Problems with rebuilt 74 running poorly and valve taps HELP

"[i]I still think you should w

"I still think you should write the NJ Attorney General about the issue.

Guy thats true, and I am looking at contacting the AG later today, or on Monday.

I also checked some receipts, and if the limit is two years (what I believe anyhow) I have until the end of Sept to file.

When I originally looked into this I found that my state has some serious consumer protection laws, but I needed an attorney to make any claims and the lowest retainer I was offered was $2500.00 and I figured I could rebuild the damn thing for less than that.

So after finding out the cost of this etc I decided to try and take the hit, and just get the thing running.

Now the plan is only to get it somewhat usable for the balance of the season, block it up early and rebuild whatever needs to gone thru etc during the offseason.

Will keep all posted on how this part of things works out."

"[i]Lenny, I would make sure i

"Lenny, I would make sure it has a cam problem first, pull the valve covers comfirm this by how much travel each rocker has .

I really appreciate your offer of helping (how far could you be lol ) but I will get this straightened out sooner or later.

I guess I should be looking at finding a dial indicator etc so that I can measure it up. I am planning on trying to adjust the valves "hot" when I get some of the other parts (risers, exh flappers etc).

Seems like I have been trying to just get it running a little better so I can make some use of it before the weather changes etc, and have been crossing my fingers that one of the little things (that it does need anyway) like elec stuff etc would have caused it to run better, but that seems to be only wishfull thinking in trying to avoid the more expensive or involved thngs that are more likely the cause of the problem.

Still what has been done up to now has helped, and it actually got up to 3200 rpm yesterday, but much as it was better it still was nearly full throttle, and took a lot of finese on the throttle to get it there.

I did confirm the vacuum was working on the secondaries, but its also blowing back up thru the carb when they come on.

I also tried some other things I had read on other threads here like cleaning up the wire harness connector, dbl checking the ground wire mounts, adding drygas to absorb any water in the tank (there was some in the carb when I tried another one, but nothing in the filter yet).

I have to admit its an adventure, and though frustrating I dont mind fighting thru it if all is well in the end, but riding season is coming up (dirt bike atv etc) and I am going to need to put some time into getting another engine back together. Have to say that these little single cyl jobs are a whole lot easier

Thanks again to all for the help

PS since its looking like the cam and valvetrain is the popular choice does anyone know what or where to figure out which stuff to get???"

"Lenny, I take it you don'

"Lenny, I take it you don't live any where near Muskegon Mich. ?
As far as a different cam goes , what is your normal cruising RPM ? And what is your RPM at full throttle ?"

"ZMan I think its only 900 mil

"ZMan I think its only 900 miles or so

normal cruz 3500-3800 rpm

WOT I dont remember exactly (been helping a couple people with pitch changes on their hp stuff and have their info stuck in my mind lol) but I think it used to run just under or over 5000 rpm.

Its more of a cruiser than a go fast thats for sure so I dont need to be at the limits on the top etc, but it used to run mid high forties on the old engine so I guess I would be looking to match of beat that.

Dont remember exact specs but its about 4600 lb dry, and 27 overall length so getting close to 50mph shouldnt be out of the question.

I just dont want to go trying to pick out a cam by spec alone and end up with something more suited for a drag car etc (even though those seem to work great in the hp500 lol).

Thanks!!"

"Also not sure how this effect

"Also not sure how this effects anyones diagnostic thinking but I needed fuel today, and added just 20 gal of some 89oct with a can of seafoam added to it, and though it didnt increase rpm too much (about 3300-3400 now wooo hooo) it really did smooth out the lower rpm running.

It still spitted, burped, and farted lol at the last 1/4 throttle towards wot, but lower rpm acceleration was improved.

I still think I have a serious valvetrain issue (its still very noisey though somewhat less) but its seeming like I may want to tear into the carb soon from the changes I found with the seafoam.

I mean its almost usable now, and a little more improvment will deff get me into the off season when I can tackle things properly without any loss of time etc.

I also poured a little of that stuff into the crankcase, but cant say I noticed any changes from it."

"Lenny.
The problems you have

"Lenny.
The problems you have had with this engine is enough to drive a man to drink !!

Like the Z-man, i have spent alot of time in a previous life building engines, both to stock and performance specs, even though you have made improvements to the performance of the engine since we started going through this journey with you, I believe that nothing is going to be right untill the valve train is right.

Now, wether it is a crap cam, dodgy lifters or as I have just fixed on one of my engines, crap valve springs, for my money that is where the route of your evil lies.

I have seen cams in my time that have just had lousy heat treating and were put together dry and they have basicaly just torn the lobes off within a couple of minutes of initial start up.

I think you need to get a dial indicator, as has been sugested and check your valve lift across all cylinders, but one thing you may want to check is your valve springs.

For sometime now my starboard engine has idled a little roughly, been a little noisy, hard to start cold and has had issues making full revs, now this particular engine has had 2 drinks of saltwater in the last 18months so I put it down to a dying donk that needs to be replaced.

However in an attempt to get it running for another 12 months I started to hot run set the valves and could get no where with them. Frustrated with no obvious signs of valve problems but still suspecting that was what I had, I used compressed air and I carried out a valve leakage test and with the valves held shut, I removed the valve collets and spring retainer caps only to find that about 1/2 of the top coil of 5 valve springs had broken but you could not see it untill you removed the caps.
I replaced all the valve springs with a set of doubles and now my tired old engine runs so smooth and quiet that it is scary.

Now, if your valve spring retainer caps are the type that cover the first coil or 2 of the springs, you may have a similar problem.

Its only a thought, but it may be a possibility.
But if not, I think that everything including the blowing back up through the secondary's is well and truely pointing towards a stuffed or poorly ground cam.

Hope you can sort it out and get to have some fun before it gets to cool.

Cheers
Peter C"

"Hey, Lenny
If you need to p

"Hey, Lenny
If you need to put a cam in her go with a
COMP CAMS XTREM ENERGY marine cam pn. 11-232-3 RPM range is 1,000-5,000 rpm & get the lifters pn. 812-16 & springs pn. 911-16 and just make sure the valves are adjusted properly and the cam gets burned (broke) in let us know how it all goes."