The Pale-rider saga continues. I bought this 500 mile used engine from a
buddy up north. Great build sheet. Balanced, blueprinted mostly stock
engine. Sadly after a restoration, the PO totaled the car with about 500
miles on it. I got the engine for a song. (sad song). I put the engine in,
retorqued the head, adjusted the valves. After replacing the starter the
engine started up easily. Sounds great, 90 lbs. oil pressure. A brief
moment of air lock, the engine got really hot quick. I immediately shut it
down. The motor cooled down, I filled the system with antifreeze/water,
restarted the engine and it maintained normal temp. I took the car for a
spin. The engine sounds great up to 2500 RPMs, at which point there is a
high pitched "fast" sounding rattle from up front. It seems to be present
at a certain harmonic. It does not change in character at different RPMs.
I initially thought it was spark rattle, I fiddled with the timing. It
definitely is not that, as I can load the car down in fourth gear from 15 MPH
and I don't hear it. It sounds just like a loose heat shield. I can't tell
if the rattle is there much over 3000 RPMs because of exhaust noise. I
cannot reproduce this sound with the car parked. The engine revs right up to
red line freely when the car is parked, it has plenty of power when driving.
I've had a couple of mechanics look at it today. One suggested there is
something external loose (like the radiator shroud or something) The other
suggested I've got something seriously wrong with the internals of the
engine. He thought may be a loose wrist pin, or con rod. I've removed
everything I can think of that could possibly rattle including the metal
shroud. The fan had a wobble in it, so I took it off. The rattle is still
there. Any ideas? I'm afraid to drive the car
Joe Davis
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