be fairly obvious if thats your problem, as when you rotate the camshaft through a full revolution the spring will stack up on it. The one statement you said that worrie sme is "the rockers were loose and he didn't want to tighten them as they need to move". Run as far away from this guy as you can, in fact I would not let him touch the car anymore. Seek legal advice on if theres any way to get your money back.

 

If you let him "fix" it again.You are going to have the same problem.Just a warning.I would be real careful.Probably tow it away to someone else would be a good idea.

 

your problem is stock springs. just 1.6 rockers maxes them out on a stock cam

 

If those are stock springs,Trey is right.They will coil bind.That is the problem.Also he doesnt know how to adjust rockers.Its not an old SBC.

 

I dont wanna say it again but print this and tell him its his fault and he should have known being a mechanic. And saying that he didnt want to tighten it blah blah blah that just sounds like an idiot. hell ive done this before on a few cars. I actually had a mechanic break off a rocker arm stud while doing drilling and tapping for screw-in rocker and he set the push rod to the side of the lifter! Once it pumped up a few times it shoved the 2 together and locked the lifter up and bent the push rod. I told everybody possible not to go to him including online

 

buttercup is "right" actually. he caught it first

i just wanted to re-emphisize that since people seemed to have missed it. that is 100% DEFINATLY the problem- no need for speculation any more

 

I am sorry to hear about your experience. I will say that this guy is full of it, and you shouldn't even bother arguing with him. I would take the car somewhere else, and attempt a legal battle with him to get your $$$ back. Make sure you mention this experience to the next shop, and they can document anything they find wrong with his work.

I am guessing the problem is both the wrong valve springs and the rocker arms not being adjusted. As far as a tradiational small block goes, and engine with a hydraulic cam is set zero lash, so there shouldn't be much confusion on your mechanic's (hack) part.

Scott