Inliners International Forums General Discussion Hi Performance New Guy Here. 68 Camaro with an L6 250.

With the engine off you would have to have #6 at TDC and set your intake and exhaust at 0 lash. Personally I'd set them with some clearance 1st and see what happens. My 292 suffered from valve train problems(diagnosing with the head still on) and I set my valve lash at .004 intake and .006 exhaust...never ran better in its life! Try some clearance like that and see if it fixes the problem. Valves hanging open will cause major misfire and loss of power. I did mine with the engine running. Easier and faster imop. You can set clearance with a feeler gauge while the engine is running to. Really easy...just do it the same way you would with the engine off.

I'll try it again with a little clearance when I do the gasket. Might be tonight.

Hi TJ, wouldn't this make the valves chatter? Maybe I don't understand what you mean. The manual says go to zero and do a full turn.

Mark

That's what I thought as well but I figure I'll give it a shot anyway and see.

Did some work last night. Got bit by a bit of project creep...

My new valve cover gasket came in. Got a nice rubber one from Fel Pro at Autozone.

Took off the valve cover and removed the plugs:



Looks a bit dirty thanks to the oil leaks...

So I decided to take off more so I could clean things up a bit:





Cleaned with degreaser and got a new rattle can of Chevy Orange Red:



Since it was out repainted the water pump pulley as well as the water outlet:



Adjusted the valves while the cover was off. Didn't think I did much but we'll see...

Started re-assembling it:



Repainted the intake:



Getting there...



Looking good:





I hate to admit this but it appears I had forgotten to re-attach the vac advance line at the carb last time I messed with it. That's part of the reason it ran a bit rough I'm sure. The line was tucked away so I missed it.

While I was in there I shot the plugs with carb cleaner, hit the guts of the distributor with contact cleaner, cleaned up a ton of stuff, leaned out the choke a tad, checked the timing, and repainted most of the block. Some of the pics look like overspray but it's just that nice red-orange paint reflecting the flash.

She fired right up. running better now but I'm hearing a slight knock. Sounds like it's inside in the back around the #6 cylinder. Nothing too noticeable to anyone but me but I'm sure it'll get worse over time. Luckily I plan on pulling the engine and going through it this winter anyway. She sounds much better than before when driving it.

Now I think it's time to mess with the carb cam lobe. Getting a slight hesitation when I punch it.

Played around taking pics for a contest tonight and managed to make my little 250 look model sized.



...doesn't help the performance any, though.

They would clack a little bit, but the old 60's shop manuals actually had a clearance spec on the hydraulic cammed I6's and it was even more than what I mentioned I believe. I recommended he try it for the heck of it cause it helped mine out.

You sure its a knock and not a lifter or rocker arm tap since the valves are a tad loose? Timing not to far advanced because the vacuum advance line is now hooked up?

It was coming from a bit deeper than the valves.

I think the cam is bad. I need to replace it with a racing cam. Oh and the rockers. Gotta get rollers. Oh and valves. Need to oversize them. While I'm in there I might as well replace those worn out pistons with flat tops since they're so old.

...and least that's what my wife is hearing right now...

I love being single. The Ross Pistons Tom Lowe sells will be the most affordable forged pistons you'll find.

I think I might have figured it out. I believe the jets are too big. While driving it I could smell gas again. Just a little while not under load. Also a little puff of black smoke when I go WOT and the rear quarter where the exhaust dump is located is sooty.