324 OLDS Noisey lifters..advice needed

I found a 55 Olds project that I was thinking of buying. It has a 324 that was supposedly rebuilt about 10k ago & the guy says the only parts he could'nt get at the time were new lifters. The engine seems to run good with good oil pressure & all but some of the lifters are LOUD. So is this a common problem? Are lifters really not available? Besides my old 57 with a 371 I really have no experience with these motors so any advice or suggestions you guys have I'd be glad to hear.

Billy

 

Yes noisey lifters are comend in olds mills. I replaced mine with small block chevy lifters but you have to get new push rods the stock olds are to long. Let me know if you need any help with info on the mill always willing to help.

 

I seem to remember that late 324 and 371's 57-58 had a lifter/camshaft compatibility problem in that one or the other was of a harder material and consequently caused lifter and/or camshaft failure.If the lifters were not replaced in the same bores they came out of and some of them were cupped,that would definitely cause some rattling.

 

My 303 was loud, but not too bad.
However, I was told at the time that adjustable pushrods were almost necessary for the OHV Olds.
You could try valve caps.
The rare adjustable rockers require special valve covers with bumps along the intake side to accomodate the adjusters.
Cosmo

 

OK I found a place that sells the lifters. Is there anything else I need to know, like do the lifter bores or something go bad too or am I just parinoid? I'm just asking because I don't want to buy the car & have to open a can of worms on the engine when I could be doing other cool custom shit to the rest of the car.

Thanks! Billy

 

Was the cam replaced ,or is it the original? HRP

 

[ QUOTE ]
The rare adjustable rockers require special valve covers with bumps along the intake side to accomodate the adjusters.
Cosmo



[/ QUOTE ]

That was stock Olds adjustable rockers?
On the J2 maybe?
I didn't know that - but that don't mean much I don't know a lot of things.

Fwiw - the Engle 1.8/1 self locking adjustable rockers I ran on my Rocket motors fit under a stock 53 rocker cover with no problems.

Another small fwiw - Plymouth flat 6 side cover coin head bolts made for a nice bolt on the Olds rocker covers.
A little different looking and most times you could install and remove them by hand.
Not much torque required on a rocker cover bolt anyway.

 

Far as the lifter rattling goes - is the engine clean on the inside?
Like in "not sludged up."

I bought a 352 powered 59 Ranchero that I found later to be a touch sludgy.
First long trip and with fresh oil, the sludge broke loose and clogged up the feed to the rocker shafts.
What I found rattling were the rockers due to poor oil flow.
I made it home ok and cleaning out the rocker shafts and doing another oil change helped.
After that no more problems and the 352 was still running good when I replaced it with a virutally new 67 Mustang GT 390 engine.

 

try a search on the hamb,and see if you come up with anything.the majority of problems ive had where rocker arm problems.the oil not getting to the valves,and causing noise.simular to what youd hear if your rockers where loose or not adjusted properly on a motor that oils through the pushrods.it can easily be mistaken for lifter noise.they clank preety loud beacuse of there desighn.it could also be the lifters.its just something to keep in mind.i have a tech bullitin from 54 stating they where still having problems with there lifters.i didnt have that problem with my 56 though.
eric