[chrisblais]

in my other thread i had said the engine had already been decked out, and when i bought the car it was dirty as hell but with a little elbow greece she shines now.. i paid 1500 for the car

77 mustang 2 cobra clone,
v8 302 bored out over .60
edelbrock performance intake and cam
holley 4 barrel carb.
289 heads off 65 mustang
2 electric fans on radiator plus flex fan
heddman headers with flowmaster H pipe
5 speed t5 transmission from 83 tbird
ford 8 inch rear end
msd ready to run ignition
chevy one wire alternator
msd spark plug wires

[05Musclestang]

Sounds like a pretty awesome ride, for that $ too. Does she run good?

[chrisblais]

she runs strong, but it does have a slight tap... i think it might be a lifter.. im not sure if it has hydralic lifters or not, but it comes frmo under the engine on the passenger side.. i put 10w 40 oil in it and someone told me i should be usin 5w 30, so i need to switch that up.. im really not even sure if its a lifter or not...

[rotorr22]

Take off the valve covers and make sure one of the rocker stud nuts hasn't backed off. That can cause a tapping noise with hydraulics. Remember, those old 289 heads didn't use positive stop rockers, so don't just wrench down on the nut until it runs out of threads. If you see a nut backed out farther than the others, tighten it until the tapping stops and then go 1/4 turn additional.

If the sound is a rod bearing, a piston skirt or a wrist pin, you can pull a plug wire on that cylinder and see if the knock diminishes. If it does.......bad news.

[chrisblais]

okay so should i pull one spark plug wire at a time and see if the knock stops and if it does its somethin bad? i should only pull the ones on the side the knock is commin from right? and abotu the valve covers, it would be on the side the knock is commin from too right.. cuz it distinctly on the passenger side from the bottom of the car, and is there any way to tell if i have hydraulic lifters?

[rotorr22]

You can actually buy a cheap stethescope at some auto parts stores that will let you narrow down the origin of the noise. Obviously, you want to narrow down the area the noise is coming from before you remove a valve cover or pull a plug wire.