Customs Ford 200 rebuild noise

Recently I got my hands on a 66 Ford 200ci straight six. I decided to swap the old tired 170 that was in my 1962 Ford falcon with this engine after a mild rebuild.

Since this is my first car and rebuild, I was a bit nervous. I pulled apart the 200 and honed the cylinders, replaced the rings, and put on all new seals throughout. I did however leave the old main bearings because they were in great shape (plasti-gauged nicely). I also replaced the rods but left the valves. Everything went together very nicely and the engine turned smooth on the stand.

This past week I put the engine in the car and it fired right up pretty easily. But it's much much noisier than expected. The exhaust is tight and there are no knocks or taps it just sounds like a diesel.

Could this just me a timing thing? Tuning thing? Or is it something else inside the engine?

I appreciate any knowledge you all can provide, and I'll answer any questions that might help you respond. Thanks so much!

 

How did you set the valves?

What is the timing at idle, and what is your idle speed?

 

I didn't touch the valves when I did the rods. Someday I might have the head done professionally but the engine has been running before all this so I left them alone. As far as timing goes, I only just got the car running today and I kind of worked off my ear. I have plans to put a light on it tomorrow but it's not terribly far off. Idle speed is right around 110 rpm

 

I take it it does not have adjustable rocker arms, indicating that it would have a hydraulic cam.

I have now had three customers show up with a solid lifter camshaft, and non-adjustable rockers.

Your idle speed should be about 500 rpm, not 110.

 

*1100 rpm
Yup solid lifters and non adjustable rocker arms.
The idle speed might be higher because the shifter linkage hasn't been properly adjusted. I'll time it and monkey with the carb a bit but my main concern is that the noise could be internal. When I plastigauged the main bearings, they all showed tolerances around .002-.003 so I figured they'd be just fine. But if the noise is is due to worn bearings I definitely don't want to mess anything up.

When I put rods in and torqued the rockers down, everything was nice and snug. Do you think the valves need attention?

 

If you have solid lifters, you need adjustable rocker arms.

The factory cars with hydraulic cam/lifter sets had non-adjustable rockers.

The factory cars with solid cam/lifter sets had adjustable rocker arms.

If either the block or heads were ever milled, you likely need adjustable rocker arms.

If you truly do have solid lifters, you will need adjustable rockers.

The 170 that you took out may have them.

Solid lifter equipped valvetrains can be little noisy.

 

Ah I see what you're saying. Thanks for the insight! Hopefully tomorrow's work will ease my mind a bit!

 

That engine most likely came with a metal head gasket. If you replaced it with a modern composite head gasket, then I can assure you that your lifter adjustment is not correct. Plus you have significantly lowered compression. You have to shave the head if you use a composite gasket.
Goof Luck

 

If you kept the hydraulic cam and are now running solid lifters it will not last long.

 

I am confused about the valvetrain setup.

Could you please clarify all of the components in use?

 

I have a hydraulic cam and lifters with a non adjustable rocker arm setup. I used a metal head gasket and didn't change the valves at all. So, the valvetrain is entirely stock. The head and block haven't been machined either.

 

Sounds like collapsed lifters I'd pull the valve cover and check valve lash to be on the safe side. Start up if it is valve noise put the cover back on and let it run they should quiet down.

 

Sounds like a diesel?.. pistons in backwards? If the piston pins are offset and you put em in backwards they rattle pretty good. Not sure if the 200 had offset pins or not