Well guys, looks like I waited too long to deal with the lifter preload problem. One pushrod got out from under the rocker and wedged itself along side it. Cracked/bent the pushrod and I believe the valve is bent because the valve spring is stuck compressed (valve stuck open). All of this while I was just warming the car up to move around back to work on it 
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Well, Ive had the 86-87 gaskets which I am told are most probably the cause of the problem. Only one thing that contradicts this, and doesnt make sense to me, is the fact that I had the same gaskets on the car for the past 12,000 miles with my prior cam and lifters (Poston's gn107 and Auto Zone lifters, Melling I think) and there was never a noisy valvetrain issue, until I put in the new cam and Sealed Power lifters. I have yet to understand or hear an explanation as to why that is (both lifters have the same 969 part#).
The '87 gaskets did seal very well, through high boost and all, but if I am having to break the engine down I guess I will go with '84 gaskets.
Which gaskets should I go with? If GM '87s are too thick, GM '84s are considerably thinner, dont seal well, and its more likely for you to crack something than blow them, is the Felpro the best choice? Are the .040 Felpros thin enough that they wont cause a lifter preload issue? Do they seal as well as the '87s? I want the least amount of problems with the best performance, everytime I think I have nothing else to do but tune and go fast I run into another silly problem. Steel shim or Felpro? and what to torque to?
TIA, Justin.
P.S. are the Felpro 1000s the stock replacement for the '84? Why are they .022 thicker than the stock steel shim (.040 vs .018), what does this do to the compression ratio?
.Well, Ive had the 86-87 gaskets which I am told are most probably the cause of the problem. Only one thing that contradicts this, and doesnt make sense to me, is the fact that I had the same gaskets on the car for the past 12,000 miles with my prior cam and lifters (Poston's gn107 and Auto Zone lifters, Melling I think) and there was never a noisy valvetrain issue, until I put in the new cam and Sealed Power lifters. I have yet to understand or hear an explanation as to why that is
(both lifters have the same 969 part#). The '87 gaskets did seal very well, through high boost and all, but if I am having to break the engine down I guess I will go with '84 gaskets.
Which gaskets should I go with? If GM '87s are too thick, GM '84s are considerably thinner, dont seal well, and its more likely for you to crack something than blow them, is the Felpro the best choice? Are the .040 Felpros thin enough that they wont cause a lifter preload issue? Do they seal as well as the '87s? I want the least amount of problems with the best performance, everytime I think I have nothing else to do but tune and go fast I run into another silly problem. Steel shim or Felpro? and what to torque to?
TIA, Justin.
P.S. are the Felpro 1000s the stock replacement for the '84? Why are they .022 thicker than the stock steel shim (.040 vs .018), what does this do to the compression ratio?
