I was helping a friend get his `79 spit running again. He's new
to the area and rebuilt the motor prior to his move. He's got
probems...
What I observed was a motor running on 3 cylinders... The #4 plug
was black and wet the gap was set wrong (I might add set wrong on
all plugs)... After resetting the plug gap the motor was running
better, but still only on 3. We then pulled the valve cover. I saw
that the push rod for # 4 intake was off the rocker arm. I then re
set the push rod and observed the engine on restart it ran briefly
with some very odd scraping sounds then died. The same push rod was
off the rocker again. I replaced it in position and had the owner
crank the engine. while pressing down on the rocker. I felt a
vibration, Kind of like something scraping across a rough surface.
Pressing on the other rocker arms I didn't notice the same feel.
Diagnosis-wise I'm leaning towards either a seriously stuck tappet,
that took out the cam lobe, or a collapsed tappet that did the same.
I haven't any experience dealing with Spits... Let alone late
Spits with all that plumbing. Looking at the list of Items he bought
for the motor I'm inclined to think he shouldn't have had any problem
Unless he got a wrong sized tappet and forced it into the bore. There
was one tappet that was missing from his initial shipment, that was
sent later.
Am I in the ballpark? Any wisdom from you GRAF (Ground RAF) Pilots?
Greg "just tryn' to be helpful"
gpetrola@prairienet.org 1962 TR4 (CT4852L)
"That's not a leak... My car is just marking its territory!"
Greg Petrolati, Champaign, Illinois
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